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Seattle fires research team that proved minimum wage hike would hurt low-wage workers
redalertpolitics ^ | July 6, 2017 | Alana Bannan

Posted on 07/21/2017 10:35:29 AM PDT by MarvinStinson

Seattle leaders are displaying shocking bias by turning over a study on their minimum wage increase to Michael Reich, a left-leaning economics professor at the University of California Berkeley, after their initial sanctioned study with the University of Washington (UW) proved their decision to raise the wage was having adverse effects.

Seattle’s 2014 legislation called for a gradual increase of the city’s minimum wage until it reaches $15 an hour. Following the vote, commissioners recruited a team of UW researchers to find the effects of the steady rising minimum wage. Not to the surprise of fiscal conservatives, the study found the last minimum wage increase ($10.50 to $13 an hour) resulted in a 6 percent drop of what employers are able to pay their employees — an adverse effect on both employment rates and the hours workers are able to pick up.

Despite the study receiving bipartisanship acknowledgment, Seattle city leaders abruptly pulled the UW study and turned it over to a well-known “raise the wage” activist. Seattle City councilwoman Kshama Sawanat critiqued the methodology and abruptly cut funding. “The moment we saw it was based on flawed methodology and was going to be unreliable, the Vigdor study no longer speaks for City Hall,” said Sawant, who ran for her current councilwoman position as a socialist.

Councilwoman Sawant’s dislike of the study’s methodology seems disingenuous and suspicions surrounding a bias on the part of Sawant and other city leaders deepen when looking at who city leaders sought out as a replacement for evaluating the effects of Seattle’s minimum wage.

Sawant and Mayor Murray contacted Professor Reich of UC Berkeley after retracting funding from the University of Washington team. Professor Reich is most well-known for being a founding member of the anti-capitalist group, the Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE). URPE states on their website that their mission is to “construct a progressive social policy, and a human-centered radical alternative to capitalism.”

Professor Reich’s clear personal opposition to capitalism coupled with his past studies revealing the benefits of raising the minimum wage leave one wondering if Seattle city leaders sought him out for his politics rather than his economic expertise.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: bluezones; fired; minimum; seattle; wage; workforce

1 posted on 07/21/2017 10:35:29 AM PDT by MarvinStinson
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To: MarvinStinson

Just goes to show that it’s not “Settled science” until the politburo approves of the results.


2 posted on 07/21/2017 10:37:34 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

You mean something like global warming?


3 posted on 07/21/2017 10:39:21 AM PDT by MarvinStinson
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To: MarvinStinson

Por supuesto!


4 posted on 07/21/2017 10:42:28 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

Not Settled Science, but Seattle Science.


5 posted on 07/21/2017 10:46:31 AM PDT by Mister Da (The mark of a wise man is not what he knows, but what he knows he doesn't know!)
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To: MarvinStinson
Despite the study receiving bipartisanship acknowledgment, Seattle city leaders abruptly pulled the UW study and turned it over to a well-known “raise the wage” activist. Seattle City councilwoman Kshama Sawanat critiqued the methodology and abruptly cut funding. “The moment we saw it was based on flawed methodology and was going to be unreliable, the Vigdor study no longer speaks for City Hall,” said Sawant, who ran for her current councilwoman position as a socialist.

The hysterical left is the enemy of poor people, but the simple dots never get connected.

6 posted on 07/21/2017 10:47:52 AM PDT by Seaplaner (Never give in. Never give in. Never...except for convictions of honour and good sense. W. Churchill)
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To: MarvinStinson

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act ~ George Orwell...


7 posted on 07/21/2017 10:50:19 AM PDT by null and void (This is how socialists work: Erase the past, Bankrupt the present, Steal from the future.)
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To: MarvinStinson

Bkmk


8 posted on 07/21/2017 11:03:32 AM PDT by Sergio (An object at rest cannot be stopped! - The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight)
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To: BenLurkin
Por supuesto!

The French would say, 'Quelle suprise!'

9 posted on 07/21/2017 11:08:41 AM PDT by Quality_Not_Quantity (If we're going to look at nature to justify our actions, then I say let's start flinging poop around)
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To: MarvinStinson

Oh, brother. They didn’t like YooDub’s take so they went to Bezerkeley? That’s actually pretty funny in a bitter sort of way...


10 posted on 07/21/2017 11:11:05 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: MarvinStinson

They voted for socialism, let them have it.


11 posted on 07/21/2017 12:30:34 PM PDT by NativeSon ( Grease the floor with Crisco when I dance the Disco)
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To: MarvinStinson
RATS aren't smart enough to understand the business model of a lemonade stand
12 posted on 07/21/2017 3:43:06 PM PDT by Chode (You have all of the resources you are going to have. Abandon your illusions and plan accordingly.)
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