Minimum Wage Bidding War By Raimondo & Taveras Swiftly Rebuked By Latest Unemployment Rate

On Thursday, citing his mother’s employment history (how could you say no to his mother, you hard-hearted person???) , gubernatorial candidate Mayor Angel Taveras announced at a press conference that a hike to $10.10/hour of the state’s minimum wage should be phased in by 2018. A couple of hours later, General Treasurer Gina Raimondo, who, starting with the announcement of her candidacy for the democrat gov nomination, has been energetically chucking her reputation for fiscal responsibility overboard with both hands, countered with a call for the increase to happen next year – the hell with the phase-in.

Later that day came the news about Rhode Island’s December unemployment rate. From the article in Friday’s Providence Journal.

The unemployment rate ticked up in December to 9.1 percent, from 9.0 percent, and the state lost 1,500 jobs, according to data released Thursday by the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.

And today comes confirmation that Rhode Island has the highest unemployment rate in the country.

It is tempting to ask here why it is that the lifting of e-verify and implementation of gay marriage hasn’t done more economically, as projected, for our state. The answer, of course, is that certain specific factors contribute to a robust economy. On that list is NOT the retraction of e-verify, the implementation of gay marriage or, in the case of Friday’s bidding war by Raimondo and Taveras, the raising of the minimum wage.

These candidates, and any others who support an increase of the minimum wage, have demonstrated that they are not at all serious about fixing the state’s economy but they are, as Justin points out, very serious about pandering for votes with someone else’s money.

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