The better way to use Christmas to advance a political agenda

December 15, 2005

Perhaps more so than at any time in recent memory, the politicization of Christmas is a little overwhelming this year. Republicans at the activist level are crusading against “happy holidays,” while Republicans on the Hill are rallying behind a congressional resolution to “protect… [the] symbols and traditions of Christmas.”

Perhaps hoping to level the playing field a bit, some Dems have made an effort to use Christmas to advance a far more noble cause. House Dem Whip Steny Hoyer, for example, is less concerned about what clerks at the mall are saying and more concerned about the plight of low-income working families.

As Congress focuses on leaving town to enjoy the holidays, I stood in the cold before the Capitol Christmas Tree with Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA) today to call on Congress to act on the true meaning of Christmas – hope, generosity and good will toward others – and raise the minimum wage.

As a new report we released today with the Center for Economic and Policy Research details, families living on the minimum wage scrape and struggle each month to afford life’s most basic necessities. It is simply not possible for them to enjoy the holidays like the rest of us. No dozens of presents piled under the Christmas tree. No lavish meals on Christmas Eve and Day. It would take almost their entire December paycheck to afford the more than $700 that the average American spends celebrating Christmas.

Congress has the power to brighten the holiday for the almost 8 million Americans living on the minimum wage by increasing their paycheck. Yet, this is the eighth year in a row that Congress has failed to enact even a small increase in the minimum wage. By freezing it at an inadequate $5.15 and ignoring the effects of inflation, Congress has essentially given a pay cut to these workers. In fact, if the minimum wage in 2005 was worth what it was worth in 1968 (its peak value), it would be $8.88 an hour.

How can the leadership in Congress leave Washington this week to enjoy a plentiful Christmas and a comfortable New Year knowing that their inaction has guaranteed another tough Christmas for millions of Americans?

It’s not an unreasonable question. To their credit, Hoyer, Miller, and Kennedy stood in front of the Capitol Christmas tree to discuss the matter yesterday, and as Christmas-related press stunts go, I thought this one was pretty good.

Ezra suggested the other day that the effort wouldn’t generate much in the way of press interest and I was hoping he’d turn out to be wrong. He wasn’t. Knight Ridder mentioned it in passing and the only paper to cover it in any real detail was, oddly enough, the far-right Washington Times.

When Dennis Hastert issued a press release calling Congress’ tree a “Christmas tree,” reporters were all over it, and yet, three high-profile Dems can’t get an AP story connecting Christmas and the minimum wage? Bah humbug, indeed.

the politicization of Christmas is a little overwhelming this year.

A little?

  • Well, if they reported it they might have been perceived as having a liberal bias.

    Besides, the “War on Christmas” is much sexier.

  • Nope, it’s not right-wing bias. It’s left-wing not-having-its-shit-together. We blew this one.

    Remember, the Repugs are THE party of the “preemptive strike”. They do it better than anyone. They are *always* pushing the envelope. This is a devastating, unbeatable tool in politics. The surprise attack. The violation of consensus or comity. The abuse of trust and the challenging of assumptions. They use it all the time. “He who goes negative first”, “He who defines his opponent first”, “He who violates the rules of engagement first”, “He who politicises something first”, WINS.

    In this case, Kennedy had a great idea, but it was WAY TOO LATE.

    The press saw this and went, “ho-hum, me-too”, and they were right.

    Now, to generate shock value– something Repugs are outstandingly good at– they would need to have gotten out in front of that tree BEFORE the Repugs started in with their stupid “war on christmas” shit. I mean like on the DAY the tree was lit, at the actual lighting ceremony, or even before it.

    But that would have required balls.

    Anyone? Anyone? Anyone in the Democratic Party have balls to do that?

    Actually, so far the only person I’ve seen in the top ranks of the party who knows how to play this preemptive game correctly is Harry “shut down the Senate” Reid. That stunt was a work of brilliance. And it got tons of coverage, because

    1) it was NEWS, goddammit!,
    2) it was ballsy
    3) it threw the Repugs into apoplexy– because we BEAT them and they hate that!
    4) it was a surprise.

    Folks, if you want news coverage, then be first, be bold, generate a shitstorm of controversy, and shock everyone by being first the first to cross a line or do something innovatively aggressive.

  • Here’s a little tidbit from today’s Kansas City Star:

    If the wages of the working poor had kept pace with the salary increases of CEOs over the last 15 years, he estimated, everybody making minimum wage back then would be bringing home about $48,000 a year today.

    We could reduce the number of working poor if CEO greed wasn’t so rampant.

  • $8.88/hr comes to $1,420/mo, assuming full-time employment.

    This is still not a living wage, at least not here in California, where a 2-bedroom apartment in a run-down building in a bad neighborhood goes for anything from $1,000-$1,500/mo (if you’re lucky).

    What we ought to look at is buying power. 40 years ago I came here, and worked a minimum-wage job in the evenings (not full-time) and could afford a small 1-bedroom apartment in a not-too-bad neighbhorhood, all on my own, food, gas for my car, etc. I then had the time to go to school on the GI Bill and better my opportunities. If I hadn’t been going to school, I could have been doing somethng else that would have bettered my opportunities. And while we’re talking about school, I went to community college in California for a very affordable fee any working-class person could afford, and on to the state college for reasonable state-supported fees that a working-class person could afford. People in California could better themselves, living on the minimum wage – they could do the same elsewhere. It wasn’t a floor – it was a door. A door to a better future.

    That’s sure not what it is today.

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