Democrats prepare to raise minimum wage

[Phreak101]

Let the battle begin...


Democrats prepare to raise minimum wage By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 28 minutes ago



It looks like full steam ahead for a significant boost to the federal minimum wage when Democrats assume control of Congress in January.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) of Massachusetts said Thursday that increasing the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 would be his top priority as chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

On the House side, incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., already has listed an increase in the minimum wage as one of the issues that would be taken up during the first 100 hours of the next Congress.

"Americans are working harder than ever, but millions of hardworking men and women across the country aren't getting their fair share," Kennedy said during a speech outlining his legislative agenda for next year. "We're not rewarding work fairly anymore, and working families are falling behind."

President Bush signaled readiness last week to consider some Democratic priorities such as a minimum-wage increase, overhauling immigration policy and finding compromise on renewing the No Child Left Behind education law.

Critics of boosting the minimum wage say it kills job creation as employers hire fewer entry-level workers to compensate for the higher wage expenses. Kennedy said the minimum wage has remained at $5.15 an hour for nearly 10 years.

Most states have their own minimum wages laws, with some states having rates the same as the federal minimum wage and some with rates higher than the federal minimum.

Kennedy noted that ballot initiatives establishing or raising the minimum wage in six states all passed in this month's election.

"If there is one message from this election that emerged loud and clear, it's that no one who works for a living should have to live in poverty," Kennedy said.

Kennedy also said he would seek to expand federal support for research on stem cells coming from embryos, which Congress approved last year, but Bush vetoed. The issue won't go away, he promised.

On education, Kennedy said he would seek to make college more affordable by increasing the size of Pell Grants from $4,050 to $5,100, and by cutting interest rates on student loans.

"It is more important than ever for our citizens to have a college education so they can compete in the global economy and have a fair chance at the American dream," he said.

On health care, Kennedy said the Senate's HELP committee would expand a health insurance program that now provides health coverage for about 4 million children. He also would look for ways to expand coverage to other populations too, he said, but he did not provide specifics, such as how to pay for that coverage.

[biglouie250]

ekkkkk and unemployment rises .....the dems are just determined to lose what they have just gained.

[spywizard]

= more jobs going to over seas countries..

why in the world would i pay someone $10 (actual cost) per shirt to manufacture, if i can get it manufactured for $1 including shipping and taxes??

it makes no sense, i would have to pass the cost of a tee shirt onto the comsumer.. because i have overhead and profit margins to maintain.. afterall, i have to pay people to sell the product..

Increasing wages simply devalues everything else.. increases housing costs, and taxes..

[biglouie250]

they should impose tarriffs and quotas on jobs we create over seas. tax the piss out of these big corps that outsource.

spy- increasing wages above the equilibrium price doesnt devalue other goods, nor does it increase housing costs or create an increase in taxes. it just creates a surplus of labor with less demand for labor. so in essence people will get layed off, especially unskilled labor(walmart, mcdonalds, etc cut jobs)

[Kärnfysikern]

"If there is one message from this election that emerged loud and clear, it's that no one who works for a living should have to live in poverty," Kennedy said

I dont se how anyone could disagree with that?

= more jobs going to over seas countries..

why in the world would i pay someone $10 (actual cost) per shirt to manufacture, if i can get it manufactured for $1 including shipping and taxes??

sustainability...

[LuckyDragon]

How could someone not agree with that? Well, #1 its unconstitutional.


#2 The price of goods rises in proportion to the amount of non-performance related pay increases. All the stores paying entry level unionized employees $15, the prices are through the roof and they going out of business to the warehouse places that pay $8 but with stuff like health insurance.

It doesnt just effect the minimum wage works, because you can expect a proportional increase for workers higher up on the chain based on it. So 51% of the population can vote to make everyone else pay more for their products..including poor.

[biglouie250]

How could someone not agree with that? Well, #1 its unconstitutional.


#2 The price of goods rises in proportion to the amount of non-performance related pay increases. All the stores paying entry level unionized employees $15, the prices are through the roof and they going out of business to the warehouse places that pay $8 but with stuff like health insurance.

It doesnt just effect the minimum wage works, because you can expect a proportional increase for workers higher up on the chain based on it. So 51% of the population can vote to make everyone else pay more for their products..including poor.

whats your experience with economics and what exactly are you arguing? i cant figure it out. this is not a constitutional issue at all. ill just point out a few flaws based on modern economic theory.....

The price of goods rises in proportion to the amount of non-performance related pay increases.

not true. in monopolies and oligopolies price is set by the company, not the market. in monopolistic competition and perfect competition price is set by supply and demand. Prices dont rise because of raising wages. raising wages causes unemployment, as supply of labor increases but demand for labor at that price decreases. its called a price floor.

It doesnt just effect the minimum wage works, because you can expect a proportional increase for workers higher up on the chain based on it.

wrong. unskilled labor segments have no affect on skilled labor segments. there wont be any proportional increase. a corp is not going to raise wages across the board because joe in the mailroom is making 7 bucks an hour as opposed to 6.50.

[lifterjaydawg]

5.15 to 7.25 seems like a pretty high jump. and I thought the minimum wage was higher than 5.15. Does it differ from state to state?

[Phreak101]

5.15 to 7.25 seems like a pretty high jump. and I thought the minimum wage was higher than 5.15. Does it differ from state to state?

They're doing it because it's been 515 for 10 years. What they are not telling you is that the CPI (Consumer Price Index) which measures inflation has gone up by a FAR less % than the minimum wage is going up. Dems are just making corporations pay for their votes...

[Logan13]

True story from a Liberal, uninformed mind:

My secretary, avid Liberal, made a comment to me this morning during a conversation about the minimum wage($5.15) possibly being raised. I first asked her to name 2 people who she knows who currently make minimum wage, but she had no answer to this. My next question to her was what would it do for her since she is making $13/hour. She said that since those making minimum would get a raise that it would snowball into her getting a raise.
By raising minimum wage, minimum wage positions will be cut and extra workload would be placed on these people. This extra money is not going to come out of the owner's pockets, it will either be paid for by cut-backs, pay freezings, price increases to customers, or perhaps all of the above. The majority of people making minimum wage are either in high school or in college.
BTW, the lowest wage I give is $11, which goes to summer hires.

[I_AM_HE]

you poor ass lazy loser should get all your jobs and connection from your dady like I did GWBush

[sofus99]

Hurray for God's own country. 5.15$ as minimum? That is just f*****g retarded. Here in Denmark I think the lowest people are paid is something like 15$ per hour.

5 bucks an hour is bordering on slavery, and so is 7$.

[biglouie250]

True story from a Liberal, uninformed mind:

My secretary, avid Liberal, made a comment to me this morning during a conversation about the minimum wage($5.15) possibly being raised. I first asked her to name 2 people who she knows who currently make minimum wage, but she had no answer to this. My next question to her was what would it do for her since she is making $13/hour. She said that since those making minimum would get a raise that it would snowball into her getting a raise.
By raising minimum wage, minimum wage positions will be cut and extra workload would be placed on these people. This extra money is not going to come out of the owner's pockets, it will either be paid for by cut-backs, pay freezings, price increases to customers, or perhaps all of the above. The majority of people making minimum wage are either in high school or in college.
BTW, the lowest wage I give is $11, which goes to summer hires.

+1 here! look at my post above, and you thought i was a liberal.

[Phreak101]

Hurray for God's own country. 5.15$ as minimum? That is just f*****g retarded. Here in Denmark I think the lowest people are paid is something like 15$ per hour.

5 bucks an hour is bordering on slavery, and so is 7$.

Hooray for Denamrk, now multiply your population by 10 and pay $15 an hour and watch your country's economy go down the toilet.

Anyone can make it on $7 an hour if they bust their asses.

40 hours a week * $7 = $280/wk
10 hours a (Overtime) week * $11.50 = $115.00/wk

280+115 = 395/wk = Around 1600/mo

After taxes they receive around 1300 of that.

Rent = 600/mo
Bills = 100/mo
Food = 200/mo
Car = 150/mo
----------------
$1150/mo

No single person making minimum wage should need to spend more than that, and if they are, they are living beyond their means and it is their own fault.

[mcpeepants]

Hooray for Denamrk, now multiply your population by 10 and pay $15 an hour and watch your country's economy go down the toilet.

Anyone can make it on $7 an hour if they bust their asses.

40 hours a week * $7 = $280/wk
10 hours a (Overtime) week * $11.50 = $115.00/wk

280+115 = 395/wk = Around 1600/mo

After taxes they receive around 1300 of that.

Rent = 600/mo
Bills = 100/mo
Food = 200/mo
Car = 150/mo
----------------
$1150/mo

No single person making minimum wage should need to spend more than that, and if they are, they are living beyond their means and it is their own fault.

Depends on location. Rent in new york would take most of your pay. Electrical, Water, Heating, phone bill =100/mo unlikely. What's about medical cost? dental? If you making minimum wage, you probably don't have a good car so i'll probably break down a lot.

[J.S.N.]

for all the economic conservatives here:

if you were faced with a choice between working your ass off for a wage that doesn't even cover your living expenses or robbery which would you choose?

[Snrf]

minimum wage in england is £5 something, equivalent to $9 and gas costs 90pence ($1.60 A LITRE) and everything else is more expensive too, sucks for those on minimum wage (poor uni students like me)

[Phreak101]

Depends on location. Rent in new york would take most of your pay. Electrical, Water, Heating, phone bill =100/mo unlikely. What's about medical cost? dental? If you making minimum wage, you probably don't have a good car so i'll probably break down a lot.

A lot of minimum wage jobs offer benefits, hence all that would be covered. Even part time people at companies like Home Depot get full time benefits after 90 days....

[Kärnfysikern]

Hooray for Denamrk, now multiply your population by 10 and pay $15 an hour and watch your country's economy go down the toilet.

Anyone can make it on $7 an hour if they bust their asses.

40 hours a week * $7 = $280/wk
10 hours a (Overtime) week * $11.50 = $115.00/wk

280+115 = 395/wk = Around 1600/mo

After taxes they receive around 1300 of that.

Rent = 600/mo
Bills = 100/mo
Food = 200/mo
Car = 150/mo
----------------
$1150/mo

No single person making minimum wage should need to spend more than that, and if they are, they are living beyond their means and it is their own fault.

My simple philosophy is that minimum wage should be at a level that means anyone can live without beeing borderline poor while "only" working 40 hours a day.

Someone can live on 5$ an hour aswell if they work 80 hour weeks....

The lowest I have earned was 11,30 $/hour and that was when working with the shittiest and lowest paid job there is in sweden.

At the level of Income I have right now it would compare to working 40 hours a week with a wage of 6$ hour(I get 950 bucks a month). Sure its possible to survive on it. But only because I am a student and I dont spend money on anything else than food and school stuff basicly.

BTW the scandinavian economies are doing much better than the rest of the EU and we all have what seems like pretty high minimum wages. Atleast compared to america. I dont know what the lowest legal limit is offcourse, but I have never heard of any adult with a real job making less than 10.5$/hour.

If high minimum wages realy sacked the economy that bad we should be in a mess right now

[J.S.N.]

A lot of minimum wage jobs offer benefits, hence all that would be covered. Even part time people at companies like Home Depot get full time benefits after 90 days....

which is why they lay off so many people after 89.

[Phreak101]

My simple philosophy is that minimum wage should be at a level that means anyone can live without beeing borderline poor while "only" working 40 hours a day.

Someone can live on 5$ an hour aswell if they work 80 hour weeks....

The lowest I have earned was 11,30 $/hour and that was when working with the shittiest and lowest paid job there is in sweden.

At the level of Income I have right now it would compare to working 40 hours a week with a wage of 6$ hour(I get 950 bucks a month). Sure its possible to survive on it. But only because I am a student and I dont spend money on anything else than food and school stuff basicly.

BTW the scandinavian economies are doing much better than the rest of the EU and we all have what seems like pretty high minimum wages. Atleast compared to america. I dont know what the lowest legal limit is offcourse, but I have never heard of any adult with a real job making less than 10.5$/hour.

If high minimum wages realy sacked the economy that bad we should be in a mess right now

It's all a numbers game...population. More people working = more wages to be paid. The USA has so much more people than Sweden and Denmark, and I would imagine trying to pay people 10+ dollars an hour for doing basic, remedial jobs would actually eliminate MORE jobs because of the inability to fit the wages into the budget of the company.

[Phreak101]

which is why they lay off so many people after 89.

Pure speculation...

[J.S.N.]

Pure speculation...

actually i worked there in college. they laid myself and about 20 other people off the same day as we got near our 90.

[Phreak101]

actually i worked there in college. they laid myself and about 20 other people off the same day as we got near our 90.

Haha so did I, and they kept me..SLACKER!!

[Kärnfysikern]

It's all a numbers game...population. More people working = more wages to be paid. The USA has so much more people than Sweden and Denmark, and I would imagine trying to pay people 10+ dollars an hour for doing basic, remedial jobs would actually eliminate MORE jobs because of the inability to fit the wages into the budget of the company.

Well I dont know much about economics.
But it seems to me that with a larger scale it would be easier to keep salaries higher because of less related costs. A company with 1000 people working should handle a wage increase better than a company with 2 people right? All the costs of having someone working for you not directly related to wage must be smaller for a big company than a small and give bigger marginals to work within.

[Phreak101]

Well I dont know much about economics.
But it seems to me that with a larger scale it would be easier to keep salaries higher because of less related costs. A company with 1000 people working should handle a wage increase better than a company with 2 people right? All the costs of having someone working for you not directly related to wage must be smaller for a big company than a small and give bigger marginals to work within.

Ok, a company has a budget of say 1,000 dollars for payroll. That means it can pay 200 people 5 dollars an hour.

If you raise the minimum wage to 10 dollars an hour, that's half the jobs a company can account for in their budget. So yes, minimum wage DOES help those who KEEP their jobs, but in essence, as stated above, the costs associated by raising the minimum wage will NOT come from within, they will be passed on to the workers and the consumers. Hence half the jobs are available or prices go up for everyone. Natural economics, supply and demand, determine the price, but when you start forcing companies to abide by certain margins, it screws all that up...

Tough topic..

[Logan13]

You guys are missing the point. How many people do you know who actually make just minimum wage? Fact is, the majority of those making $5.15/hour are those in High school and in college. The average household income in the US for Asians is $60,000, whites is around $50,000, for blacks it is around $30,000, and for hispanics it is $36,000.

[Grappler13]

for all the economic conservatives here:

if you were faced with a choice between working your ass off for a wage that doesn't even cover your living expenses or robbery which would you choose?

Welfare pays pretty well and you don't even have to "work your ass off." Hell, to hell with the free market, let's just raise the minimum wage to $400/hr for everyone. That would fix it right, then everyone would have plenty of cash to do with what they wanted to.

[J.S.N.]

Welfare pays pretty well and you don't even have to "work your ass off." Hell, to hell with the free market, let's just raise the minimum wage to $400/hr for everyone. That would fix it right, then everyone would have plenty of cash to do with what they wanted to.

no it doesn't pay pretty well if it did i'd go on welfare and move into a nice little pad in palm beach.

[Logan13]

no it doesn't pay pretty well if it did i'd go on welfare and move into a nice little pad in palm beach.

For those who are too lazy to work, it pays pretty good.

[mcpeepants]

A lot of minimum wage jobs offer benefits, hence all that would be covered. Even part time people at companies like Home Depot get full time benefits after 90 days....

benefits, if they get them, don't cover heating, electricity, water, let alone the assumption of low rent of 600 a month. well i need to see information on how could places like Home Depot's insurance is.

[Logan13]

benefits, if they get them, don't cover heating, electricity, water, let alone the assumption of low rent of 600 a month. well i need to see information on how could places like Home Depot's insurance is.

mark my word, if you have a family and are only making minimum wage, you will also have welfare and most likely gov't housing as well. You need to think outside of individual posts and look at the big picture.

[mcpeepants]

mark my word, if you have a family and are only making minimum wage, you will also have welfare and most likely gov't housing as well. You need to think outside of individual posts and look at the big picture.

I thought you didn't like welfare.

[Logan13]

I thought you didn't like welfare.

It does not matter if I like it or not, it is still quite available for those who need it.

[scriptfactory]

It does not matter if I like it or not, it is still quite available for those who need it.

But wouldn't it be better to not need welfare?

[death45456]

it's not exactly difficult to get a job that pays higher than minimum wage in the US.

[mcpeepants]

It does not matter if I like it or not, it is still quite available for those who need it.

what scriptfactory said

[Logan13]

But wouldn't it be better to not need welfare?

Sure it would. But you only get as much out of it as you put into it. If people want to skip out on at least a high school diploma they have themselves to blame. It is not my place to send my money to them because they were off getting high instead of getting an education.