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EDWARDS ON POVERTY, IMMIGRATION, THE WAR AT SEIU. A key distinction emerges between John Edwards and Hillary Clinton; Hillary discussed the history of labor in terms of the creation of the middle class, Edwards portrays it as a fight against poverty: "The greatest anti-poverty movement in American history is the organized labor movement." This is typical of the different ways in which these two candidates talk about inequality.
Edwards goes a step further than Clinton and Obama's vague complaints about the "outdated" minimum wage and gives a specific numeric goal for a raise: $9.50. Moving onto a national law against predatory lending and the need for Congress to stop funding the war in Iraq, Edwards is approaching Obama-level enthusiasm from the crowd, which is standing and chanting his name. I like this new line on immigration: "I do not want to live in a United States of America made up of first class citizens and second class workers."
Edwards draws to a close by declaring that despite his wife's ill health, "This is the cause of my life. ... It's clear what I'm going to do. The question is, what are you going to do?" He says he feels the energy of the Civil Rights movement in the movement to end the Iraq war. "Brothers and sisters, like Dr. King, I can see the promised land, it's there, it's right in front of us, the question is, will we have the courage to go in step there? Will we lead? The only thing I ask all of you is to trust your heart. You know what to do!"
Edwards asks again, "Do you believe?" and the audience jumps up screaming and clapping and cheering. They are with him as he intones "God bless you all," and blows them a kiss.
--Dana Goldstein
COMMENTS (17)
Why doesn't anyone ask how raising the minimum wage will help the people who get laid off because of it?
Posted by: Terry | September 17, 2007 6:11 PM
Why doesn't anyone ask how raising the minimum wage will help the people who get laid off because of it?
Probably because of the dearth of empirical evidence to suggest that a higher minimum wage increases unemployment. But yeah, I know, Econ 101 and all that.
Posted by: Steve | September 17, 2007 6:16 PM
Sigh. I'm with Johnny. But I think talking about creating/sustaining the middle class is the general election winner here, not poverty.
Posted by: Buford P. Stinkleberry | September 17, 2007 6:17 PM
Increasing the minimum wage doesn't increase unemployment.
Really?
Then why not raise it to $100.00 an hour?
Of course states with lower minimum wages have lower unemployment rates, but that doesn't count.
Steve your a schmuck.
Posted by: Terry | September 17, 2007 6:22 PM
Thanks for this post, Dana... I can't wait to see video of the speech.
If people want more on how raising the minimum wage doesn't cause unemployment, I summarize the consensus among labor economists here.
Posted by: Neil the Ethical Werewolf | September 17, 2007 6:23 PM
Terry, you're being an idiot. When people say that climbing stairs doesn't cause death, it's kind of silly to say "but what if you climb all the way to outer space where there's no oxygen?" And that's basically what you're doing with this ridiculous $100 figure.
What empirical research in labor economics has shown over the last several decades is that 15-20% wage increases don't have a negative impact on employment, and may have a positive one. The post I linked has all the links you might want, from the Card/Krueger study in Pennsylvania that started it all, to the Krueger/Katz study in Texas that found minimum wage increases increasing total employment.
Posted by: Neil the Ethical Werewolf | September 17, 2007 6:27 PM
Good answer, Neil. Although I sort of suspect he may not be interested in thinking for himself on this issue.
Posted by: Steve | September 17, 2007 6:38 PM
"Sigh. I'm with Johnny. But I think talking about creating/sustaining the middle class is the general election winner here, not poverty."
Well, the problem with saying "unions created the middle class" is that no one today thinks that is true. Today, nearly everyone thinks "education creates the middle class." Then they decide it is the duty of the poor to get themselves edjumacated. Saying "unions prevent poverty" sounds more believable in the US today.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 17, 2007 6:49 PM
Neil, that was hilarious.
Terry, you are an embarrassment to the human race. Go wither somewhere.
Posted by: Buford P. Stinkleberry | September 17, 2007 6:50 PM
Adjunct to that, of course, is that the middle class doesn't want to foot the bill for the poor. So, if "unions prevent poverty," that's a good thing.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 17, 2007 6:51 PM
Glad you enjoyed it Neil! It was a really exciting event.
Posted by: Dana | September 17, 2007 8:05 PM
Terry writes "Steve your a schmuck."
Wow, sometimes you don't even need to grab for the punchline, do you??!!??
Posted by: Another Steve | September 17, 2007 8:48 PM
Combatting pooverty and the creation of the middle class are linked even if you agree with Anonymous @ 6:49 that education is primarily responsible for creating the middle class. Not unless we transform the structure of educational funding in this nation, which ties funding of local schools to property taxes.
Posted by: StJoe | September 17, 2007 10:39 PM
That should be "Unless" instead of "Not unless"...
Posted by: StJoe | September 17, 2007 10:42 PM
I like this new line on immigration: "I do not want to live in a United States of America made up of first class citizens and second class workers."
I do too, but then again I tend to have a bit of a morbid fascination with tricksters, liars, cheaters as well as those they are able to take in.
Please provide below examples of John Edwards using his time in office to try to prevent the situation he decries.
It's almost pathological how some are able to support someone whose policies have helped create the situation he pretends to oppose.
Posted by: TLB | September 17, 2007 10:58 PM
I do too, but then again I tend to have a bit of a morbid fascination with tricksters, liars, cheaters as well as those they are able to take in.
Must be tough to drag yourself away from the mirror.
Posted by: Col Bat Guano | September 17, 2007 11:38 PM
"Combatting pooverty and the creation of the middle class are linked even if you agree with Anonymous @ 6:49 that education is primarily responsible for creating the middle class."
Oh, I don't believe that Saint Joe, but I believe that the majority of educated Americans believe education creates the middle class. That's why they think the problem with GM workers is that they decided to stay and work at the plant like their fathers did rather than go get an education in order to move up in the world, and do something more productive. Certainly they thought that on Wall Street in the 1990s when they launched their campaign against all those $50K factory jobs, plus outrageous benefits. After all, plenty of educated white collar workers don't even get that!
Thus, according to the educated, education creates the middle class.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 18, 2007 9:45 AM