{"id":34626,"date":"2013-02-26T06:00:35","date_gmt":"2013-02-26T12:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=34626"},"modified":"2020-09-20T21:36:20","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T02:36:20","slug":"chanting-points-memo-ryan-winkler-brezhnev-style-economist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=34626","title":{"rendered":"Chanting Points Memo: Ryan Winkler, Brezhnev-Style Economist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Conservatives joke that liberals just. Don’t. \u00a0Get. Economics.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We joke, at times, that at some point a liberal is going to push for a “living wage” statute calling for a $100\/hour minimum wage as a means to end poverty, followed by a bill barring any layoffs and banning bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

It’s a joke. \u00a0Some liberals shake their heads and go “yeah, yeah, we’re not nuts”.<\/p>\n

And then something comes a long to prove that they really, really are that dissociative.<\/p>\n

Rep. Ryan Winkler (D St. Louis Park), also known as “The Eddie Haskell of the House” – is introducing a “Kill All” amendment<\/a> to House File 92<\/a> that\u00a0bars businesses from laying off workers, cutting hours or benefits due to minimum wage increases.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’m going to write that again, just to let it sink in.<\/p>\n

Winkler’s bill would make it illegal for businesses to lay off workers, cut hours or benefits due to minimum wage increases.<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, I’m really not making it up<\/a>; I’ve added emphasis to the original:<\/p>\n

(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (b), during the first 90 consecutive days of\u00a0<\/span>employment, an employer may pay an employee under the age of 20 years a wage of :<\/span><\/p>\n

(1) $6.07 per hour beginning August 1, 2013;<\/p>\n

(2) $7.24 per hour beginning August 1, 2014;<\/p>\n

(3) $8.41 per hour beginning August 1, 2015; and<\/p>\n

(4) the rate established under paragraph (d) beginning January 1, 2016.<\/p>\n

2.11 No employer may take any action to displace an employee, including a partial\u00a0\u00a0displacement through a reduction in hours, wages, or employment benefits, in order to\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>hire an employee at the wage authorized in this paragraph<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(UPDATE: Commenter Master Of None points out, the above section refers to a training wage – a wage that employers may pay for up to 90 days – and says it’s not quite as dire as I’d made it out to be. \u00a0 I disagree; Winkler’s bill raises the already existing training wage, causing all the same problems that raising the minimum itself does, which negates most of the utility of a “training wage”, as well as starting some sort of enforcement mechanism to painstakingly adjudicate all disputes related to training and minimum wages. \u00a0Because Minnesota\u00a0businesses\u00a0needed more niggling regulations)<\/p>\n

And as the Obama Administration launches into permanent quantitative easing, Winkler wants to key the minimum wage to inflation, ensuring that no wages will\u00a0ever\u00a0<\/em>keep up with inflation:<\/p>\n

2.14 (d) No later than November 1 of each year, beginning in 2015, the commissioner\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0shall determine the percentage increase in the rate of inflation, as measured by the\u00a0<\/span>Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers, United States city average, as determined\u00a0<\/span>by the United States Department of Labor, during the most recent 12-month period for\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0which data is available. The minimum wage rates in paragraphs (b) and (c) are increased\u00a0<\/span>by the percentage calculated by the commissioner, rounded to the nearest cent. The new\u00a0<\/span>minimum wage rates determined under this paragraph take effect on the next January 1<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words: Ryan Winkler wants to…:<\/p>\n