Democratic Convention Opening Night
Summary
Our major finding from the first night of the four-day 2020 Democratic National Convention is that it wasn’t accurate to call it a “convention” at all. That word means “coming together,” and Democratic delegates stayed apart because of the still-spreading coronavirus disease.
It would have been more accurate to call the two-hour show the Democratic National Diaspora.
The two-hour infomercial on Aug. 17 was long on pre-recorded speeches, testimonials and musical interludes, but short on facts. Nevertheless, we found a few claims that merit a mention.
Analysis
$15 Minimum Wage Impact
Sen. Bernie Sanders claimed that raising the federally required minimum wage to $15 an hour would “give 40 million workers a pay raise and push the wage scale up for everyone else.” That’s debatable, and ignores the likelihood that many low-wage workers would find themselves priced out of the job market.
Sanders is once again citing a statistic generated by the, which hasand advocates the $15 wage proposal. But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects a much less dramatic impact, and some probable costs.
