GOP forced to frantically cancel anti-minimum wage hearing after key witness exposed as wanting to '

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/house-republicans-minimum-wage-joseph-sabia-tax-homosexual-acts

With progressive activists fighting to secure a $15-an-hour minimum wage across the country, House Republicans are determined to throw cold water on the policy, painting it as a job killer (although there is by no means an economic consensus on that). To that effect, their members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce were planning to hold a hearing on Wednesday about the potential consequences of a minimum wage increase.

But according to a report from POLITICO, Republicans frantically postponed this meeting because one of their key expert witnesses against the minimum wage, San Diego State University economist Joseph Sabia, was exposed espousing hateful rhetoric toward gays and women on his now-defunct blog, "No Shades of Gray," written when he was a doctoral candidate at Cornell University.

"I humbly propose that right-wingers attach an amendment to every bill that taxes or regulates tobacco or high-fat foods. The right-wing amendment should tax and regulate homosexual acts," wrote Sabia in a 2002 post. "[F]irst we have to mount the assault on Big Gay (no, I am not talking about Rosie O'Donnell). We can tax gay nightclubs, websites, personal ads, sexual paraphernalia, and so forth. Talk about a sin tax!!! We can cripple gay-related industries and get them right where we want them. All gay clubs will have to feature huge, flashing warning signs like 'CAUTION: Entering this nightclub may increase your chance of contracting STDs and dying.'"

That was not Sabia's only incendiary post. In another, he referred to college-aged women as "unpaid whores" and said "Feminist thought has taught young women that equality is achieved by acting like promiscuous sluts."

[Eyeball_Kid]

1. Sabia is too honest with his views.

Most GOPers likely hide the same sentiments.

[sandensea]

20. +1

They're nothing if not duplicitous.

[ProfessorGAC]

2. Gee, He Seems Open Minded!

Do i need the dripping thingie?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

3. I almost wonder why they would even care

I thought that his views were pretty much mainstream Republicanism.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

4. Maybe they were hoping he'd use his inside voice more, like the rest of the "leadership" tries

to do......

[infullview]

5. I think this is called projection

in psychological terms. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a closet gay who hates women.

[mac56]

6. He seems nice.

[colorado_ufo]

11. Just spit coffee on the keyboard!

[JudyM]

13. Ha, yep.

[exboyfil]

7. Here is his response

Sabia says he also rejects the earlier statements.

"I regret the hurtful and disrespectful language I used as a satirical college opinion writer 20 years ago," said Sabia. “I am a gay man in a long-term, committed relationship and these charges of homophobia deeply hurt both me and my family.”

"My peer-reviewed professional work on veterans' health, school shootings, discrimination against LGBTQ individuals, the opioid crisis, and the minimum wage are a more accurate representation of my more than 14-year career as an applied microeconomist,” Sabia continued.

http://newscenter.sdsu.edu/sdsu_newscenter/news_story.aspx?sid=77486

[UpInArms]

8. Fuck him

And his hate

[gratuitous]

10. "I regret"

"I regret that my past has caught up with me." Fixed it for you, Joey.

[calimary]

12. Satire?

Oh for Pete’s sake!

NO. The “I’M JOKING!” defence does NOT work and won’t save you. There’s nothing funny about this. People have DIED because they were gay. MURDERED because they were gay. Matthew Shepard anyone???

[erronis]

15. So that's really why his appearance at the kgop hearing cancelled - Sabia admits he is gay

and the kgop big tent can't have any openly gay members. Closeted or abusers are just fine, tho.

[Iggo]

22. "I regret the...language I used..."

Typical non-apology.

[not fooled]

23. Huh

his earlier writings indicated that he was dealing with internal conflict. Hope he's in a better place now.

His professional work sucks, though. Conveniently comes to conclusions that support policies desired by the greedy wealthy.

[Marcuse]

9. The venue must have been too small to accommodate the demand.

[Victor_c3]

14. I love the connection between homosexuality and STDs

That part is hilarious to me.

Even in the 90s, when I was a teen, and at least on the outside I seemed “anti-gay” I never have understood why I was supposed to be bothered by someone else’s homosexuality. However, a girl that I hung out with explained it this way:

“Guys don’t want to be treated by other guys the same way they treat women”.

That statement suddenly made a lot of sense to me (including divulging some perspective on the hounding women receive too).

Anyways, I better watch out for those STDs

———-

Edit to add:

So I guess this has almost nothing to do with minimum wage or the OP....

[forgotmylogin]

17. The corollary is...

A good number of straight men (sarcasm quotes) also don't understand why not every gay man wants to have sex with them (even though they'd refuse) and it screws with their self-confidence and sense of manhood if a guy who sleeps with men doesn't find them appealing in some way. They feel like gay men are "cheating" the system by taking advantage of the naturally generous libido of other men and don't realize how hypocritical that is because they would do it with any woman who accepted their advances. Thus many often reject the lifestyle completely.

[Ginger42]

21. That reminds me

of a similar conversation I had with a guy in college around the same timeframe. He said that gay guys freaked him out because he was afraid they might "come on to him." I'm a straight woman, so I just said "welcome to my world."

[dlk]

18. Who Else But a Complete Wing Nut Would Support this GOP Proposal?

If the minimum wage from the 1990s was only adjusted for inflation and not increased, it would be around $22/hr. in 2018. Our economy has been terribly skewed toward the rich for too many years. Even $15/hr. is difficult to live on in most large American cities. Just look at cost of rent, utilities and food, not exactly luxuries.

[Volaris]

24. Yeah and as soon as the min wage IS raised, the price of those things you mentioned

Will get increased, on the argument that you make more, so you can PAY more. Yes, there's a year lag, but that's what GONNA happen unless housing prices start to drop (and the way to do that large scale is for the treasury Dept to open it's own credit union, and make mortgage loans at SIMPLE INTEREST for say, 20 years)
I'm aware of what that will do to the economic system in the short term, and how much the pigs will squeal for it, but I think it's the right think to do. If it's cheaper to buy a house than pay rent, rent prices will drop accordingly.

[Ccarmona]

19. Not a Good Day for My School, San Diego St

Not only did this professor’s past catch up with him, one of the school’s star basketball player was sued by two women. Those two were filmed by the player having sex separately with him when they were all in high school and then he posted the clips on social media.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/mwest/2018/12/12/san-diego-state-basketball-jalen-mcdaniels-accused-sharing-sex-videos/2294492002/