Wage Theft: The Ongoing Justice Democrats Campaign to Hijack COVID-19 Relief

Self-interest. 

In community organizing, it's one of the first things we look at when we take on an issue. Who is involved? How are they involved why are they involved? What does victory look like for them and their community? What happens if we lose? When it comes to the opposition, we ask similar questions. Who's against us? Why are they against us? What do they have to gain if we lose? What do they have to lose if we win? What is keeping them from supporting us and our campaign?

It is through the lens of self-interest that I have taken a particular interest in the latest debate on Capitol Hill. That debate is centered on a $15 minimum wage, an issue that had zero traction on the campaign trail in 2020. Why is it that all of a sudden, a faction of Democrats seems hellbent on raising an issue that could go as far as potentially derailing the entire COVID-19 relief bill? What is their self-interest when it comes to this issue?

When you start asking these questions, you get some unique perspectives. Because as a whole, you'd think that the minimum wage bill would be championed by those who most need it for their home states. Red state representatives whose governors refuse to raise the wage. The states that have been stuck on $7.25 an hour while the most progressive states pushed toward $15. Those representatives should be the ones with the type of self-interest that would put $15/hour squarely at the top of their legislative agenda. They should be the ones leading the charge for this proposed legislation. 

But that is not at all what we're seeing. In fact, we're seeing the exact opposite. Leading the charge are a number of representatives who come from states that already have enacted $15 minimum wage laws. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who tries to be the least squad-y of the Squad has become extremely vocal in her support of a $15 minimum wage, despite being based in Massachusetts, a state whose minimum wage is $13.50 this year and a state that has already enacted legislation to reach $15/hour by 2023. Rep. Ro Khanna is from California's Silicon Valley where the city of San Francisco is already above $15/hour. He also happens to have a net worth of $27 million meaning this issue doesn't exactly impact those in his social network. And let's not forget Rep. Primila Jayapal, seemingly the face of the $15/hour movement who represents Seattle, which has the highest minimum wage in the country at $16.69 per hour at the start of 2021. Like Pressley and Khanna, Jayapal also has constituents who are already benefitting from an increased minimum wage. 

This raises the question: what's in it for them?

After all, you serve as a representative to represent your constituents. You advocate for them by advocating for policies that will directly benefit their lives. At least, that's how it's supposed to work. 

But folks like the Squad and their fellow Justice Democrats like Khanna and Jayapal don't work this way. They don't work for their constituents but instead, they work to build their "movement." It's why AOC raised $10.6 million for a Congressional primary she won by 56 points. Despite having been on the job for an entire term and having a significant war chest, AOC has yet to introduce a bill that has become law, a key indicator as to whether or not a representative is actually representing his or her constituents. Fellow squad member Ayanna Pressley has not introduced a single bill that has become law and Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib have only a single bill to their names. Meanwhile, non-Squad member Lauren Underwood buckled down and passed 3 bills during her first term, a critical achievement that helped her win reelection in a super competitive purple district. You don't see Underwood, whose home blue state of Illinois currently has a minimum wage of $11/hr., out there on the Sunday talk shows clamoring for a minimum wage increase. Instead, she puts her head down and goes to work. 

That's what separates representatives like Lauren Underwood from her Justice Democrat peers. She's not about the spotlight whereas the spotlight is the only tool the Justice Democrats have to stay relevant during a Biden Administration. After all, Biden is already becoming one of the most progressive presidents in history. He has the most diverse cabinet the country has ever seen. He's undoing all the damage Trump has done in the areas of climate and immigration justice. He just gave a speech that has been widely regarded as the most pro-union speech ever given by an American president. The COVID-19 relief bill can potentially cut childhood poverty in half. IN HALF! To quote Uncle Joe himself, "That is a big fucking deal." 

And it's a deal that was made without the Justice Democrats, who were too busy fighting for airtime on an issue they thought they could use to build their movement. Because at the end of the day, the American public is much more concerned about immediate COVID-19 relief than they are with the minimum wage. As many here have suggested, there is nothing stopping Khanna, Pressley, and Jayapal from writing a separate, stand-alone bill. But that would require work, something Justice Democrats are allergic to doing. It would also require each representative to work on a bill that has already been enacted in their home state. These representatives may be lazy, but they're not stupid. They know the optics of doing this would be an absolute disaster. So they continue to spout off nonsense on the Sunday talk shows, pretending to be champions of an issue that doesn't affect them or their constituents. It may play well in Justice Democrat circles but out here in the real world, voters are beginning to notice that their self-interests do not seem to match the self-interests of their elected officials. When that happens, voters begin to question the motivations of their elected officials and start to ask why they are working for themselves and not their constituents. 

It is a question we need to ask all Justice Democrats currently serving in Congress. Who do they represent? Because for Pressley, Khanna, and Jayapal the answer is not their constituents, at least not on this particular issue. Their self-interests are currently about building their brand rather than helping those that are suffering in their home districts. Their shenanigans around the $15 minimum wage have already caused a delay in providing COVID-19 relief to struggling American households. They talk a big game but when push comes to shove, they are doing more harm than help to everyone, including the very people they were elected to represent. They may all be in safe democratic districts, but the rest of us see them for what they are: chaos agents, funded by a shady PAC that is hellbent on destroying the Democratic Party from within. We may be six weeks into the Biden Administration, but we now know their exact playbook these next four years. 

It's up to all of us to continue to call out their subterfuge when we see it.