The one issue that made Phil Murphy Governor of New Jersey

By  Alex Lloyd Gross

Governor Chris Christie’s arrogance is surpassed by his indolence.  He has taken to calling people “idiots” when they disagree with him. He  thinks that he is entitled to be above everyday people, as is evidenced by his closure of the New Jersey Beaches. He was then photographed sitting in the sun, with his family, on a deserted, closed beach. That photo went viral and spawned “Beach Chair Memes” which was the public’s way of embarrassing him and letting loose of their contempt towards him.  Let’s not forget him getting in the face of a baseball fan at a Twin’s game.

None of that served to endear voters to Kim Guadagno, the Republican Lt. Governor.  While she might not sit on a closed beach wearing a bikini, she would adopt his principles and contempt towards working people. The issue was raising the states minimum wage. Both democrats and republicans  wanted it raised to $15.00 per hour. Christie, who makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, said it was too much and vetoed it. He even made a spectacle about it. He claimed prices would go up. Here is the story

The wage would go up gradually, not overnight.  Phil Murphy put this right out there and told everyone this is what he was going to do. Guadagno only addressed the issue one time, saying she was against it. That was all people needed to hear  She took it upon herself to take money out of their pockets. There are more working poor  in New Jersey than rich business owners.  The end result was a swift kick in the pants out the door for her within hours after the polls closed.

The minimum wage issue is a hot button. Since Trump refuses to address the issue, not a lot of politicians are willing to take the initiative and support an increase. Those that do, get huge success.  By putting more spending cash into the hands of people , it gives them more spending power. If they can spend more, they will buy more. That equals more money flowing into the economy. It also decreases their dependence on government handouts  like SNAP benefits and welfare. That means more money gets returned to the state to be spent on other things, like  libraries, law enforcement, infrastructure, or anything else. With states having more money, they are less dependent on the Federal Government.

The image is a16 year old flipping burgers is not the minimum wage worker of 2017. That demographic is a 35 year old  to 65 year old who just got laid off from their job and took a part time job. or has a job in retail or other field to help with the bills , as their main job is not adequate. Next time you go to a mall during the daytime on a weekday check out how many 16 year olds are employed.  That is why Guadagno just got herself fired. currently, the minimum wage in New Jersey is $8.44 per hour. in 2018  it should rise to $8.60, due to a cost of living adjustment. in 2018