The Super-Wealthy VC Behind The Fight For A $15 Minimum Wage

Nick Hanauer, a venture capitalist, is fighting to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. (nickhanauer.com)

A few years ago, the fight for raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour may have felt impossible, but after years of organized protests and campaigns, the movement has made progress.

Last year, a small handful of states and cities began taking steps to phase in the wage hike and this year, there may be more changes in at least five states and nine cities.

Nick Hanauer is one of the people behind the movement. As a well-known technology entrepreneur and venture capitalist with several yachts, vacation homes and a private jet, he is, notably, not making minimum wage, but he believes that a higher minimum would be good business for him, and, according to Hanauer, the right moral choice.

He joins Here & Now’s Robin Young to share his perspective on the fight for raising the minimum wage.

Interview Highlights: Nick Hanauer – follow link below

Source: The Super-Wealthy VC Behind The Fight For A $15 Minimum Wage | Here & Now

Why Can’t We Use The Militia To Defend Ourselves?

Now that the Bundy Militia has decided that eating dinner at home is better than freezing in the administration building on the Malheur Preserve, I decided to spend a bit of time reading about the whole notion of militias, if only because the bunch at Malheur seem convinced that they represent some kind of unquestioned Constitutional mandate to protect liberty and justice forever.

Source: Why Can’t We Use The Militia To Defend Ourselves?

CURMUDGUCATION repost: Nat’l Public Ed Report Card wait is over

CURMUDGUCATION

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• NPE: National Public Ed Report Card
• CCSS Flunks Complexity Test
• How High Are the Standards?

NPE: National Public Ed Report Card Posted: 02 Feb 2016 06:38 AM PST Every reformy group in the country regularly issues “report cards” about how well states are pursuing one reformster policy or another. We have been long overdue for a report card for how well states are defending and supporting the public education system that is one of the pillars of democracy. Now that wait is over.

Source: CURMUDGUCATION: NPE: National Public Ed Report Card

Bridge magazine report: Young talent continues to flee Michigan

What the heck “job creators”? How can that be? You slackers! Decades (literally going back to John Engler and his 31 tax cuts) of making Michigan a pro-business, low-tax state – how can you people be allowing all this young talent to flee? What on earth did the job creators (who got a huge boost from Snyder in his first term) do with all that money if they weren’t creating jobs? http://www.governing.com/poy/John-Engler.html

It’s not as if Sarah Noffze dislikes Michigan.

After all, she grew up in suburban Detroit, went to Michigan State University and served on the homecoming court. She remains loyal to her beloved Sparty.

But as she neared graduation in 2014, the marketing major set her sights on a job elsewhere.

“My original goal was to move someplace warmer. I was thinking maybe California,” recalled Noffze, 22.

But in early 2015, Noffze landed a job at Hormel Foods in Minneapolis, where she is now a regional retail sales manager. She gets the irony.

“Hormel ended up offering me a full-time job,” she said. “I couldn’t turn down the offer.”

And now? She doesn’t mind the cold – while growing to appreciate the array of diversions that Minneapolis offers.

“There’s always lots of things to do ‒ beer fests, a Shania Twain concert, Christmas parades. There’s lots of young people living here, which is very attractive to me. There’s actually lots of people from Michigan and Michigan State here.”

As Noffze said, she has plenty of company.

According to the U.S. Census, Michigan had a net domestic migration loss of…. (see link below to read the rest of the story)

Source: Bridge • The Center for MichiganYoung talent continues to flee Michigan