Democratic presidential hopeful and self-described socialist Bernie Sanders introduced a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour this week.
However, Sanders pays his own interns just $12 per hour, notes the Media Research Center.
On a website entitled “Bernie Sanders, United States Senator for Vermont,” Sanders and his legislative team declare that interns “are an integral part of our Senate operation and contribute greatly to the senator’s work on behalf of Vermont and the nation.”
Just below, in the Frequently Asked Questions section, Sanders flatly explains he pays his own interns “$12 per hour.”
Directly to the left of this statement is the headline “Rally for $15 Minimum Wage.”
Here’s a screenshot:
“GOOD JOBS NATION!” the red, white and blue, flag-motif sign in front of Sanders’s lectern reads in the photo beneath the headline. “REBUILD THE AMERICAN DREAM.”
The internship FAQ also notes that no stipend for housing will be provided for anyone working as an intern for Sanders. “Interns are responsible for their own housing near their employing office.”
Also, Sanders specifically prohibits high school students from his $12-per-hour internship jobs. College graduates “and those currently pursuing a degree” are primarily encouraged to apply.
In a press release touting a $15 federal minimum wage, Sanders said such a wage “would directly benefit 62 million workers who currently make less than $15 an hour, including over half of African-American workers and close to 60 percent of Latino workers.”
He failed to mention his own interns among the 62 million workers he suggests are underpaid.
Sanders is not the only progressive in the United States to fail to provide the higher wages that he preaches.
In the fall of 2014, a socialist party out of Seattle, Wash. that demands a $20-per-hour federal minimum wage advertised a job — on both Indeed.com and Craigslist — for an experienced web developer paying just $13 per hour. (RELATED: Seattle Socialist Party Wants $20 Per Hour Minimum Wage, Offers $13 Per Hour For Website Manager)
The Huffington Post, which was sued by a bunch of unpaid bloggers after founder Arianna Huffington sold the website for $315 million, then published a sympathetic story explaining why the directors of the collectivist political organization believe they shouldn’t be subject to their own wage demands. (RELATED: Socialist Party Demanding $20 Minimum Wage Insists It Should Not Be Subject To $20 Minimum Wage)
Protests by leftists who will never need to enter the minimum wage employment market are common. In April of this year, for example, students from three ultra-expensive private universities in New York City announced plans to protest briefly for a $15 per hour minimum wage for fast-food employees before getting back to their posh, privileged lives. (RELATED: Fancypants Ivy Leaguers From $71,358-Per-Year School To Protest Minimum Wage For A Few Hours)
Also, last summer, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama suggested that they are actively searching for dead-end, low-paying jobs for their two daughters so the teenagers can appreciate the quiet desperation that millions of Americans experience. (RELATED: Obama Wants Daughters To Work Crappy Minimum-Wage Jobs So They Understand America)
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