How Bernie's campaign contributed to Trump's win.

[DanTex]

230. Actually you're wrong about how the compromise on minimum wage worked out.

The Dems were pushing for $12, and you know what they got? Nothing. And if they asked for $15, they also would have gotten nothing. They could have asked for $50, and they still would have gotten nothing.

Why? Because the GOP controlled the house for the last 6 years, and there was no way they were going to pass a minimum wage hike, no matter what number the Dems asked for.

The GOP has compromised on nothing with Obama. I see no evidence whatsoever that asking for more would have made the slightest bit of difference.

Besides, what we're talking about here is a negotiation tactic. If Bernie had said "asking for $15 is a better negotiation tactic than $12", that would have been fine. I think he would have come off kind of silly trying to suggest that if only the dems picked a bigger number, Paul Ryan would suddenly convert to being pro-minimum wage. But maybe some people would agree with him.

But, see, that's not what he did. Instead he said that the whole economy was rigged by "establishment politicians" and their wall street speeches, and that's why we don't have things like a $15 minimum wage. He didn't criticize Hillary's $12 number as poor negotiation technique, he used her lack of support for $15 to pain her as part of the "rigged establishment economy" that was leaving workers behind.

Which is totally absurd. Obama, Hillary, and pretty much the entire Democratic Party wanted to raise the minimum wage, but the GOP did not. It had nothing to do with the "establishment" and everything to do with party lines.