LePage Looks To Turn Maine Into Dickensian Nightmare

Well, I'm sick of talking about the Mural, but luckily there is never a shortage of LePage material. Why, just last night I was driving home from work and almost drove my car into a ditch due to my sputtering rage at hearing about this:

The sponsor of a new child labor bill says employers should have the flexibility to pay workers under age 20 a “training wage.”

Opponents countered that the proposal devalues young workers and takes money out of the hands of laborers and gives it to business.

LD 1346 suggests several significant changes to Maine’s child labor law, most notably a 180-day period during which workers under age 20 would earn $5.25 an hour.

The state’s current minimum wage is $7.50 an hour.

If this isn't the most crass and obvious handout to the Chamber crowd I've ever seen...so, why exactly would anyone hire someone at full minimum wage? You're basically creating a youthful underclass that will provide cheap labor to merchants at a time of crippling unemployment. And, not only that, you are literally ROBBING money from hard working high school kids whose families may in fact partially depend on their income.

The bill would also allow children to work for 24 hours a week instead of 20, which I am sort of agnostic about (though it could be misused by employers to pressure their new cheap labor to work more hours). Really, this clown won't be happy until we are all in line for porridge, pitiably asking him for "more."