Rush Limbaugh is dead. Good.

Hmmm, don't really recall ever having said that "dumber than Harris" thing, and I'd question your characterization of my participation level as "frequenting'.

So why are you frequenting a column that is, according to you, dumber than Harris? That seems like an incredible waste of your valuable time.

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/trump-plaza-casino-implosion-atlantic-city/2707574/

OMTGAWD There's more pure wisdom in that post than in all the other post I've bothered to read in 3 yrs or so of forays into the land of Weigantia, COMBINED!!

Unfortunately, it represents far more wishful thinking/idealism than it does realism.

...as you hoped for in this column.

Q: Why are we supporting Saudi Arabia rather than Iran in this neverending Suni-Shia Islamic Civil War?

Think about it. Iran had a Democracy back in the 1950s. You know, before our CIA instigated coup overthrew Mosaddegh and left them to the Shah and SAVAK. So we owe them.

Meanwhile we have the Wahabi-infected Saudis, who provided most of the 9-11 hijackers and have a problem with their women, like, driving. So screw them.

Comment, CW?

The thing of it is, much of what Biden wants to accomplish is popular with the American public:

Minimum wage $15? check.

Tax the rich more? Check

Address climate change? Check. And so on and so forth. Repugs will scream to the ends of the Earth that, "OMG it's Socialism" but I guess that means 60 to 70% of us are Socialists.

No there are not good arguments on both sides. Repug lies have forever claimed that raising the minimum wage will cost jobs. It never has and it never will.

Hang in there. It's frightening to revert to like the early 20th century, that's for sure. We had a power pole go out on us a few years back, and we were without power for over 72 hrs. Taught us the lessons of how interdependent modern life is, and how reliant upon easy access to electricity it all was...

LizM [6] -

A $15 minimum wage in New York or California would, I suspect, be far too low!

You are right. And not just in CA an NY. If the 1960s minimum wage had kept up with inflation, it'd be over $20 an hour now... and [3] this is a red herring, of course -- all the plans have stair-stepped up increases over like 4 or 5 years... it won't happen all at once...

MtnCaddy [8] -

Excellent point. The more the GQP fights, the more room Biden has to maneuver...

:-)

-CW

Liz,
A fixed national minimum wage simply doesnt make sense for this country. There is far too much variance in cost of living from state to state. While a $15 minimum wage might make sense in some of the liberal bastions like California or New York, it really would be excessive for many Republican states.

Au contraire: If Texas employees get a raise to $15 they'll just go out and SPEND it. Which boosts demand. And THENCE employs more people. Rince and repeat.

If our Federal minimum wage had simply kept up with inflation since 1969 it'd be $26 an hour today. So don't be shorting out our Brothers & Sisters in Texas.

Nope, not by a long shot. Trump will toss up as many shiny objects as he can and that's a good thing! Watching the GQP Civil War will provide Joe the space to get stuff done. Which will crush the Repugs in 2022.

Elizabeth. Bouncing Around the Room Phish (4:08)

A $15 minimum wage in New York or California would, I suspect, be far too low!

I think most people understand the differences in cost of living across the country. That's just commone sense, after all.

There are ways to do this and Biden just talked about it being a gradual raise as opposed to a big hike all at once. He also said that many small businesses have legitimate concerns about raising the minimum wage to $15 and that there are good arguments to make on both sides. But, the bottom line is that people who work 40 hours per week should not have to live in poverty in the United States of America.

Well, we are going to have to learn to live with this virus without having a lot of people dying from it. Which is what vaccination right now is all about - protecting healthcare workers and those who are most vulnerable to getting severe disease and dying.

And, if the rest of us don't keep up with all of the public health measures to control and prevent transmission, then the variants may prevent vaccination from getting us back to normal. So, let's keep DOING IT ALL!

Biden and the Democrats may not achieve everything they want in the first big legislative victory -- the $15-an-hour minimum wage hike seems dubious, at this point -- but they will be visibly moving the country forward.

Maybe Biden will talk about this tonight at his town hall. Was this hike in the minimum wage supposed to happen all at once - from $7.25 right up to $15? Why not ease that increase into effect over four years?

Looking forward to seeing how Biden, the salesman, operates tonight!

My power has been out for 40 some hours due to the winter storm, and it was in the 40s in the house last I checked. Luckily, my sister-in-law has power, and we're staying there tonight. Give us a real infrastructure week!