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Oakland’s new mayor thinks a $50 minimum wage will solve inflation

April 23, 2025 | | Print Article

The poster city for the expression “elections have consequences” elected a new mayor whose take on solving inflation begged for mockery: “What could possibly go wrong?”

Following the lead of Karen Bass (D), who ran and was elected mayor of Los Angeles after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, former California Rep. Barbara Lee (D) became mayor-elect of Oakland. Proving lessons hadn’t been learned following the long line of leftist leaders driving the once-Golden State into a ditch, Lee advocated for a $50 per hour minimum wage as a plan to deal with the economic hardship brought on by inflation.

The suggestion was made during a debate in 2024, where she failed to win support in the election for late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat that former Rep. Adam Schiff secured.

“In the Bay Area, I believe it was the United Way [that] came out with a report that very recently, $127,000 for a family of four is just barely enough to get by,” she said beside Schiff, fellow Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, and Republican Steve Garvey. “Another survey very recently: $104,000, for a family of one, barely enough to get by, low income because of the affordability crisis. And so, just do the math. Just do the math!”

“Of course, we have national minimum wages that we need to raise to a living wage. You’re talking about 20, 25 dollars, fine. But I have got to be focused on what California needs and what the affordability factor is when we calculate this wage,” she added as her time expired.

Bureau of Labor Statistics analysis of California’s minimum wage hike for fast food workers in April 2024 found that roughly 14,000 jobs had been lost in the 11 months after it went into effect. That result resulted from a mere $4 an hour increase from $16 to $20 per hour.

It remained up for debate as to whether Lee would be a step forward or backward for the people of Oakland after the mayoral seat became available following the recall election of now-former Mayor Sheng Thao. In the weeks after her removal from office, the soft-on-crime Democrat was indicted in January 2025 on federal charges of bribery and conspiracy, to which she pled not guilty.

However, what didn’t appear to be in question was the imperviousness Californians had to cause-and-effect decision-making. Despite the detrimental evidence of the minimum wage hike that drove away businesses and residents, the state is still considering further increases.

As a result of the repeated elections of politicians hellbent on advancing Marxist policies, there is no end in sight to the mockery that Oakland has set itself up for as social media users ripped into the voters in “Califailure.”

Kevin Haggerty
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