Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders announced this weekend he will cut staffers’ hours so that they can effectively be paid a $15-an-hour minimum wage, prompting mockery from critics who say the move is more evidence that Sanders’ plan to raise the national minimum wage is hypocritical and would only lead to less work and more unemployment.
The Washington Post first reported last Thursday that Sanders’ field staffers were upset that Sanders championed a $15 minimum wage on the campaign trail, and made headlines for railing against major corporations who pay “starvation wages” — even as his own employees made “poverty wages.”
In response, Sanders told The Des Moines Register he was “very proud” to lead the first major presidential campaign with unionized workers, but also “bothered” that news of the internal strife had spilled into the media.
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Reaction from commentators and lawmakers was unsparing.
“For the first time in his life, socialist Bernie Sanders practices economics and, buddy, the results are hilarious,” wrote columnist and humorist Stephen Miller. He added: “Why won’t millionaire Bernie Sanders, who owns 3 homes, instead of cutting hours, pay his staff a living wage? People are starving.”Video
Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw lambasted the discord in the Sanders’ campaign — which has been struggling in post-debate polls — as beyond parody.
“So does this fall under the category of hypocrisy, irony, or poetic justice?” Crenshaw asked. “All three? Can’t make this stuff up.”
“This situation is an instructive example of the downside of more than doubling the minimum wage,” wrote The Blaze’s Aaron Colen. “Companies don’t just suddenly get more money to pay employees. They have to make tough decisions; usually either cutting hours, or worse, cutting staff.” – READ MORE