Politics. On Point.

So, the last time Paul Ryan visited an "inner city" was when?   The last time Paul Ryan talked to a group of African American men, in any "inner city" was when? Long line in a Sodexho food service job fair. Photo/ John Spink of the AC Journal. We'll have to assume Paul Ryan doesn't spend a lot of time in inner cities, since he is a part of a crowd that does everything it can to disenfranchise residents of inner cities. Yes, the unemployment rate in inner cities across the country is high.  But it isn't because men of color don't want to work, as Ryan suggests when he stated the following on a a conservative talk radio show. Said Ryan, “We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning to value the culture of work, so there is a real culture problem here that has to be dealt with.” Veterans crowd the "Hiring Our Heroes...

Minimum wage workers in Maryland could soon start to see an increase in pay.  On Saturday the Maryland Senate voted to raise the minimum wage to $10.10. The hike is expected to be at its full increase by 2018.  An increase of .75 cent begins  Jan 1, 2015 - that is, if Congress approves.  If it does Maryland governor Mark O'Malley can sign legislation into law. "Lawmakers did the right thing giving so many Maryland families the raise they deserve", O'Malley said. Echoing Governor O'Mally, President Obama said in a statement today, "The Maryland Legislature did the right thing for its workers today by increasing the state minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. With states like Maryland, and other states setting the example, President Obama is hoping all states will eventually follow suit. "Maryland’s important action is a reminder that many states, cities and counties – as well as a majority of the American people – are way ahead of Was...

Last month President Obama signed legislation increasing the minimum wage of contract workers from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour.   "It's time to give Americans a raise", the president said in several addresses this year, as well as in this week's Weekly Address.  "No one who works forty hours a week should live in poverty." Many see $10.10 per hour as a step in the right direction towards helping hard working Americans take care of their families.    Yet many employees in the fast food and retail industries held protests and went on strike  in an effort to get the minimum wage even higher, to a living wage of  $15 per hour. How about a happy medium, we can all live with? One Republican conservative is suggesting that the minimum wage be raised to $12 an hour.  Ron Unz says raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour would keep workers off welfare and government assistance, and allow workers to provide a living wage for ...

"Smart". "Right". "Efficient". Despite rebuffs from a few (out-of-touch) Republicans who think only teenagers and young people make the minimum wage of $7.25 hour, the Administration signed into law an Executive Order  setting the minimum wage for contractors to $10.10 an hour. (The Order includes a raise in pay for restaurant workers to $4.90 per hour). President Obama wants to 'give Americans a raise";  signs law raising minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. As stated in Section 1 of the Order, " Raising the pay of low-wage workers increases their morale and the productivity and quality of their work, lowers turnover and its accompanying costs, and reduces supervisory costs. These savings and quality improvements will lead to improved economy and efficiency in Government procurement." The sentiment was echoed by Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez, who said the move was the "smart", "right", and "efficient...