Reply #167: Put those little buggers to work.......interesting.....

[Historic NY]

think how much it would save corporate America we could have sub-minimum wages...


1. Missouri state Senator Jane Cunningham has proposed a bill that would “modify” child labor laws, eliminating the prohibition on employment of children under 14.

2. Newly minted Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said in a lecture posted to his YouTube channel that Congressional laws banning child labor are forbidden by the US Constitution.

Congress decided it wanted to prohibit that practice, so it passed a law. No more child labor. The Supreme Court heard a challenge to that law, and the Supreme Court decided a case in 1918 called Hammer v. Dagenhardt,” Lee said. “In that case, the Supreme Court acknowledged something very interesting — that, as reprehensible as child labor is, and as much as it ought to be abandoned — that’s something that has to be done by state legislators, not by Members of Congress.”

Lee’s reasoning was that labor and manufacturing are “by their very nature, local activities” and not “interstate commercial transactions.” He added: “This may sound harsh, but it was designed to be that way. It was designed to be a little bit harsh.”

3. Rep. David Burns, R-Whiting, is sponsoring the bill, which also would eliminate the maximum number of hours a minor over 16 can work during school days.

Burns said the bill empowers both employers and employees and that employers would have more opportunities to hire minors.

“An employer’s got to have employees, so they can decide what they want to pay,” Burns said. “The student wants to have a job, and they can decide what they’re willing to work for.”