Sen. Ron Johnson Would Rather Put More Money In Government Than In Workers Pockets

Tweet

I had to revisit this one.

In a Gazette article reporting on Sen. Ron. Johnson's "town hall" meeting, a Janesville resident asked Johnson if it would be better to raise the minimum wage.

JG Excerpt:
Johnson told Griffith he doesn't support a federal push to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour. Instead, he said tax breaks, some for corporate entities and corporation heads, would keep capitol costs cheap and prevent corporations such as major fast-food chains from further automation and job cutting.

Johnson said that some analysts predict a minimum wage hike would cause the economy to shed 500 million or more jobs.

Johnson said the only minimum wage legislation he'd support is an immigration tax reform. He said it would create a minimum wage tax that would discourage companies from hiring migrant workers, which he argues lowers pay overall for lower-wage earners.

That was not only a perfect snapshot of Sen. Ron Johnson's mentality, but of nearly every "conservative" tool of the rich sitting in Congress. Ask any of them about raising the wage for the bottom and they fire back with tax breaks for the top. They call it trickle-down yet it never pours hard enough to ever reach or raise the bottom.

But Johnson's creation of a minimum wage tax on companies to "discourage" them from hiring migrant workers takes the cake. Almost in one breath, his first concern for high capital costs on businesses magically disappears so long as government can collect a special tax from companies that pay their workers at or below minimum wage.

Somehow in Johnson's twisted world, he believes it's better to put those "capital" earnings generated by the workers, not into their pockets, but in government's pockets - not to punish the company, but instead grant it license to pay low wages. How any of this lifts minimum wage worker's out of poverty is beyond me. It's as if that goal is not even a part of the equation.

At the same time, Johnson's support for a new tax on minimum wage companies is a direct admission that they CAN afford to pay their workers better and even if Congress were crazy enough to entertain Johnson's ideas, they would have to be in addition to raising the minimum wage substantially - not in place of it.