Politician Says Fast Food Workers Should Get a 'Real Job'

File under major political snafus: According to Think Progress, this week Wisconsin Attorney General candidate Brad Schimel admitted that he was "tired" of the statewide debate over minimum wage, adding that fast food workers should get "a real job." Schimel told supporters at a party, "I want every one of our neighbors to have a job again, a well-paid job, so we don't have to argue about minimum wage for someone working at Burger King... Let's get them a real job." Next month Wisconsin residents will vote on whether or not to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, which is still five dollars under what many consider to be a "livable wage."

This is yet another blow to fast food workers who already deal with serious hardships. Sadly, their very "real jobs" do not pay enough for them to live a "real life." Nearly 40 percent of all restaurant employees live in poverty. Most of them do not have health insurance, and often they are subject to "wage theft." So perhaps the best thing Schimel could do is convince Wisconsin residents to raise the minimum wage so that fast food workers no longer have to strike and could live on a something closer to a "real" wage.