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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Tonite on Countdown, 6/28/11

Here's a new feature that will appear weeknights one or more times per week. As you should know, I'm a big Keith Olbermann fan and I try to watch Countdown on Current TV most nights of the week. When something on the program piques my interest, it will appear in this time slot...most of the time. ;-)

Tonight, Keith noted that it is the contention of Republican Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann that eliminating the federal minimum wage would create jobs and spur the economy.

On count number one -- creating more jobs -- she most likely is correct. If employers could pay as little as possible, then real wages would go down. While it is very likely that many employers simply would pocket the savings, I have no doubt that some of that money would go toward hiring more people.

However, on count number two -- spurring the economy -- I think Bachmann has her head up her ass! If wages shot down, more of the working poor (possibly, the middle class too) would need various types of federal and state assistance just to get by from month-to-month. The Food Stamp rolls alone would explode.

Since Republicans like Bachmann also favor steep tax cuts, government at all levels would find itself in a terrible bind. More and more people would be signing up for assistance at the same time that assistance programs would be decreasing. So, while more people might be working, poverty figures would go through the roof.

The country would be in worse shape than it is now.

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