At an event in Detroit on Sunday night, Rep. Rashida Tlaib called for $20 an hour minimum wage. This prompted some great responses from the right, many of them threatening to force Democratic presidential candidates to address the issue in the upcoming debates.
The comment by Tlaib came during remarks to the Restaurant Opportunities Center of Michigan and the labor rights group One Fair Wage. The comments were recorded by the conservative political action committee America Rising. This is in response to the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passing a $15 federal minimum wage bill just last week. A bill that has very little chance of passing through the Senate, which is controlled by the GOP.
Tlaib commented on people who work in the service industry when she said "tipped employees make $2.13 per hour, federally."
"Think about that for one minute. People cannot live on those kind of wages, and I can't allow people to be living off tips, you know, relying on tips for wages. It's just not enough to support our families. ... By the way, when we started it, it should have been $15," Tlaib said while at the "Server for an Hour" tip.
"Now I think it should be $20 -- make sure America Rising hears that," she continued, while getting an applause, clearly she was buying their adoration. "It should be $20 an hour -- $18 to $20 an hour at this point. ... They say all of this is going to raise the cost, but I can tell you, milk has gone up, eggs have gone up, everything has gone up. The cost of a lot of things that we need has gone up already."
Rashida Tlaib Calls for $20 an Hour Minimum Wage
On Thursday the House passed legislation that would more than double minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour. As part of the bill, tipped workers will also have their minimum wage raised, from $2.13 to $15 an hour.
It's pretty easy to see that there not many restaurants that could continue to stay open if they are forced to pay $20 an hour to all servers on top of their tips they earn. It's just not realistic.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw appeared on Fox News and brought some reason to the situation.
Watch the latest video at foxnews.com$20-an-hour Minimum Wage
Earlier this week video from 2016 went viral that showed Tlaib being removed by security from a meeting at the Detroit Economic Club.
My god! Tlaib back in 2016. pic.twitter.com/7RNRpv32TO
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) July 20, 2019