This afternoon the Michigan Senate passed S.B. 934 which raises the minimum wage in Michigan but by less than an indirect initiated state statute ballot referendum would have. This legislation short-circuits the ballot initiative. However, the legislation as passed by the Senate does reflect some changes since it was first introduced. In the beginning, the legislation only increased the minimum […]

As I have written about before, Republicans are petrified of a drive to put raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour on the ballot in November. It’s such a winning issue for Democrats that Republicans know that they simply must kill it or risk losing big on election day as more Democrats than usual turn out to vote in […]

“Here are some crumbs. Don’t eat them all at once.” Senate Republicans seem to be on a mission to outdo each other on making meaningless and insulting gestures toward lifting the working poor in our state out of poverty. First we had Rick Jones who proposed raising the minimum wage to a paltry $8.15 an hour and giving full-time waiters […]

Republicans are terrified of the Raise the Wage proposal. They know that, if it gets on the 2014 ballot, Democrats will turn out in droves. They are counting on Democrats staying home during a midterm election so that they can retain the governship so the idea of heavy Dem turnout gives them the howling fantods. Republican Rick Jones, however, has […]

It’s not a racist dog whistle. It’s just racist. The national effort to raise the minimum wage (which hasn’t been done since July 24, 2009) is a winning issue for Democrats. Because of this, conservatives Republicans corporatists are freaking out. It’s got them so freaked out that economist Art Laffer, the father of “trickle down economics”, skipped past using coded, […]

President Obama came to Ann Arbor, Michigan yesterday to promote raising the national minimum wage to $10.10. His speach was full of energy and populism and had the crowd of around 1,400 on their feet and energized for the entire 35 minutes. Chris and I were there to record it. Before I came here today, I stopped at Zingerman’s, which […]

As groups around the state prepare to gather signatures to put a proposal on the ballot to raise Michigan’s minimum wage, a coalition of businessmen is preparing to fight the proposal tooth and nail. Before you bust my chops for using the phrase “businessmen”, take a look at video from the event. Other than Sen. Rebecca Warren, there do not […]

Of puppets and strings and doing the right thing This morning Democratic candidate for governor Mark Schauer called for increasing the minimum wage in Michigan to $9/hour. It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s wildly popular. A Gallup poll released last week shows that a full 76% of Americans support this move, up 5 points from just last […]