2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumGovernor Paul LePage: Let Maine's 12-Year-Olds Go To Work
CATHERINE THOMPSON JANUARY 8, 2014, 8:01 AM EST
How do you energize a state's economy when "47 percent of able-bodied" residents don't have a job? Let 12-year-olds into the workforce. That's what Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) told attendees Tuesday at an agricultural trades show, according to the Portland Press-Herald.
We dont allow children to work until theyre 16, but two years later, when theyre 18, they can go to war and fight for us, LePage said, as quoted by the Press-Herald. Thats causing damage to our economy. I started working far earlier than that, and it didnt hurt me at all. There is nothing wrong with being a paperboy at 12 years old, or at a store sorting bottles at 12 years old.
Last year, the outspoken governor was recorded telling an audience of conservative women that "about 47 percent of able-bodied people in the state of Maine don't work," echoing former presidential candidate Mitt Romney's memorable comment dismissing 47 percent of the American public for not paying income tax.
LePage has long pushed to lower the legal working age to 12, according to the Bangor Daily News, based on his own experience working at a younger age. Children under 16 must obtain a work permit and be enrolled in school before beginning a job under current Maine law, but the state's Department of Labor is expected to streamline that process this month.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/paul_lepage_child_labor
global1
(25,241 posts)SamKnause
(13,091 posts)Hell, why not take it a step further ?
Let 12 year old children join the Military Industrial Complex.
If the U.S. did this they could invade every country on the planet.
I don't think this needs a sarcasm tag, but just in case .
whathehell
(29,067 posts)Is there any depth to which these greedy, anti-union pricks won't sink?