Found this today at MSN news online:
WASHINGTON - The Senate Wednesday defeated a proposal pushed by Democrats that would have given some of the lowest-paid hourly workers a boost in their wages for the first time in nearly a decade.
A majority of the Senate, 52 senators, voted in favor of incrementally raising the federal minimum wage -- unchanged since 1997 -- 40 percent from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 by Jan. 1, 2009. But the measure needed 60 votes to win under a procedural agreement worked out earlier.
Sen. Edward Kennedy acknowledged to reporters that it will be "pretty difficult" to win a minimum wage increase this year. He said the pay raise for about 7 million workers and their families would be a top priority if Democrats win control of the Senate in November's elections.
Kennedy also chastised Republican leaders for blocking a minimum wage increase while pursuing repeal of the estate tax, which mostly helps the wealthy, and taking "plenty of time to debate flag burning. I don't know the last time a flag was burned in my state of Massachusetts," Kennedy said.
Democratic candidates are likely to highlight the minimum wage and contrast it to House and Senate members' salaries, which have risen by nearly $35,000 since 1997.
House Democrats, like their Senate counterparts, are pushing a $2.10-per-hour minimum wage increase. Last week, the House Appropriations Committee voted to include the wage hike in a fiscal 2007 labor and health spending bill.
House Republican leaders, who oppose raising the minimum wage, have put that bill on a back burner because of the amendment.
Incredible. They don't want to give the poorest hard working American a raise, but yet they'll give tax refunds and breaks to oil companies while the companies are reaping in thier biggest profits in history. The Republicans truly have no shame.
And if any Senator votes against raised minimum wage while accepting a salary that's increased $35,000 (more than someone on minimum wage would even MAKE in a year), they deserve to be voted out of office. No, they deserve to have all thier money taken from them and forced to work for "minimum" wage and see how well THEY can get along!
POLT = listening to "Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was" by Radiohead
And everybody knows that the world is full of stupid people. - The Replacements
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4 comments:
I see several sides to the minimum wage issue and have concerns about raising it as well as not raising it.
Let me start by saying that the minimum wage in Michigan will rise to $6.95 come this October.
If the federal minimum wage is raised to $7.25 then what exactly will happen to those people who are currently making $7.25 an hour, or those making just within a few dollars of $7.25 an hour? The answer would be: a demotion in most cases unless employers want to give all of the employees a raise in order to keep things fair. If my own hourly wage at either of my jobs is not raised accordingly (and it won't be) then I will be just that much closer to minimum wage again. Sliding backwards in other words. Where would the incentive be for minimum wage workers to get a better education and/or better job? Rarely does even the middle class see a $2.15 an hour rate hike.
If the minimum wage did not rise at all then those people making minimum wage would continue to have to work more than one job to support themselves, OR, gain further education in order to get better paying jobs (or go back to Mexico....yuck yuck...sorry, just couldn't resist).
Even if I were still working at my previous salary with Sprint (over 60K) any minimum wage increase would still reflect a demotion to myself and anyone making above minimum wage no matter how close the hourly rate.
Plus, what do you think will happen to the price of restaurant food, anything retail, newspapers, groceries, etc.? The rest of us that don't get any hourly hike will be poorer because the added cost to employers will be directly passed on to the consumers. In some cases it will put certain items just as out of reach for the minimum wage earners as it already is for them.
For strictly personal reasons (and from having lived through several minimum wage hikes) I would prefer to see a compromise where the minimum wage is not increased so drastically. I'm afraid that there is going to be a very rude wake up call for both consumers and businesses here in Michigan after October when we have that $1.80 per hour increase to the existing minimum wage. My spending power will be about $1.80 per hour less than it has been since I won't be seeing any wage increase although my costs will rise dramatically.
This may sound conservative, but if you think about it it really isn't. Uneducated liberals or those who can't predict the future based on past mistakes see only that poor people (minimum wage earners) will have more money in their pockets. But, they will also pay more taxes, and pay more for many of their everyday needs which might leave them with even less buying power in the long run. Baby steps are needed for this issue of minimum wage changes.
Thank you and good evening.
Fairy Godfather.
How about the smaller business who can't afford to raise the wages without letting some people go? Lets do some math shall we…. Lets say this increase goes through so your average worker is pulling in $7.15 an hour, now even statistically speaking most people on min. wage are not full time employees, lets say this person is (and for the fun of it lets call this hypothetical guy Pete) So Pete is working for 7.15 an hour x 40 hrs a week. This means before taxes Pete is pulling down $1144.00 a month. Let us also assume that Pete gets a paid vacation at the Taco Bell, thus he gets paid 1144 x 12 months. That means Pete’s year pre tax income is $13,728. Now hopefully Pete is smart enough to realize that if he does his taxes properly he doesn’t make enough to be taxed heavily, thus he will get most of that back. So Pete is pulling down, maybe $11,000 a year.
Now if everyone all of a sudden gets a $1.50sih increase in their salary, then wouldn't one think inflation would rise? (But you didn’t stop to think about that did ya?) So basically Pete is right back where he started, but now his gas is higher (we’ll argue about that one later), his rent has gone up, and now he has to pay $1.25 as apposed to $1.00 for his 2 hot dogs at Sheetz.
So my question is, why does yuns hate Pete? What did he do to you? He never said anything bad about you. He’s just a hard working American trying to make ends meet and you gottsta be hatein…..this is why you are a Communist
P.S
I enjoyed the first comment……very logical and well thought out
Anonymous number 2: My God, you're so right! It would hurt poor Petey to make more money! Why, I guess we oughta just lower his wage by $1.50 or so, then, eh? If it's so bad for him to make more, I guess it'll just be better for him to make less. And I'm sure, sicne Taco Bell won't have to pay as much, thier tacos will be on $.75 then! And gas will be cheaper and everything will be right with the world.
Silly pete,wanting to make more money. What could he possibly have been thinking???
He should get down on his knees and thank his lucky stars that there's people out there like you and the Senate Republicans to make sure Pete doesn't make more money than he needs to, cause obviously, you guys know what's better for him than he does!
And the first comment was pretty straightforward. no real need to embellish it with figures and hypothetical people. It pretty much says it all.
Mark: I agree baby steps would be best way to handle something like this. but it hasn't been changed in almost TEN years. If baby steps were made along the way, there'd be no need for this now. But there weren't ANY steps made.
The middle class does indeed rarely see an increase of $2.25, but rarely does the middle class see absolutely no increase at all for nine year either.
You're correct when you say middle class people will have a bit less buying power. But this is not about the middle class, it's about the poorest working Americans. This is about something totally foreign in today's selfish, it's all about me, grab all the money and run attitude: sacrifice. Having a little less so someone less fortunate can a little more.
You tout education, which sounds nice, but how practical is it? If someone's making minimum wage, he's probably gonna be working two jobs. And still not bringing in much more than what he needs to survive. Where is he gonna find the time or money to ecducate himself? Perhaps, if he made a "living" wage, not just a minimum wage, he could take some courses at a local community college and become a mechanic, or paralegal, or whatever he'd like. A lot of college kids work part time jobs to help pay thier way through college, but most don't do it ONLY on minimum wage jobs. It would be highly unlikely someone could work for minimum wage, survive AND attend a college, even a community one.
This one isn't direct at you specifically Mark, but it amazes me that people (not the very wealthy mind you, but middle class folk) get all in a tither when anyoen mentions raising the minimum wage to help the poorest working Americans just try to get by, and trot out all these stats and charts and whatever to show how harmful it would be. BUT, where are these same people when oil companies are gouging Americans by charging excessive amounts of money while AT THE SAME TIME making obscene profits. And where are they when the Congress passes tax cuts for the richest one tenth of one percent of Americans, while giving nothing tot he Middle class, and driving the country further and further into debt. Where are these people and thier righteous indignation, and snarky comments, and condescending speeches then? Why are they not up in arms when billionaires get free government handouts, but they're spitting bullets when we want to give just a bit more to the poorest ones who haven't had an increase in a decade?
I guess being an uneducated liberal and someone who can't 'do the math' prevents me from understanding the selfishness and lack of compassion in this country.
Ok, Poultry,
First of all you are not uneducated, but you are definately biased. So am I for that matter.
Looking at my own situation again.
I work at two jobs (just over the current minimum wage) and am unable to cover all of my living expenses each month. What if I had a wife or kids to support? Since I already can't cover the bills I would have a hard time paying for more education, let alone trying to find the time between jobs. The increased cost of everyday items after a minimum wage increase will cause me to be even further behind on my bills. Do you honestly believe that the poor would have more spending power for education and training, let alone for everyday items??
We can define a minimum wage, but can you please define a "living wage"? It would have to be different for everyone since states and city's differ in economy and peoples families are different sizes. So, what is a "living wage", and where do I sign up?
The price increases (or inflation) will not be felt by the wealthy. They don't even feel the pain at the gas pumps. As we move down the wealthy scale towards the poverty side the impact of rising prices will hurt each level going down a little bit more until it reaches the poor (those with the minimum wage increases) who will continue to suffer the most. (By the way, no one in their right mind would assume that prices would go down if the minimum wage were lowered. Economics just doesn't work that way.)
'How practical is education?'
I'm not even going to touch that one with a ten foot pole.
Minimum wage jobs are supposed to be stepping stones to bigger and better paying jobs. No one should be retiring on minimum wage.
As for Pete...well, if the Democrats controlled congress then the same could be said about them knowing what's best for Pete, right? The thing is Pete doesn't get to choose. Only the ruling party in Congress gets to choose whats best for Pete, regardless of what thay me be.
Come this October (for me anyways) I will be saying "hello minimum wage....its been such a long time since I knew thee".
I really need to move to Canada. Where they don't deal with this bullshit the same way.
While I'm still living with the United States' system I stand by my statements and reasoning.
Fairy Libertarian Godfather.
(Communist?? Come on now.....)
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