Fox’s John Stossel: Shouldn’t Parents Be Free to Let Children Work ‘If the Kids Are Not Slaves?’

[alp227]

Raising the federal minimum wage has been in the news quite a bit lately, but over at Fox News, host John Stossel has a different idea of a minimum wage, and a minimum age. In a panel discussion with Rich Benjamin, Stossel drew the line, not at $7.25 an hour, but at anything that is not slavery. He asked Benjamin “Parents want their kids to work, if the kids are will… are not slaves, shouldn’t people have free choice?”

Benjamin responded by doubling back to something Stossel had said earlier, and didn’t address Stossel’s proposition for child labor.

During the 2012 presidential campaign, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich made a series of comments suggesting that child labor laws be rolled back, and more recently, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) proposed making schoolchildren perform menial labor in exchange for government-subsidized school lunches.

full: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/foxs-john-stossel-shouldnt-parents-be-free-to-let-children-work-if-the-kids-are-not-slaves/

When millions of adults can't find work? Really?

[leftyohiolib]

1. no

[atreides1]

2. Yes, really

The companies get off cheap...below minimum wage pay, no health care, and hours to be decided by the employer!

What could be better for the new Aristocracy...

[Rex]

3. Obligatory youtube clip of Stossel Slap.

[kysrsoze]

6. Amen. Couldn't have happened to a better person.

[Rex]

8. Some people say it was staged, I say not a chance.

THAT of course was the height of Stossels career imo.

[kwassa]

21. Bravo! Stossel is so deserving.

[upaloopa]

4. Can we charge the whole right wing with human rights violations?

Everything they stand for hurts people except the 1%.
Next it will be debtors prisons as a source of cheap labor for business.

[kysrsoze]

5. I'd like to see another pro wrestler slap the fuck out if him

What a complete asshole.

[Bennyboy]

7. Ha, this was me right here. MY LIFE exactly.

Born in 55, my first memory is on the job site with my father. Three maybe. I remember my brother being born and having to leave the job site to take my Mom. I think I was paid 3 dollars a day and spent most of that at the roach coach. By the time I was ten, I worked full time, weekends and summertime. 10 dollars a day. By ten I was doing MAN"s work, everything the bigger guys did. Load the truck, use the mud box, everything.

When I turned 14 I got a raise to 15 dollars a day and was expected to do much much more. Full on apprentice, I worked nights as well for not much money and all summer and weekends.

My dad never paid me wht everyone sle was paid. even though i was doing the same work. It was like free labor to him.

[Octafish]

9. These guys want to bring back feudalism.

Oops. My bad. Too late.

[Agnosticsherbet]

10. If you have nothing to say, change the subject to something stupid and unrelated.

From the United States department of Labor website.

Employment by Parents
DOL Web Pages on This Topic
Laws & Regulations on This Topic

The Fair Labor Standards Act's (FLSA) minimum age requirements do not apply to minors employed by their parents, or by a person acting as their guardian. An exception to this occurs in mining, manufacturing and occupations where the minimum age requirement of 18 years old applies.


State laws often follow the same pattern as the Fair Labor Standards Act with regard to minors working for their parents. Consult your state department of labor for specific guidance.

Minimum wage is not about children working for their parents. This isn't about small family businesses.

[yellowcanine]

11. Is it just me that thinks Stoessel's mustache makes him look like Hitler?

[Avalux]

12. Stossel's entire face makes me want to jam skewers in my eyes. n/t

[Skittles]

13. DU's Skittles: shouldn't Fox's John Stossel f*** himself?

[TheMathieu]

14. When we finally put the 1% in camps,

this fucknut should be on the janitorial staff that has to work 80 hours a week for a slice of bread and a glass of yellow water.

[yellowcanine]

15. Why not? Phil Robertson says men should marry 15 yr. old girls if "Mom and Dad say ok."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/31/duck-dynasty-star-phil-robertson_n_4522254.html

Apparently to some right wingers children are property.

[ck4829]

16. "Hyper-Dickensian", a word I find myself using to describe these people more and more.

[Initech]

17. What a truly rotten, vile scumbag!

Kids should be enjoying their childhood, not working under crappy conditions for no money. Fuck John Stossel and everyone who thinks like that.

[Go Vols]

18. I started searching out farm work

when I was around 10-11.Mostly hauling hay,running farm equipment in the early '70s to save up for a motorcycle.
Kids cant do this any longer?Like mow neighbors yards for pay,rake leaves,ect.

[mstinamotorcity2]

19. Tell both of them to

kiss my brown ass.

[AngryAmish]

20. i got my first job at 12. That should be about right.

Not like a kid should be in a coal mine or lumberjack. I carried rich guys golf bags. Still the best job I ever had.

[Orsino]

22. Fox is always on the side of driving wages downward.

All the noise about freedom is bullshit, as usual.