Poverty is exhausting

The House GOP met to decide what to do with Marjorie Taylor Greene. She’s said some vile things (check previous posts or any news service) and the House Dems said if the GOP doesn’t act they will. Laura Clawson of Daily Kos reported the House GOP met. MTG had said she won’t back down nor apologize. Once in the GOP meeting she did just that. In the GOP meeting. Not where the general public could hear her. The full House voted to strip MTG from her committees, which passed 230-199 with 11 Republicans voting yes. I heard later that she said she didn’t want committee work anyway (sour grapes?) and this would allow her more time to travel around the country stirring up trouble (my word, not hers). The GOP controlled Michigan Legislature does not like that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has been doing great work in keeping state residents safe from the virus. Michigan had an October surge (which started when the GOP convinced the state Supreme Court to overturn the law that made Whitmer’s executive orders possible). But the peak was in early November, not late December as in the rest of the country, and cases per day have been dropping since. That was possible because the state health department issued mask mandates and other measures. While the virus cases per day is down by a lot the level is still higher than it was in September. Alllison Donahue of Michigan Advance reported the state GOP is coming up with annoying ways to disrupt Whitmer’s leadership. While declaring the “balance at the bargaining table” has been “emasculated” (ooh, you big strong boys can’t face a powerful woman? – that’s such a sexist way to describe it), the GOP has rejected five more of Whitmer’s appointees for various state university boards. That’s after rejecting 13 of them last week. In another post Donahue reported on what the GOP has been doing with a $3.5 billion COVID recovery plan for Michigan. This article is from a week ago and I heard today the bill has made progress. The state House plan is $3.5 billion (as mentioned above). The state Senate plan is $4 billion. Whitmer asked for $5.6. All are based on getting federal dollars. Here’s the annoying part. The House said they would withhold $2.1 billion of school funding until Whitmer surrenders her pandemic executive powers to county and city health departments, letting locals determine whether to open indoor dining and permit indoor school sports. This is another reason I’m convinced the GOP wants us all dead. Michigan Radio reported on another annoying part. The GOP led House wants to release federal money it already received in four installments, rather than all at once. They say it will make the process more “transparent and accountable.” But advocates for the poor say the money is needed now. The delay is again to pressure Whitmer. Indoor dining at 25% capacity resumed this past Monday. I may have to add markers in my Michigan COVID charts to note these government decisions to explain why case numbers go back up. Meteor Blades, in his night owl column for Kos, quoted Chuck Collins at Inequality.org who wrote about the legislators in Washington state considering a wealth tax. It would tax 1% on wealth over $1 billion and affect fewer than 100 households in the state. At a virtual hearing a few days ago over 40 people spoke in favor of the tax, including Dan Price, CEO of Gravity Payments, who would have to pay the tax. He is aware that because Washington relies on a sales tax he pays a much lower percentage than working people even with this wealth tax. Another reason this tax is appealing is because in the last ten months the billionaires in the state saw their wealth surge by 47%. A raise in the minimum wage to $15 was included in Biden’s COVID relief package now working its way through Congress. Over the last couple days Congress approved that the package will be handled through the budget reconciliation process, which cannot be filibustered. Laura Clawson reported VP Kamala Harris exercised her first tie-breaking vote to get it through the Senate after an all-nighter working through amendments. Joan McCarter of Kos reported this basic piece has also passed the House. In doing so Speaker Pelosi accused the GOP of “rediscovering” their deficit obsession after ignoring it during the nasty guy years and when they passed the tax cut for the rich. Of course, the GOP is whining about the inclusion of a minimum wage increase. Clawson reported alas, so are a few conservative Democrats. Clawson also discussed how minimum wage fits into the budget reconciliation process, which is supposed to be used for things that actually affect the budget – either government spending or income from taxes. And raising the minimum wage does. Clawson pulled in research that shows raising the minimum wage saves government expenditures because there is less need for such things as food stamps (now known as SNAP). The size of the spending drop could be $11 billion to $31 billion. In addition, those that earn more money pay more taxes. That could bring in up to $14 billion. Marissa Higgins of Kos added another aspect of increasing the minimum wage that should please the employers. Higgins discussed a recent study, then wrote:

In short: When you have money, you can pay off your debts, bills, and necessities. This frees up mental space and gives you room for… just about anything else, including actually doing your job correctly and efficiently. According to these findings, giving people more money helps workers and helps employers. … Poverty is exhausting. … It’s no surprise, then, that when people have more money they feel relief in having more control and autonomy, and thus have more focus and more productivity on the tasks at hand. Raising the minimum wage, or even working on bigger picture changes, like universal basic income programs, could make an enormous impact on low-income workers’ mental health. And if there’s something we all deserve, it’s peace of mind.

Those same conservative Democrat who are concerned about raising the minimum wage are also getting concerned about the next round of relief checks going to people who don’t need it. Kos of Kos discussed why their concerns don’t make sense. Some of his reasons: It is hard to base the relief on income. The IRS doesn’t have 2020 income data yet. And basing relief on 2019 income doesn’t account for those who lost their jobs in 2020. Why is this a discussion? Since this is going through budget reconciliation there is no need to please the GOP. And voters don’t want needy people to get left out. If they really want to make sure higher earners don’t get it, give it to them anyway and work the rules to get it back in their 2021 taxes. Or not. Better to just raise taxes on the rich. Then $1400 relief check won’t make much difference. Also, since the two Democrats from Georgia won on $2000 relief checks, send out $2000 relief checks. The money will be needed anyway. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez posted an emotional video describing what she was experiencing during the Capitol attack. Conservative commentators dismissed her trauma and the Twitter hashtag #AOCLied was started. K-pop performers and fans did what they’ve done before and flooded that hashtag with photos of cute pets. Aysha Qamar of Kos collected several of those tweets, saying things like: My pet doesn’t think #AOCLied. Worth a look if you like dogs and cats.