Let’s do the math. Trump is on record as saying he will end $15 min wage AND he will lower the Fed. min wage because his opinion is that it is too high.
$15 per hour, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks of the year, the max hourly workers could earn would be: $31,200
$7.25 Fed min. wage, x 40, x 52=$15,080
keep in mind that not every state gets even Fed min wage, so for example, WY, the wages are even worse, $5.15 per hour in WY, for example. But most are $7.25 or thereabouts.
So, if the poverty definitions are as follows:
2020 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR THE 48 CONTIGUOUS STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
PERSONS IN FAMILY/HOUSEHOLD POVERTY GUIDELINE
1 $12,760
2 $17,240
3 $21,720
4 $26,200
5 $30,680
6 $35,160
7 $39,640
8 $44,120
For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $4,480 for each additional person.
The cutting of the min wage would plunge many people into poverty.
Since he is also trying to cut ACA, Food Stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, and other social safety nets, there would be nothing for those who fall below the poverty level.
So either you have to INCREASE min wage, or INCREASE spend on social programs.
If you decrease both, you will have countless homeless, sick and dying on the streets of all major cities.
And of course, cities are more expensive to live in than countryside, and some cities, like NYC and SF, are the most expensive places in the world to live.
In the UK, they have ‘weighting’ allowances for jobs in large cities, that is, additional cash for working in schools, hospitals and so on, for the workers who need to pay higher rents, commute longer distances, etc.
We might have to look at that here, because it is getting harder and harder to survive in NYC with prices going up and wages still stagnant, as in, not increasing any higher than inflation.
And finally, if Trump did have ANY replacement for ACA, NOW would be the time to show it, as a signature piece for his re-election campaign. The very fact that he has not shown it means it is not something that would stand up to scrutiny.
I can tell you what it is: ACA minus means testing, no pre-existing conditions (including being a woman [no, I am not joking here]) protections, and higher premiums. Above all, it would mean about 31 million thrown off health insurance and therefore access in the middle of the worst pandemic the world has ever seen.
And no, we are no closer to a safe and effective vaccine, and no, this administration has ZERO new treatments they have developed in response to this crisis, only items that already existed that they are basically ‘throwing against the wall to see what sticks’.
And no, we are not testing enough, and no, they are not doing contact tracking even when they know there have been superspreader events, such as the one at the WH that has affected more than 35 people at this point, including the POTUS himself.
211,000 is how many Benghazis??! People need to answer questions and be held accountable.
