Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and compadres, I hope you had a happy Labor Day. The Democratic Party/progressive heritage in my family extends to me from my grandparents, blue collar labor on one side, and educators on the other. As such, Labor Day and the history of the labor movement has grown to become deeply significant to me.

This year, as we honored workers, I began to wonder at how controversial the idea of paying a living wage has become. After all, even that great criminal Richard Nixon advocated a a guaranteed minimum income.

But modern Republicans get […]