Kashama’s comments on Huff Post Live are interesting. She does not come across as wild eyed, merely unsatisfied that she did not get more from the Mayor. I do hope she is not going going through with an effort to fight the Mayor with a ballot initiative. She would lose and likely hurt not just herself bu the workers.
I worry that Kashama confuses socialism with magic. A simple waving of her wand will not increase purchasing power. Hopefully, more objective experts are behind Mayor Murry’s proposal. As one example, I would very much like to have someone explain to me how the $15 works in restaurants where tips can be 20% of a $200 bill or 10% of a $5 bill? On the other hand, to her credit, I do not believe this proposal would have gotten where it is now without her activism.
The best write up I have seen so far is by David Goldstein at HorsesAss.
Another position appears in this morning’s Seattle Times. The author, Maxford Nelson, is an analyst for the “Freedom Foundation,” a far right group previously known as the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. Whatever his credentials, Mr. Nelson’s major point is that there is no evidence that the $15 minimum wage would stimulate the economy. This is odd. If this is the right’s best argument and if raising the minimum wage improves them lot of the working poor WITHOUT COMING OUT OF YOUR TAXES, why not do it?