7. $15 minimum wage doesn’t work in New York City either
- Even in one of the most expensive cities in the world, businesses are having a hard time keeping up with artificially increased wages and are having to cut hours, reduce staff and raise prices to keep up. Some are having to shut down.
- The report by the Wall Street Journal lays out how damaging the increase has been with small business owners saying there is no benefit to operating a retail establishment in the city. The president of the Queens Chamber of Commerce said there has been an increase in the number of small businesses closing recently, which he blames on the minimum wage legislation.
6. Richard Shelby has money on hand
- Since U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) won reelection in 2016, his campaign account hasn’t raised any money from PACs or individuals, but Shelby isn’t concerned.
- Despite not having raised any money since his reelection, Shelby still has almost $10 million left in his campaign account from his previous election. Shelby has said that he doesn’t need any money and for now, he’s just enjoying his sixth term as senator.
4. Byrne backs Trump’s latest China move
- U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) has praised the Trump administration for its decision declaring China a currency manipulator, saying, “President Trump has finally put his foot down and said enough is enough.” Byrne went on to say he will work with Trump to stand up for “American workers and hold China accountable or their rouge actions.”
- Even though this move contributed to a weakened market on the first day, China backtracked and set their yuen at less than a seven-to-one valuation, so this may have been a temporary symbolic shot at Trump for announcing new tariffs but a trade war continues.
4. Joaquin Castro should delete his Twitter account
- U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX), the brother of 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro and his campaign chairman, is in hot water with the Trump campaign after Joaquin publicly released the names and employers of Trump donors in Texas on Twitter.
- The Trump campaign has called this harassment and said that the Castro campaign is targeting Trump supporters and their employers. A Trump campaign official said that “in this political climate, particularly at a time when Democrats are associating rhetoric with violence, it’s a pretty disgusting thing to do.”
3. Birmingham church says black people who vote for Trump are mentally ill
- An attention-seeking church that previously put up a sign saying black worshippers needed to stay out of white churches is at it again with a sign that reads, “A black vote for Trump is mental illness.”
- Previous ploys for attention by New Era Baptist Church, led by Pastor Michael R. Jordan, have worked. This one will probably work as well because of the anti-Trump message.
2. Two Alabama billboards go up against Doug Jones
- Two billboards have gone up in Huntsville taking aim at U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) with one saying “DEMOCRAT DOUG JONES WILL DO ‘EVERYTHING HE CAN’ TO STOP TRUMP JUDGES’ and the other taking him to task for saying he will support whoever the Democratic nominee is. That billboard features fellow Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
- Meanwhile, Warren has decided to take advantage of the latest mass shootings and raise money for Jones’ reelection campaign, which continues Jones’ trend of fundraising from out of state, but this one focuses on gun control.
1. As Trump tries to heal, the media and their Democrats keep up the attacks
- President Donald Trump is prepared to visit both sites of the most recent mass shootings in spite of the fact that local elected officials have demanded he not come, made it clear they will not go with him and in some cases have called for protests against him.
- While the media is calling the president a white supremacist, elected officials are preparing to offer more aggressive laws, and in some cases, likely unconstitutional “mandatory” gun buybacks and other bans.
