Halloween is one week from today. Election day is two weeks from tomorrow. One of these days will likely represent the peak of the creepy clown phenomenon. Meanwhile, here’s the latest news on the campaign to raise up Washington:
Three things to know this week:
🐺 That’s like crying wolfpack. A leading opponent of minimum wage in the State Legislature admitted to the Inlander of Spokane that “Sometimes the opponents of the minimum wage increases have a little bit of a ‘boy who cries wolf’ aspect.” Meanwhile, the Governor of Maine said that people who supported a higher minimum wage should be charged with attempted murder.
🤒 Sick of this argument yet? Restauranteur Tom Douglas notoriously predicted Seattle’s sick leave and minimum wage laws would lead to the closure of a a quarter of the city’s restaurants — and then greatly expanded his own chain as the laws took effect. Now he announced his first location outside of Seattle — just as the state is poised to pass I-1433.
😐 Huh. What happened when Walmart raised wages? It got happier workers, cleaner stores, and higher sales.
Two things to look out for:
📷 Familiar faces. Stock photos often step up to take positions that real people won’t. So it's no wonder that the header image on the official “Defeat 1433” twitter account was apparently purchased from a stock photo site where it's titled "friends collecting money to pay in a restaurant".
😃 And the opposite of a stock photo: Your picture could be featured in our effort to get out the vote in the next two weeks online. Fill out this form and get meme-famous
And one thing that’s worth a closer look:
🍽 Inequality to the next level. A startlingly high 1.5 million households in the United States have less than $2/day in cash income — a number that’s increased since 1996. Jerry Large of the Seattle Times takes on the underexplored issue of deep poverty in an important Seattle Times column.
Read this far?
🎩 Consider yourself briefed, boss.