---
[ LOS ANGELES ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles)
# Dems … This (Really) Is It!
March 22 2018
Written by David Bell.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
BELL VIEW-In 1923, in the case of *Adkins v. Children’s Hospital,* the Supreme Court held the federal minimum wage unconstitutional because it infringed on “the liberty of contract,” which the Court ruled was encompassed within the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. In other words, the minimum wage interfered with workers’ ability to compete on wages.
Labor laws like minimum wage and the right to collective bargaining are based on a fundamental assumption: that competition among workers serves only to drive down wages. It makes sense, right? That’s the natural effect of competition. And, since individual workers can’t leverage their individual labor the way a business can continue to grow without artificial limits, the “labor market” is the only market that truly acts in the way most people think unfettered markets tend to work.
In other words, unlike industry – where unfettered competition tends to lead, inexorably, to monopoly – unfettered competition in the labor market inevitably suppresses wages. Unlike, say, Walmart, which can open a store in every small town across America and drive out all competition by taking advantage of economies of scale unavailable to small business-owners – an individual worker can only work so many hours in a day. There are no economies of scale available to individuals.
Ultimately, the liberty of contract – the philosophical underpinning of today’s “Right to Work” laws – is nothing more than the freedom to stay poor.
My progressive friends keep telling me this is the moment to take a stand on issues like a $15 minimum wage and universal healthcare. And while I support both ideas, I think we need to differentiate between taking a stand and committing suicide. The question presenting itself today is not whether we are going to establish a $15 minimum wage, but whether we will keep the minimum wage at all. The Chamber of Commerce has been waiting since 1937 (the year the Supreme Court reversed the *Adkins* decision) to bring us the liberty of contract we’ve been clamoring for since the last Gilded Age.
On a side note, the United Foxes of America are putting together a Henhouse Protection Act for Trump’s signature.
Wise up people: there is only one thing that’s going to prevent the Koch Brothers from taking over the government and that is to elect a majority of Democrats to the House and Senate in 2018. You can elect Bernie Sanders all day long in 2020, and he won’t be able to get anything past a six or seven-member majority on the Supreme Court. Universal Healthcare? Minimum wage? Money out of politics? No. No. And no.
Why?
Freedom, that’s why.
Over and over we keep hearing that 2018 will be a Democratic wave. Republicans, we’re told, are in a cold sweat. I’ll believe it when I see it. Until then, I feel like the guy standing in the dark waiting for the fire department to show up as my house goes up in flames. This is it. There is no second chance. 2016 was it too – but this is *really* it.
We need to be strategic and we need to be Democrats. That’s the only choice left. We can’t have five Democrats [splitting the vote](http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/sd-me-dems-endorsement-20180224-story.html) in Darrell Issa’s old district. Darrell’s ilk has to go. We can’t have 29% voter turnout – like they just had in [Illinois](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-illinois-voter-turnout-20180320-story.html) – where 20,000 Republicans voted for [an actual Nazi!](https://thinkprogress.org/20000-illinois-republicans-voted-for-nazi-7bbeeb7631fd/) The time has come to put aside all differences and join the team. We have no choice.
*(David Bell is a writer, attorney, former president of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council and writes for CityWatch.) Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.*
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/116 "USA Radio Museum - Wide")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
Website
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/110 "Something You Should Know")
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/housing/33755-three-things-nithya-raman-can-do-right-now-to-create-more-affordable-housing-in-los-angeles)
### [Three Things Nithya Raman Can Do (Right Now) to Create More Affordable Housing in Los Angeles](https://mail.citywatchla.com/housing/33755-three-things-nithya-raman-can-do-right-now-to-create-more-affordable-housing-in-los-angeles)
HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT - Nithya Raman will soon be the next mayor of Los Angeles, taking her oath of office in mid-De…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/gelfand-s-world/33753-miracles-have-happened)
### [Miracles Have Happened](https://mail.citywatchla.com/gelfand-s-world/33753-miracles-have-happened)
GELFAND'S WORLD - It’s a week later, give or take a couple of days, and miracles have happened. The election of Scott C…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/33723-how-stephen-miller-destroyed-trumps-second-administration)
### [How Stephen Miller Destroyed Trump’s Second Administration](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/33723-how-stephen-miller-destroyed-trumps-second-administration)
THE VIEW FROM HERE - On September 1, 2025, this column explained how the vile, anti-Mexican racist Stephen Miller was d…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/la-election-2022/33756-nithya-ramans-3-1-billion-war-on-cars-is-city-hall-serving-working-angelenos-or-wealthy-political-donors)
### [Nithya Raman’s $3.1 Billion War on Cars: Is City Hall Serving Working Angelenos or Wealthy Political Donors?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/la-election-2022/33756-nithya-ramans-3-1-billion-war-on-cars-is-city-hall-serving-working-angelenos-or-wealthy-political-donors)
THE BOTTOM LINE - As Los Angeles faces mounting financial pressures, the mayor-elect must explain why a multibillion-do…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33733-congratulations-nithya-raman-as-our-new-olympics-pro-unity-mayor)
### [Congratulations, Nithya Raman, As Our New Olympics, Pro-Unity Mayor!](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33733-congratulations-nithya-raman-as-our-new-olympics-pro-unity-mayor)
ALPERN AT LARGE - The uncertainty is OVER. We now know who will be our next Mayor, and we need a Leader, and a Uniter…
---
## [ LOS ANGELES ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33744-to-mayor-elect-nithya-raman)### [To Mayor-Elect Nithya Raman](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33744-to-mayor-elect-nithya-raman)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33745-the-old-saying-goes-the-people-have-spoken-its-time-to-move-on)### [The Old Saying Goes - The People Have Spoken. It’s Time To Move On.](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33745-the-old-saying-goes-the-people-have-spoken-its-time-to-move-on)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33747-la-has-many-vacant-apartments-but-the-homeless-and-overcrowded-cannot-afford-them)### [LA Has Many Vacant Apartments, But The Homeless And Overcrowded Cannot Afford Them](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33747-la-has-many-vacant-apartments-but-the-homeless-and-overcrowded-cannot-afford-them)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33750-homelessness-in-la-when-will-we-see-real-change)### [Homelessness in LA: When Will We See Real Change?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33750-homelessness-in-la-when-will-we-see-real-change)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33754-raman-the-nightmare-mayor)### [Raman the Nightmare Mayor](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33754-raman-the-nightmare-mayor)