Via Salon:
One day after a top Obama administration official deflected a congressman’s call for executive action to raise labor standards for contractors, activists Wednesday announced the filing of a new Department of Labor complaint over alleged wage theft in a government building. The complaint alleges that dozens of workers in D.C.’s government-owned Union Station are owed over $3 million in back pay and damages for rampant failure to pay minimum wage or overtime.
“If a federal contractor thinks that they can steal the pay of workers, it’s very hard to believe that they would voluntarily pay those workers more money,” Rep. Keith Ellison told reporters on a call with Change to Win. “Of course they’re not going to do that.” Ellison and fellow Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Raul Grijalva are among 50 members of Congress who’ve urged Obama to wield executive authority to enact more pro-labor standards for federal contracting. Grijalva told Salon last month that he and his colleagues’ months-old urgings had received “no response.”
On Tuesday, Ellison took a different tack: showing up to an Economic Policy Institute panel on which Council of Economic Advisors chair Jason Furman was discussing the federal minimum wage, and asking a question from the audience. After Ellison asked about the prospects for the administration to make a move “outside of legislative action” to help low-wage federal contract workers, Furman answered, “There’s no doubt that the biggest thing we could do is something legislative.” After noting the millions who would be affected by a federal minimum wage increase, Furman said, “I think the biggest question that we should all be asking ourselves is what’s the best way to advance and get to that goal, because that’s what we want to get to ultimately, is everyone, you know, having … that poverty floor, with then the other things on top of that … How can we make sure that there’s no one in this country that’s paid less than $10.10 an hour?”
“Really, it was the most remarkable dodge I’ve ever seen,” Rep. Ellison told Salon Wednesday. Still, he said, “we hope that they’re going to do” an executive order. “We believe it is the right thing to do. It would be federal government leading by example, and that’s all I can say.” Ellison and Grijalva told Salon they still had not received any official response from the White House.
We the People demand, this libtard jerk Ellison read our Constitution. What the f**k is going on here? Doesn't anybody in government know the Constitution? Here we have another dumb shithead sitting in elected office that is absolutely clueless. I think anyone running for office should have to take a test to qualify before they can run. I mean Congress would be almost empty if you put in an IQ requirement. Actually jackass, I might be with ya on this one. I hope Barry does use his commie pen and set the minimum wage to $10 per hr. Hell, let's go for $15 per hr. Then when the unemployment rate shoots through the roof, maybe, just f**king maybe, the voters in your district will put two and two together without using common core math, and toss your ass out onto the street. I know this is LIV's we're talking about, but I can dream. It might be too much to ask an LIV or Keith to understand that the problem with their math is that the higher the wages, it trickles down to ordinary consumers as higher prices and costing jobs. They actually believe that higher wages promotes economic growth, but those benefitting from the higher wages, will be paying the same higher prices that comes with it too, and their payroll taxes could never fill the hole of lost revenue from the lost jobs. Yes, liberalism is mental disease. They lie to get their policy in place and reality be damned. The only reality is this idiot hasn't said anything intelligent in his life and the libtards use him as their tool when they have something really stupid to say. He isn't bright enough to realize what a little mind and IQ he has.
Ellison, like Obowel, would back anything that will hurt this country. Go ahead Barry, finish off
