there s a lot of discussion about that, that s the large economy, but the question i m trying to get you to engage on is whether it matters, whether the public should care that for some reason over the past several decades the people who end up in congress seem to be increasingly unusually more wealthy than their constituents, even compared, as we showed, to just 25 years ago. i think the people i worry about the views of their members of congress, not their personal profile, or their portfolio, you could have a low-income member of congress take a very right wing, pro wealthy positions and forget about the working people. and you could have people who are comfortable and that s why they feel they can be in congress and fight for the working people. franklin roosevelt, of course, was one of the wealthiest families in the nation. last question, congressman worry about their views and what they are fighting for. we re out of time. out of the bills you have been
about congressman waxman? oh, boy, there s a long list of things that i will miss. he has had his hand in almost every major domestic issue in the last three or four decades. when you go to the store and you pick up food, you look at the nutrition label, you can thank henry waxman. similarly, when you look at prescription drugs, you want to go for the generic because it s cheaper, you can thank henry. in terms of environmental legislation, health care legislation, affordable care act, there is no other democrat that has had a bigger impact. it will leave a big hole in this institution and it s a big loss for california and the country. there are some speculating that he s getting out because he knows democrats have no chance of winning the house and he does not want to be around for another minority. no, i don t think that s the case. okay. i think henry is optimistic in terms of democratic fortunes. i think he would like to go on and do other things and he s decided after fo
of the folks that you re trying to help. craig, this is always the argument that s made against the minimum wage, while in theory you can understand that argument, in practice there s been empirical evidence that that proves to be true. it doesn t affect behavior that way. we don t see job losses when we raise the minimum wage. we have a lot of historical data to deal with. it s not like it s the first time the minimum wage has been proposed to be increased. the reality is we re back at a level that we haven t seen since 1968 in terms of the value of the minimum wage. theoretically you can make that argument as some do. in practice empirically we don t see job losses accompany a drop in the minimum wage. i have to ask you about your democratic colleague, henry waxman, who has been a part of the lower chamber for, you correct me if i m wrong, this is going into his fourth decade. i mean, this is his 20th term. such an influential voice for democrats especially. what are you going to
now they say they threw him to dogs. did you hear that one? it s incredible what s going on. anyway, kurt, let me go back. why isn t the u.s. better prepared to deal with this kind of thing? well, that question has come up and you ve seen a bipartisan faction come up with congressman waxman and congressman upton talking about how we do more. i think you re going to see the senate speak to this in the committee coming up in the first quarter. so there s much more that needs to be done. as i said, the bulk power system, a lot has been done there. many of the weaknesses are more in the distribution systems and what can we do at the local public service commission levels to make certain there is communication about this, logistically set up. there s a chain of command. you and i both know, judge jeanine, from westchester, you have to make certain and communicate about these things and shed a light on it so we can
now they say they threw him to dogs. did you hear that one? it s incredible what s going on. anyway, kurt, let me go back. why isn t the u.s. better prepared to deal with this kind of thing? well, that question has come up and you ve seen a bipartisan faction come up with congressman waxman and congressman upton talking about how we do more. i think you re going to see the senate speak to this in the committee coming up in the first quarter. so there s much more that needs to be done. as i said, the bulk power system, a lot has been done there. many of the weaknesses are more in the distribution systems and what can we do at the local public service commission levels to make certain there is communication about this, logistically set up. there s a chain of command. you and i both know, judge jeanine, from westchester, you have to make certain and communicate about these things and shed a light on it so we can