House repugicans defeat effort to punish wage theft

The federal government shouldn't give its business to companies that violate labor laws to steal their workers' wages. If this statement seems like common sense to you, congratulations: you're not a House repugican. A Democratic amendment that would have prevented businesses with a documented record of wage theft from getting taxpayer money through government contracts was defeated in a party line vote Thursday.

    In a joint statement, Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), chairmen of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said House Republicans voted "to continue wage theft."
    "The federal government could lead the way by disqualifying contractors who practice wage theft, but House repugicans voted tonight against an amendment to do exactly that," Ellison and Grijalva said. "The failure of this amendment illustrates who repugicans defend ... Unfortunately, working families have been left out of the repugican political strategy."

Pretty much, though occasionally repugicans do include working families in their political strategy as scapegoats or targets. But think about it: repugicans literally voted to keep sending federal dollars to companies that have broken the law. Because it's a law that protects workers, so to repugicans, it shouldn't count. 

The republicans are just fine with your boss stealing from you