This week, Biden is expected to roll out his amnesty plan with elected Democrats. Simultaneously, as a result of economic lockdowns spurred by the Chinese coronavirus crisis, about 17.1 million Americans are out of work but all of whom want full-time jobs.
Bloodbath? The Looming Democratic Civil War on the Minimum Wage
Source: AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
It's either going to be civil war or not much of a fight at all. It all depends on how much Chuck Schumer wants to avoid a primary challenge from the progressive Left. The fight to increase the minimum wage is front-and-center now that the second Trump impeachment trial is over. Democrats plan to use reconciliation to pass a massive $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill, which might include a minimum wage hike. Democrats cannot afford to lose a single vote. Well, so far, they’ve lost two, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Krysten Sinema (D-AZ). At this point, it’s dead in the water. Will this measure get 60 votes going through the regular legislative process? Maybe. Senate Republicans have offered a bill of their own that increases the minimum wage to $15, but it’s only for American citizens. It contains measures to ensure businesses don’t hire illegal aliens, so that’s not going anywhere. I do think there might be enough votes to increase the minimum wage, but the politicking will begin here, and once again there will be theatrics.
Progressives supposedly want the phased-in approach, which was widely mocked when first proposed, but hey—I guess it’s better than nothing. There’s also another issue of the Senate parliamentarian refusing to sign off on the minimum wage increase for reconciliation as it’s wholly unrelated to matters of the budget, though the Senate can ignore the ruling. Sinema and Manchin just became the center of the universe, and open warfare among Democrats over the minimum wage could erupt (via WSJ):
Democrats are bracing for an internal battle over raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, as they grappled with the political and procedural constraints on reaching a long-held goal of the party’s progressive wing.
Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, which President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan proposes to do by 2025, faces opposition from some Democratic lawmakers and parliamentary hurdles. Democrats cannot afford to lose a single vote in the 50-50 Senate on the relief package, which also calls for sending many Americans a $1,400 direct check, bolstering federal unemployment aid, and offering funds for vaccine distribution and testing.
[…]
Using reconciliation comes with limitations, though, as Senate rules prevent Congress from using it to approve measures that aren’t directly related to the budget. The nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian hears arguments and rules on whether policy provisions are eligible to be passed under reconciliation. Some Democrats expect that the minimum-wage increase will not be eligible, while others push for its inclusion. Mr. Biden said earlier this month he expected the parliamentarian would rule the minimum-wage increase out of bounds.
[…]
A ruling by the parliamentarian either way will create a quandary for Democrats. If the parliamentarian says Democrats can raise the minimum wage through reconciliation, the party will have to forge a compromise between the lawmakers who favor the current $15 minimum wage proposal and those who oppose it.
If the parliamentarian rules against raising the minimum wage through reconciliation, Democrats will face calls from progressive lawmakers and activists to ignore the ruling. Under the chamber’s rules, the presiding officer of the Senate can disregard the parliamentarian’s advice—a step that would allow Democrats to dispense with the historical rules of the reconciliation process. When the vice president is breaking ties in the Senate, she presides over the chamber, though other lawmakers can also preside.
This seems like a very complicated process—and it is! Hence, why did we screw around and waste time on an impeachment effort that everyone saw as going nowhere? It never had the votes, and the charges were grade-A political overreach. Meanwhile, millions of working families are struggling and suffering in an economic purgatory over the Democrats’ COVID lockdown regime—and Congress decided to waste more time. Oh, and after impeachment was over—these guys decided to skip town. This is bound to be a mess, with lots of yelling. Democrats cannot govern. It’s like an episode of Hoarders. Democrats don’t know how to prioritize, get rid of the clutter, or understand how they got here. If I’m forced to make a prediction, I’d say that this minimum wage hike is dead in the water for COVID relief. It doesn’t have the votes on either front. Biden already said he would pursue a wage hike in a separate bill if the parliamentarian rules against it during the reconciliation process. This is about Democrats being scared of the ascendant and vocal progressive base which is watching closely here. Primary challenges could ensue, and no one knows that better than Mr. Schumer.
Tom Cotton, Mitt Romney Plan Will Boost U.S. Wages, Mandate E-Verify
Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) are teaming up to introduce legislation that will boost Americans’ wages while punishing employers for illegal hiring.
Cotton and Romney announced on Tuesday that their legislation will raise the federal minimum wage gradually, over time, by having it increase with inflation. The minimum wage has not been raised in any way since 2009, when the cost of living was 20 percent lower.
Simultaneously, the Cotton-Romney plan would drastically increase protections for the United States labor market by requiring all employers to use the E-Verify system that protects American jobs for Americans and legal immigrants — barring the employment of illegal aliens whom working class Americans are often forced to compete against.
“We have an obligation to protect our workers and fellow citizens,” Cotton wrote in a statement online. “This common-sense proposal will give millions of Americans the raise they deserve.”
Today, Americans have to compete against millions of illegal immigrants who take illegally low wages under the table.
We can fix this by requiring employers to verify the legal status of every worker so they can’t undercut Americans on the black market.
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) February 16, 2021
Our proposal gradually raises the minimum wage without costing jobs and then sets it to increase automatically with inflation.
This minimum-wage increase will go into effect after the pandemic has ended and include protections for small businesses.
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) February 16, 2021
Romney, who has been a proponent of mandatory E-Verify, said the legislation is about protecting the nation’s workforce from unfair foreign competition and an increased cost of living.
Congress hasn’t raised the minimum wage in more than a decade, leaving many Americans behind. Our proposal gradually raises the minimum wage without costing jobs, setting it to increase automatically with inflation, and requires employers to verify the legal status of workers.
— Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) February 16, 2021
For years, a wide majority of Americans have supported both gradual increases to the minimum wage and mandatory E-Verify to punish businesses for illegal hiring practices. In Florida, which voted twice for former President Trump, more than 60 percent of voters supported increasing the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by September 2026.
Mandatory E-Verify, likewise, has remained one of the most popular policy initiatives across racial, class, and party lines. Its biggest opponents have been the politically-connected donor class.
A weekly survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports shows that more than 7-in-10 likely voters agree that mandatory E-Verify should become law to protect the U.S. workforce. This includes 74 percent of Hispanic likely voters. Less than 20 percent of likely voters oppose mandatory E-Verify.
Additionally, 65 percent of likely voters say it is better for employers to raise wages and try harder to recruit the 17.1 million Americans who are out of work rather than importing cheaper foreign workers. Another 61 percent of likely voters say the U.S. already has enough skilled talent in the domestic labor pool for employers to recruit from.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
Joe Biden Recommits to Amnesty for Illegal Aliens as 17M Americans Are Jobless
President Joe Biden recommitted on Tuesday that he wants to pass an amnesty for 11 to 22 million illegal aliens living in the United States even as more than 17 million Americans remain jobless.
During a CNN town hall event with Anderson Cooper in Wisconsin, Biden said it is “essential” that any piece of legislation regarding immigration must include an amnesty for nearly all illegal aliens in the U.S.
The exchange went as follows:
COOPER: Just to be clear though … you do want a pathway to citizenship for roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants and that would be essential in any bill for you?
BIDEN: Well, yes. But, by the way, if you came along and said to me, “In the meantime we can work out a system whereby we’re going to” … for example, we used to allow refugees, 125,000 refugees into the United States on a yearly basis. It was as high as 250,000. Trump cut it 5,000.
Come with me … into Sierra Leone. Come with me into parts of Lebanon. Come with me around the world and see people piled up in camps, kids dying, no way out, refugees fleeing from persecution. We, the United States, used to do our part. We were part of that … “send me your huddled masses.”
If you had a refugee bill by itself, I’m not suggesting that, but … there are things I would deal by itself but not at the expense of saying I’m never going to do the other. There is a reasonable path to citizenship.
This week, Biden is expected to roll out his amnesty plan with elected Democrats. Simultaneously, as a result of economic lockdowns spurred by the Chinese coronavirus crisis, about 17.1 million Americans are out of work but all of whom want full-time jobs.
In his previously proposed amnesty plan, out late last month, Biden seeks to immediately provide green cards to millions of illegal aliens considered farmworkers, enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries.
The amnesty would provide all other illegal aliens with a fast-track to green cards and citizenship while driving up legal immigration by providing more visas to programs like the Diversity Visa Lottery and exempting family members of certain visa holders from current caps.
Already, the U.S. provides green cards to 1.2 million legal immigrants and 1.4 million temporary visas to foreign nationals every year. These arrivals are in addition to the hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens who turn up at the U.S.-Mexico border and are either released into the interior of the country or successfully cross without being detected by federal immigration officials.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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