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We have stunningly good news today: wages in 2020 grew at by far the fastest rate in the last 45 years.
The bad news: it's a statistical anomaly caused by Donald Trump's lethal mishandling of the coronavirus. The pandemic wiped out almost eight million jobs held by lower-paid workers and only two million better-paying jobs.
<p>The worse news: Two Republican senators who publicly profess their Christian faith to win over voters want to oppress millions of people trapped in poverty. With straight faces, they call their plan the <a href="https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-romney-bill-to-raise-minimum-wage-stop-employment-of-illegal-immigrants" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Higher Wages for American Workers Act</a>.</p><p>The good news starts out this way—in 2020, average wages grew a stunningly robust 7.2% over the previous year.</p><p>That's by far the greatest one-year growth in wages in the past 45 years. In fact, it's 80% more than the fastest previous year's wage growth, <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/state-of-working-america-wages-in-2020/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">analysis of Census data shows</a>.</p><p>The better measure, however, is the median wage. It indicates what the typical worker makes. The median marks the halfway point in wages with half of workers making more, half less. The median wage grew 6.9%, a <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/state-of-working-america-wages-in-2020/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">new report by the Economic Policy Institute</a> shows.</p><p>EPI is a nonprofit research organization that advocates for poorly paid workers and regularly issues <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The State of Working America</a> report with lots of interactive graphics. I've checked its work and always find it rock solid.</p><p>EPI's latest by <a href="https://www.epi.org/people/elise-gould/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Elise Gould</a> and <a href="https://www.epi.org/people/jori-kandra/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jori Kandra</a> is <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/state-of-working-america-wages-in-2020/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">available here</a>.</p><p>So, the obvious question is how could wages skyrocket during a pandemic that created the worst joblessness since the Great Depression? How could wages rise at all since by the end of May more than 42 million Americans, a quarter of those with any paid labor, had <a href="https://fortune.com/2020/06/04/us-unemployment-rate-numbers-claims-this-week-total-job-losses-june-4-2020-benefits-claims/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">filed for jobless benefits</a>?</p><p>Just beneath the surface, we find a compelling and distorting fact: more than 80% of the 9.6 million jobs that disappeared in the pandemic paid in the bottom quarter of wages. Wipe out those jobs and the statistics on wages will show an increase. What's surprising is that the increase is only about 7%.</p><p>America's low-paid jobs are disproportionately held by women, especially those with children and little education, and by minorities. In real terms, these groups have been losing ground for years even as the economy keeps growing.</p><p>But by killing their jobs, at least until the pandemic is over and recovery is complete, the data in wages paid was distorted by the fact that most of those who are out of work were in the bottom half of the pay ladder.</p><p>What was it that Donald Trump promised <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/the-inaugural-address/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Forgotten Men and Women</a>? Oh yes, "The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer." Well, he forgot about them and in addition to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/22/business/economy/unemployment-rate-covid.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">real jobless rate of about 10%</a> plus more than a half-million Americans needlessly dead. Had Trump followed sound public health advice, as we saw in South Korea, the coronavirus butcher's bill would be <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/south-korea/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">only about 10,000 dead Americans</a>.</p><p>So how to alleviate the misery of America's working poor?</p><p>Senators Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) say they are coming to the rescue. In a display of chutzpah and cluelessness that is extraordinary even for rich white men in high government positions, they call their bill the <a href="https://www.cotton.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/higher%20wages%20for%20american%20workers%20act_one%20pager.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Higher Wages for American Workers Act</a>.</p><p>Their bill's provisions are at odds with their professed devotion to a religion that imposes as a core duty alleviating the suffering of the poor. Cotton is a Methodist. Romney belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.</p><p>Cotton and Romney say the Biden administration plan for a $15 minimum wage in 2025 is way too much money. They propose a <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/romney-cotton-unveil-plan-to-boost-minimum-wage-to-10-per-hour" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">minimum wage of $10 an hour in 2025</a>.</p><p>How much higher would real wages rise under the Cotton-Romney plan?</p><p>Given the expected rate of inflation, that $10 an hour in 2025 would mean about 30-cents in real pay than the current federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. The current minimum wage has been in place since 2009 under legislation signed by President George W. Bush. Inflation since 2009 has shaved roughly a buck off each hour's minimum wage. Measured back to President George W. Bush, the Cotton-Romney plan leaves workers worse off in 2025 than in 2009.</p><p>Now watch the news and see if the record rise in median and average wages is reported. Where it is, pay close attention—especially in reports by Fox News and it's like—whether they say the increase is a statistical anomaly or proclaim a miracle wrought by Donald Trump.</p><p>Having read this at least you won't be fooled.</p>
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Connolly destroys Jim Jordan: ‘I didn’t vote to overturn an election and I will not be lectured by people who did’
February 24, 2021
U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) slammed his Republican colleagues for "gaslighting" during Wednesday's House Oversight Committee hearing on the USPS, which featured testimony by embattled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
Connolly spoke following U.S. Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Jody Hice (R-GA). Hice defended DeJoy to the hilt, falsely attacking Democrats for what he said was their "nonsensical, insane, rabid rhetoric."
<p>"We've got to get away from the attacks and the unfounded allegations and I'm pleased to hear that you, as an admitted Democrat, understand that the allegations against Mr. DeJoy were unwarranted," Hice told a witness.</p><p>Hice also claimed that if DeJoy had tried to "alter" the election "he miserably failed." He also falsely claimed the postal service succeeded "with almost perfect delivery" of mail-in ballots.</p><p>That was the tenor of the hearing.</p><p>Later, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (D-OH) was the one to engage in gaslighting, and Congressman Connolly had had enough:</p><p>"All the gaslighting that we just heard does not change the facts," he said, scorching Jordan.</p><p>"I didn't vote to overturn an election. And I will not be lectured by people who did about partisanship."</p><iframe src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=newcivilrights&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1364628986769399818&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com%2F2021%2F02%2Fconnolly-destroys-jim-jordan-i-didnt-vote-to-overturn-an-election-and-i-will-not-be-lectured-by-people-who-did%2F&siteScreenName=newcivilrights&theme=light&widgetsVersion=889aa01%3A1612811843556&width=550px" style="margin-bottom: 0px; border-width: 0px; border-style: initial; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 100%; position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 603px; flex-grow: 1;" title="Twitter Tweet"></iframe><iframe src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=newcivilrights&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=true&id=1364629890574737411&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com%2F2021%2F02%2Fconnolly-destroys-jim-jordan-i-didnt-vote-to-overturn-an-election-and-i-will-not-be-lectured-by-people-who-did%2F&siteScreenName=newcivilrights&theme=light&widgetsVersion=889aa01%3A1612811843556&width=550px" style="margin-bottom: 0px; border-width: 0px; border-style: initial; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 100%; position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 530px; flex-grow: 1;" title="Twitter Tweet"></iframe><p>Connolly later weighed in, re-tweeting the video and <a href="https://twitter.com/GerryConnolly/status/1364629996124450819" target="_blank">saying</a>, "Sorry, you lose the right to complain about partisanship once you've fanned the flames of violent insurrection."</p>
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A US intelligence report on the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul will be out "soon," the White House said Wednesday.
Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that President Joe Biden was also "soon" due to speak with Saudi Arabia's King Salman.
<p>Psaki would not confirm a report in Axios that the Biden call with Salman would take place Wednesday and that the unclassified intelligence report would be published Thursday.</p><p>Khashoggi, a Saudi who wrote for The Washington Post and was a US resident, was killed and dismembered in 2018 inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.</p><p>The CIA has directly linked Saudi Arabia's de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the murder. He has accepted overall responsibility, as his country's leader, but denies a personal link.</p><p>Since taking over the presidency in January Biden has stressed he will "recalibrate" the US relationship with Saudi Arabia.</p><p>This will mean steering away from former president Donald Trump's reliance on Prince Mohammed and dealing directly with the king, the White House says.</p><p>© 2021 AFP</p>
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