More on the K-shaped recovery: jobs that pay better wages are more likely to facilitate telework than the jobs on the frontline of the pandemic that can’t be phoned in:
Once again, coronavirus shows the perversion of capitalism, as our economy fails to provide danger pay to the workers whose service requires the greatest personal risk.
South Dakota had an opportunity to address that inequity in the workplace by using its $1.25 billion in CARES Act relief money to provide direct assistance to workers who cannot phone in their work from a taxpayer-subsidized video bunker the way our Governor can. Instead of throwing hundreds of millions of dollars recklessly at businesses whose losses may simply have arisen because of failure to adapt to changing market realities, we could have done more good by acknowledging the reality of the above graph: if you’re making less than $33,420 a year (that’s South Dakota’s median wage, calculated as a median hourly wage of $16.71 times 50 full-time weeks, so that’s half of you), you’re probably doing work that can’t be done from home. You’re probably doing work that requires you to go out every day and have lots of maskless morons following Kristi and Donald‘s example breathing and complaining and sometimes shouting in your face when you ask them politely to observe your establishment’s sensible mask policy. You probably deserve a raise, or at least danger pay, not a grant sent to your boss who pockets his share and then maybe, maybe gives you and the rest of the team doing the actual work a cut.
The Legislature’s non-binding resolution suggests that Governor Noem spend $400,000,000 on small business grants, handouts to the local business honchos who are more likely to show up at campaign events than rank-and-file workers. Instead we could give each of the 212,000 South Dakota workers earning less than our median wage a danger-pay/thank-you stimulus check for $1,880. Given that South Dakota’s low-wage regime forces most families to hold down two jobs, that better-targeted coronavirus relief would put $3,760 in a lot of families’ pockets… and that money would come right out of their pockets into the local economy, as those families would be buying masks, hand sanitizer, and groceries and paying for coronavirus tests and the medical expenses they incur due to their unavoidable, unremotable service to us.
And the funny thing is, Governor Noem is free to do exactly that. She has cowed the Legislature into giving her a free hand to spend $1.25 billion in federal assistance. She could put $400 million in sub-median-wage workers’ pockets to compensate them for the increased risk of working amidst her Freedom™-pandemic and still have several million left to buy ads bragging about how good she has been to her working-class supporters. $400 million to the frontline, low-wage workers who can’t phone in their essential work would do more good for public health, morale, and the economy than the business handouts that will only widen the gap between rich and poor in the pandemic economy.
Awesome voice Corey. Its like “per cap” distribution on the rez.
“…families would be buying masks, hand sanitizer, and groceries and paying for coronavirus tests and the medical expenses they incur due to their unavoidable, unremotable service to us.
***She could put $400 million in sub-median-wage workers’ pockets to compensate them for the increased risk of working amidst her Freedom™-pandemic….”
Reminds me of the spine Chief Standing Bear modeled. Chilling! https://blog.nativehope.org/chief-standing-bears-legacy-civil-rights-leader-of-his-time-part3
And the dilemma of today’s ethical judges…
I don’t know why the Republicans bother to try to fool us anymore. We know where the money will go so why don’t they just come out and do it in the open. If the public isn’t that upset or organized while Kristi and friends are playing around why would they object if it’s all in the open. The Republicans run this state, lock stock and barrel, and they intend to run it as their little fiefdom forever. They have gotten away with thievery and more for years and they sure aren’t going to stop now. They know all the moves to stay out of jail but even use it to advance themselves to federal positions. And I don’t know why we fool ourselves that there might be a better Republican out there who would abandon the Dark Side and come into the light of transparency. Oh… do I sound bitter? Angry? Exasperated? Defeated?… NEVER!
The GOP Legislature got de-nutted by the Gov on this deal. They have no one to blame but themselves. The voters voted for them because of the ‘R’ in front of the name, not because they would stand tall in the saddle and do what’s right. Watch as they quibble next session over a few million here and there, forgetting they had the chance yesterday to do the right thing and exert themselves as a legislative body equal to the administrative branch of gov’t. Why did they even bother to meet as a legislative body if they were just going to say to Noem “You got it babe, just pass out all that millions as YOU want-as a body, we’re not qualified to determine this.” Hogwash.
Mr. Jake, it seems it was mostly the overgodder, Mr. Haugaard, who was castrated by his own legislatures. He rolled over and they tickled his tummy and he skulked off on his last day of being the head speaker. His fellows have had enough of his insanerisms, it may seem to most.
I Can See Clearly Now, Johnny Nash has passed at 80. This is the song we all will be singing on November 3 with Joe Biden as the next president of a United States. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkwJ-g0iJ6w&feature=emb_title