Give Republican Rep. Dennis Ross of Florida credit for being willing to express his theory that there should be no minimum wage directly to a constituent
who had been working for that minimum wage for 10 years.
ROSS: No. [...] I think it would do more harm to our economy than anything. You work at Arby’s, the cost of products, the cost of services are going to go up. [...] If we are going to make it a living wage, who’s going to pay for it? Who’s going to pay for it?
You see where this is about to go, right?
AUDIENCEMEMBER: I will. I’ll pay 20 cents extra for a hamburger. [Applause]
[Original questioner]: He said he’ll pay. So if he’ll pay, I’m going to work every day busting my butt. I want to know, would you take a walk in my shoes? Lay your tie and your suit down, just for a day, 24 hours, and take a walk in my shoes. The people that I work with, we’re keeping the economy floating and going in the cycle. But the people that hire, they’re just paying money, just throwing money. But I’m actually working every day. So why wouldn’t you support it?
But Ross kept his cool, because he's just
that devoted to the Screw You, I've Got Mine philosophy.
ROSS: Because it’s not right. Economically, it’s not right. It does more harm to our economy. [...] If the government’s going to tell me how much I can get paid and when I can work and when I can’t work, then we have a serious problem in this country.
I think that guy just lost himself a few votes. He's going to have to pander extra-hard to some corporate bigwigs to make up for it, but I think he has it in him.
