Excerpt:
Members of Congress are scheduled to receive a $3,300 cost-of-living pay increase, raising base pay to $168,500. Such increases automatically go into effect unless lawmakers take a vote to reject them. An effort to reject the latest increase failed earlier this month in the House.
Among Wisconsin House Republicans, Jim Sensenbrenner of Menomonee Falls is against raising the minimum wage, saying it would cost low-income people jobs because of the added burden on business.
Green Bay Republican Mark Green, who is running for governor, said he could support an increase if it's tied to tax relief for businesses. Janesville's Paul Ryan said the same thing. Ryan said he would oppose a "stand-alone" wage increase "because then you have job losses."
"Whether people like it or not, we need to go ahead with it," said Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., who supports the idea of raising the minimum wage now. "There's a general agreement among Republicans (opposing the raise) that "maybe we don't like it much, but we need to move forward with it just for political reasons."
It turns out that Paul Ryan and Mark Green actually voted against raising the minimum wage before voting for it. John Kerry has nothing on these guys.
When the reasons were for profits, they voted against raising it, but now that their reasons are for politics, well that’s different.
Excerpt:"It's political blackmail to say the only way that minimum wage workers can get a raise is to give a tax giveaway to the wealthiest Americans," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. "Members of Congress raised their own pay — no strings attached. Surely, common decency suggests that minimum wage workers deserve the same respect."
"It's outrageous the Republican Congress can't simply help poor people without doing something for their wealthy contributors," said Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio.
If someone came up to me when gasoline was $1.85 a gallon and said, ”mister consumer, you have a choice, we could raise the minimum wage to $7.50/hr or raise the price of gasoline to $3.00/gallon, which one would you prefer? That’s easy, raise the minimum, people will have more to spend. Sure, prices will pop a little, but it will be spread evenly across the entire economy, and the fed can raise the interest rate another 1/4 point to hold down inflation, like they've been doing with gasoline. Has the high price of gasoline cost people their jobs because of the added burden on business? If you listen to the Bush administration they have created at least 1 million jobs during the same time gasoline has gone up. They make me want to......
12 comments:
I had plenty of minimum wage jobs and each time the increase the pay they increase everything else.
Meanwhile I don't own a car and gas prices rising hasn't stripped anything from my pocket.
But I'm one person I know the bigger picture is worse.
Man,
So you are saying that since the minimum wage hasn't gone up since 1997, and because you don't own a car, you cost of living has stayed the same as before. That the high cost of gasoline had very little effect on your bills? Where do you live and..... can I move in?
Minimum wage is a STARTING wage. 80% of minimum wage earners are teenagers. Part-time employees. They aren't required to support a family on minimum wage. Why would we want to ruin businesses by raising the minimum wage? Business owners pay for employees on what the employee's job is based on. Unskilled labor is just that unskilled. If you want to make more money then you either need to educate yourself or start on the bottom rung of the ladder and work your way up the pay scale. Another point the people that do start out getting minimum wage only recieve that pay rate for a short time. Probationary period.
Since so few people earn the minimum wage, why are so many(Republicans) against it? Clearly, job market wages are based on skill,time and production. Many laborious or repetitive job tasks require little talent or education at all, BUT SOMEONE HAS TO DO IT, or the business fails. Paying key workers however uneducated less than a living wage is taking advantage of them, It's a shame that government must establish this wage. They (Congress)could never politicize this ever again if they would just index the wage to inflation or better yet, their own raises.
I don't pretend to understand the first thing about politics other than it's nauseating at every level.
First of all (from Wiki)- "Before the Twentieth Amendment, Congress met from the first Monday in December to April or May in the first session of their term (the "long session"); and from December to March 4 in the second "short session"."
So they are elected to work for us for 2 years but in reality they only work for 8 months spread out over 2 years? And they are deserving of a raise why? One other thing I always wondered, why is it the guy at Taco Bell has to take a drug test to serve me my food but the people that make our LAWS don't? This country needs a serious overhaul. All of this is off topic sorry. Minimum wage should be increased. With a vast majority of decent paying jobs moving overseas, for the middle class all thats left is minimum wage jobs. Tagging it to the estate tax was cowardly and wrong. When is enough money enough? How much money does one person need? I'm sure the Bush girls and Paris Hilton will have enough without the tax break.
jk
I'm with you all the way. Why can a person get more background information on the roofer or the mechanic at the muffler shop, but it's a dead-end street searching for the practice history of the doctor who's about to cut you open?
What the Republicans did with the minumum wage is the worst. People have to remember this in November even if it fails through the senate. I hate to sound so partisan because both parties have problems, but I have to go with the Democrats in order to stand for something other than money all the time.
Who's to say what someones job is worth? It certainly shouldn't be the governments. The business owner should know what a job is worth to his business. I support having the idustry dictate the pay rate of people. If an employer can't find the help he needs when he/she is offering minimum wage then the business owner will offer a higher wage.
Who's to say what someones job is worth? I agree, it shouldn't be the governments job, however I support having the economy dictate it through inflation indices and cost of living relationships. The government should only enforce compliance. But instead we have two-faced politicians who will only raise the minimum providing we give the Paris Hiltons of the world a big tax break. They make me sick.
Republicans need the low wage votes? I believe that to be false. It would seem that the democrats need the low income poverty level types to help them win elections (somethin that they haven't been real good at lately). They are the ones who want people to be dependent on the government. They are the ones who embrace welfare as a way of life. It took Tommy Thompson to implement the welfare reform. Which has been working quite well and which other states have copied.
Right now the Republicans are hurting, and we need to keep it that way. If the Democrats in the Senate allow the blackmail to pass, the Dems will lose a sticking point come November. Democrats do the Repubs favors all the time and then wonder why they lose elections. The Repubs failed to pass the minimum as a stand alone, people need to remember that. Shifting welfare from the people to corporations is still welfare. The Repubs have been in charge for over twelve years (Contract with America) and despite their claims to welfare reform our deficits have ballooned.
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