A senior Oregon lawmaker is proposing that the Democratic-led state raise its minimum wage to $13 an hour by 2018 in a move that would give it the highest statewide minimum pay level in the country, officials said on Tuesday.
House of Representatives Speaker Tina Kotek plans to present her proposal during a House Rules Committee meeting on Wednesday, in a move that if successful would bring the wage floor to $11 an hour in January before lifting it higher over time.
But the measure faces bleak prospects in the state Senate, whose leader opposes action on the issue this session.
The key there is “this session.” Oregon’s Senate president isn’t opposed to a higher, state-mandated minimum wage, he just doesn’t want to deal with it right now.
Given the incredibly liberal politics in the state, it isn’t difficult to see this becoming a reality sometime in the near future. It’s one of those issues that progressives can tug heartstrings with because math, economics and reality are harder to get across to voters than well-placed media stories about the mother who is trying to feed three kids on a minimum wage job, never mind the fact that she may very well be out of a job once the wage hike is passed.
Progressives are trying to trap people in lower wage jobs by making them slightly more comfortable with the wage increases all the while practically dismantling the next class (the middle) these people are trying to reach in the process.
At which point they’ll be forced to turn to the government for help.
They’re ruining lives while pretending to be champions of the downtrodden.
And getting away with it.
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