In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today!

The CBO finds that raising the minimum wage would have "two principal effects on low-wage workers. Most of them would receive higher pay that would increase their family's income, and some of those families would see their income rise above the federal poverty threshold. But some jobs for low-wage workers would probably be eliminated, the income of most workers who became jobless would fall substantially, and the share of low-wage workers who were employed would probably fall slightly."

Meanwhile, the Economic Policy Institute finds that "low-wage earners—wage-earners at the 20th percentile—have experienced wage erosion in nearly every state. Between 2009 and 2013, low-wage earners' wages declined in every state except three (West Virginia, Mississippi and North Dakota)." Underlining the need for increasing the federal minimum wage.

[Content Note: War on agency] Tara Culp-Ressler details "10 Dangerous Anti-Abortion Bills That Are Already Gaining Traction This Year."

[CN: Homophobia] Republican lawmakers are responding to the progress on legalized same-sex marriage across the country by introducing legislation that "would effectively allow for lawful discrimination against same-sex couples by businesses or government employees on religious grounds." In other words, they're claiming that homophobia is an expression of religious freedom.

America 2.0: "The Department of Homeland Security wants a private company to provide a national license-plate tracking system that would give the agency access to vast amounts of information from commercial and law enforcement tag readers, according to a government proposal that does not specify what privacy safeguards would be put in place. The national license-plate recognition database, which would draw data from readers that scan the tags of every vehicle crossing their paths, would help catch fugitive illegal immigrants, according to a DHS solicitation. But the database could easily contain more than 1 billion records and could be shared with other law enforcement agencies, raising concerns that the movements of ordinary citizens who are under no criminal suspicion could be scrutinized." Um.

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez was arrested yesterday on charges of fomenting unrest. Lopez, who surrendered himself to military officers, hopes that his arrest "will galvanize street demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro, though there is no immediate sign the protests will topple the socialist leader."

Liberals like cats more than conservatives do. Well, that makes sense. It's a well-known fact that cats in boots refuse to pull themselves up the bootstraps.

[CN: Misogyny] Pharrell defends the "Blurred Lines" video: "Is it sexist when you walk around in a museum and a lot of the statues have their boobs out?" Case closed, your honor!