Democrats don’t often practice what they preach (the examples of high-flying “green” hypocrites Al Gore and Tom Steyer spring to mind). The latest example of the far-Left’s “do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do” line of reasoning comes courtesy of liberal Seattle billionaire and Democrat financier Nick Hanauer.
Hanauer is a vocal supporter of raising the minimum wage. He backed the $15 NOW movement and once told the Seattle Times that if the state Legislature did not pass the bill raising the minimum wage to $12 per hour, he would go to the ballot with “a statewide $16-an-hour minimum-wage initiative in 2016.”
Hanauer has since settled for supporting an initiative seeking to increase the statewide minimum wage to $13.50 per hour.
The liberal billionaire has made his “big issue” the so-called “living wage.” He says he believes every worker should earn the “living wage.” But, his actions don’t quite add up to his words.
You see, Hanauer doesn’t pay his employees $16 per hour, $13.50 per hour, or even $12 per hour.
According to reports, “entry-level, unskilled workers at his company in North Carolina start at $7.50 per hour, while higher-skilled workers earn upwards of $11.”
When asked to explain his hypocrisy, Hanauer recently responded via Twitter, “Because the min wage [in North Carolina] is 7.25 an hour. Make me raise wages by raising the minimum wage.”
Let’s compare Hanauer’s words now to what he said of Wal-Mart and McDonald just a couple of years ago. Hanauer claimed, “When Wal-Mart or McDonald’s or any other guy like me pays workers the minimum wage, that’s our way of saying, ‘I would pay you less, except then I’d go to prison.’”
Interesting, so we could deduce (from his actions and words) that Hanauer would pay his employee less if it were legal. The liberal billionaire’s hypocrisy would be unbelievable if we didn’t come to expect it from the far-Left.
As the Washington Policy Center points out, Hanauer readily “belittles small employers who say forcing them to pay a $15 wage to every unskilled, entry-level workers will hurt their business (or at the least force them to make tough decisions about how to stay in business).” But, he doesn’t seem to mind if big business billionaires like him pay entry-level wages for unskilled, entry-level jobs.
