On Monday, the Congressional Budget Office published a 17-page report breaking down the devastating harm a $15 an hour minimum wage would do to the American people. Ignoring the soaring unemployment, price increases, and mounting deficit, the CBS Evening News lamented President Biden’s apparent willingness to drop the wage hike from his coronavirus relief package. They also touted the plan from socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to ram it through anyway.
Despite the fact, the CBO found “employment would be reduced by 1.4 million workers,” CBS White House correspondent Weijia Jiang refused to tell viewers about it as she talked about Biden’s change of tone. “The President's relief package calls for money to set up more sites and a $15 an hour minimum wage, though he admitted the chances of that are slim,” she said.
From there, she took to boosting a plot to have Democrats ram the wage hike through no matter how damaging it was:
That was met by disappointment by progressive Senator Bernie Sanders who tweeted: “The only way” to raise the minimum wage “is through the reconciliation process,” which Democrats can use to pass the entire proposal without Republicans.
What else did the CBO discover?
“The cumulative budget deficit … would increase by $54 billion” over a ten-year period, they wrote. On top of that, there would be “[h]igher prices for goods and services—stemming from the higher wages of workers paid at or near the minimum wage, such as those providing long-term health care—would contribute to increases in federal spending.”
While NBC Nightly News also disregarded the CBO report, they didn’t try to push Sanders’ plan to use reconciliation. On the other hand, ABC’s World News Tonight gave a quick breakdown of the report and called it a “major roadblock” for the so-called Fight for 15.
“A nonpartisan study out today found that while it would give a major boost to low-income workers, it would also cost about 1.4 million jobs and add $54 billion to the deficit over the next decade,” reported chief White House correspondent Cecilia Vega.
She added: “The White House is pushing back on those findings, but even President Biden is conceding now that this could be a loss at this point. He says Democrats are going to have to work their way up in separate legislation to that $15 an hour, David.”
What also went unmentioned (including in the CBO report) was the harm to small businesses.
With small businesses forced to shut down or run at reduced capacity because of the pandemic, they didn’t have the money to cover a wage hike, rent increases, tax hikes, inventory price increases, and the list goes on. This was especially true for restaurants, an industry already teetering on the brink of disaster for many.
But these liberal media elites didn’t care. Their jobs were secure. They weren’t the ones that had to pay the bills of small businesses. They didn’t have to hand pink slips to their loyal coworkers or dear friends.
CBS’s disregard for the lives and livelihoods of small businesses was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from massive corporations like GSK via Advil and Fisher Investments. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund. CBS Evening has also asked people to text anchor Norah O’Donnell at this number: (202) 217-1107.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
February 8, 2021
6:44:30 p.m. Eastern(…)
CECILIA VEGA: The White House said today that President Biden is on board with this, but on that minimum wage, the $15 an hour minimum wage, they are hitting a major roadblock there, David. Take a look at this.
A nonpartisan study out today found that while it would give a major boost to low-income workers, it would also cost about 1.4 million jobs and add $54 billion to the deficit over the next decade.
The White House is pushing back on those findings, but even President Biden is conceding now that this could be a loss at this point. He says Democrats are going to have to work their way up in separate legislation to that $15 an hour, David.
(…)
CBS Evening News
February 8, 2021
6:38:31 p.m. Eastern(…)
WEIJIA JIANG: The President's relief package calls for money to set up more sites and a $15 an hour minimum wage, though he admitted the chances of that are slim.
NORAH O’DONNELL: So, you're saying the minimum wage won't be in this.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: My guess is it will not be in it.
JIANG: That was met by disappointment by progressive Senator Bernie Sanders who tweeted: “The only way” to raise the minimum wage “is through the reconciliation process,” which Democrats can use to pass the entire proposal without Republicans.
(…)
