with a uniformly high standard of living and quality of life and universal health care.

It probably won't pass though.

Some Cantons (read: "states&quot already have one though and their rates put US rates to shame.

And yes you're absolutely right in pointing out the role of unions. the national minimal wage didn't come to a vote until now because of the (former) strength of our unions, which rendered the issue moot. But sadly that is changing / has changed.

according to BLS.

Where does he get 23%???

Since that's what he was citing in the previous sentence.

perhaps using the "supplemental poverty measurement"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_poverty_rate

for some reason you decide you would like to dabble at being homeless and hungry. Everyone has a decent home. The state takes care of it and all of your needs. You really don't need a minimum wage because you always have all of the housing, food, heat, transport and care that you need if you are a Swiss citizen.

However, if you are a lower paid guest worker you are not so lucky. The conditions aren't bad but you cannot stay any longer than seasonal needs require.

You can not become a Swiss Citizen unless you marry one and even then you may not have an easy time of it. It could take many years.

is part of the reason that our poor have a lower standard of living than Switzerland for example. It seems like a restrictive immigration policy is one way to protect your own citizens.

I'm just telling you how it is.

I live in Switzerland (20+years). While it's true that it isn't easy, you can become a cotizen without marrying one. The issue here is that local communities VOTE on giving citizenship - honestly ask yourself how diverese the US would be if the people would have decided whom to make a citizen. Sad but true.

(I simplified the whole naturalization process, it's complicated, but the point is that you can't become a citizen if the community you live in doesn't give its ok (which happens at the ballots).

even if you were born there and your parents weren't Swiss citizens. My friend Yvonne's mom was Swiss, her dad was Canadian and she was born in the U.S.. She married a Swiss Citizen and had two children in Switzerland. The kids had no problems but she had to go through a lengthy process even after living there off and on for 20 years.

There's no denying that Switzerland has a peculiar fear of "the other". One of the downsides of living in paradise...

As a percentage of GDP, they probably don't come close to the US.

Still a huge fucking waste of money and time.

Sincerely, an officer of the Swiss Army

Joke: Did you hear the French Army is making it's own version of the Swiss Army Knife? It has 5 different corkscrews and a
telescoping white flag.

on the Melissa Harris-Perry Show used the same line of "reasoning" about Germany not having a minimum wage ... He, also, left out the fact that Germany has strong unionization and collective bargaining.

When the rest of the panel raised that point, he glibly said, "well, we have unions here ... people are choosing not to join them."

Healthcare in Switzerland is universal[2] and is regulated by the Swiss Federal Law on Health Insurance. Health insurance is compulsory for all persons residing in Switzerland (within three months of taking up residence or being born in the country).[

FAUX is in the business of cherry-picking factoids which support the conservative agenda while ignoring the rest.

Picking apart Faux hypocrisy is easy pickins.

the faithful lap it up like kittens at a saucerful of milk.

Watching TV is a passive experience in which the viewer is a receptacle. If a person does not engage their critical thinking skills and supplement viewing with active learning, he or she is very susceptible to the kind of propaganda Faux dishes out.

Can we emulate that as well? What about universal male military service? National health care?

One reason unemployment is so low, I expect, is because Swiss policies on immigration and foreign workers are so harsh: unless you're born a Swiss citizen it's very hard to become one, and they didn't strike me as being the most welcoming to refugees.

an example, how about their universal health care, education, homelessness (lack of), retirement, etc.

Hypocrites.

Just out of curiosity, what the standards to become a political consultant and Fox News?

I ask because my cat horked up a hairball this morning, and I'm wondering if the hairball might have all the requisite qualifications.

It is overqualified.

No, literally. It shit on the rug, too. Maybe an internship?

The ability to regurgitate RNC talking points from memory, a pleasant-sounding voice, arms that look great bare, and the ability to arrive at the studio three hours before work starts for indoctrination and makeup.

HATE THEM.

THEY are the reason YOU don't get a raise.

See that person on food stamps?

HATE THEM.

THEY are the reason the government takes all of your money in taxes.

See that poor person in the waiting room at the doctor?

HATE THEM.

THEY are the reason we are losing our freedom.

See that billion dollar jet fighter?

LOVE IT.

THAT is what makes America #1.

U - S - A!!!
U - S - A!!!
U - S - A!!!
U - S - A!!!
U - S - A!!!

But if someone is so fucking stupid they can't put two and two together and realize that raising the minimum wage--and they must know someone in their family or friends who makes that--is good for everyone, then they can't be helped. They are just too stupid.

They are against raising it because they think it should be EARNED, not GIVEN.

The are resentful over the idea that their coworker will get a raise too because their coworker isn't like them.

They hate EVERYONE that is not like them.

You know,...an ASSHOLE.

And none of them are assholes, just people like everywhere else.

We walk about 40 miles a week. One of us is 67 and supporting grandchildren. You try it.

they are are being used.

They're the ones that act like THEY should be the boss.

a lot of things, the minimum wage would be one. With enforceable contracts we may not need OSHA either. But the 1% would never allow this to happen.

If our official languages were German, French, and Italian, we'd do pretty well too

I suppose they do, because they have those knives, but I'll bet 1. They don't spend near the percentage of money on it, and 2. This idiot doesn't advocate emulating the Swiss in that respect.

... the Swiss have a very strong martial tradition. They have universal military service. I've heard stories (from my brother, an unreliable but none-the-less amusing source) of Swiss grannies being able to expertly handle military weapons.

An old Swiss army joke, supposedly a real incident that occurred in 1912:

One of the Swiss Army Divisions was holding maneuvers, and the German Kaiser and his staff attended. There were dress parades with the Kaiser and the Swiss President. The Kaiser was told that in Switzerland, they had 100,000 marksman. He asked what they would do if the Prussians sent 200,000 men. The answer: We would each have to shoot twice!

Cherry picking as usual.