House Dems propose raising minimum wage from $7.25/hr to $10

[KingOrfeo]

And indexing future increases to the Consumer Price Index.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) and 17 House Democrats, including several Congressional Black Caucus members, proposed legislation Wednesday that would increase the minimum wage to $10 an hour.

Jackson said his bill, the Catching Up to 1968 Act, is needed to help low-income workers "catch up" to inflation, which he said is eating away at the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. He also said it would give these workers more income and boost overall demand for the struggling economy.

More in The Nation.

(Meanwhile, in NY, Gov. Cuomo despairs of getting the state minimum waged hiked even from $7.50 to $8.50, despite polls showing 78% support for that.)

Debate points obvious:

1) Is this a good idea? What economic impact would it have?

2) Any breath of a chance of even getting it to a floor vote in a Pub-controlled House?

 

[unregistered]

 

[RjThoughts]

Hell if it's the right thing to do, why not raise it to $20 an hour?

How about being realistic: Living wage of $8.50 would be good.

Or better yet, why not PENALIZE those corporations which out-source call centers, etc..and keep penalizing them until they get the message and bring BACK the jobs!!!

 

[koalabear]

And indexing future increases to the Consumer Price Index.



More in The Nation.

(Meanwhile, in NY, Gov. Cuomo despairs of getting the state minimum waged hiked even from $7.50 to $8.50, despite polls showing 78% support for that.)

Debate points obvious:

1) Is this a good idea? What economic impact would it have?

2) Any breath of a chance of even getting it to a floor vote in a Pub-controlled House?

Ask Soros.

 

[unregistered]

 

[RjThoughts]

The answer is, such a standard outlaws the employment of skills that are worth less than $8.50 hr., causing the unemployment of people who fall below that threshold.

Because we live in a free country, not a Soviet style command order economic system.

You want a major drop in the unemployment numbers, have ALL call centers RETURNED to the U.S. You're okay with jobs U.S. citizens are perfectly capable of doing being shipped to India and other places?

 

[koalabear]

You want a major drop in the unemployment numbers, have ALL call centers RETURNED to the U.S.

So you want government control of business.

 

[RjThoughts]

So you want government control of business.

You're okay with "Corporate Welfare"

 

[koalabear]

You're okay with "Corporate Welfare"

You're okay with government control of business.

 

[TexasWife25]

Hmmm, I dont think such a huge bump, especially right now is the best way to go. While it may seem like it can only help the individual, such a large increase can only hurt struggling businesses.

Id be in favor of a comprehensive, state by state study, of what the average wage an individual needs to survive is. What works in New York would be excessive in say Utah. Then maybe giving a set period of time to allow each state to gradually increase to that number.

 

[RjThoughts]

You're okay with government control of business.

You love Corporations sending good jobs overseas for profits!

 

[JohnnySavage]

Hmmm, I dont think such a huge bump, especially right now is the best way to go. While it may seem like it can only help the individual, such a large increase can only hurt struggling businesses.

Id be in favor of a comprehensive, state by state study, of what the average wage an individual needs to survive is. What works in New York would be excessive in say Utah. Then maybe giving a set period of time to allow each state to gradually increase to that number.

As the wages go up, so does the cost of living. It's not a game that can be normalized.

 

[RjThoughts]

Hmmm, I dont think such a huge bump, especially right now is the best way to go. While it may seem like it can only help the individual, such a large increase can only hurt struggling businesses.

Id be in favor of a comprehensive, state by state study, of what the average wage an individual needs to survive is. What works in New York would be excessive in say Utah. Then maybe giving a set period of time to allow each state to gradually increase to that number.

NY wants to raise the state's minimum to over $8. Now, that's mostly because we have expensive NYC.

 

[koalabear]

You love Corporations sending good jobs overseas for profits!

You love giving businesses government bailouts at taxpayer expense.

 

[unregistered]

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

?????

 

[TexasWife25]

As the wages go up, so does the cost of living. It's not a game that can be normalized.

True.

Although I remember what its like to make $10 an hour and try to live off it. I had 2 roommates, ate ramen soup for dinner every night and had to pay for gas for my car in quarters.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

?????

 

[mercury14]

Hell if it's the right thing to do, why not raise it to $20 an hour?

Regardless as to what min wage is set at, it should be tied to inflation.

And that's an idea Mitt Romney in favor of his entire political career. Until he needed to pander to the conservative base then he flip-flopped.

 

[mercury14]

I say again, we live in a FREE country. Americans are free to conduct their business activities wherever they damn well please. Do yo believe in liberty or tyranny?

A country whose economy is dominated by industry that pays an unlivable wage is not free. What you refuse to reflect upon is that government isn't the only entity that can impinge upon freedoms. Private individuals and corporations can very easily do it as well (and they do).

 

[Wrong Element]

It should probably be raised, but $10 in one fell swoop is probably too much, and I'm undecided on the issue of indexing.

I assume the CBC knows this, and also knows it won't ever get a vote. Here's what I like about the proposal, though: it opens up some space for negotiation. This has been a big problem for Obama--conceding too much at the outset, such as with the stimulus and with health care. Instead of proposing a stimulus with all spending and no tax cuts, he proposed an inadequate stimulus that had plenty of tax cuts--and still didn't get Republican support, because the opposition party never has incentive to go along without a fight. Also, instead of proposing single payer and then negotiating toward a public option as a middle ground, he took single payer off the table and made the public option the "liberal" position, which meant the GOP was going to oppose it at all costs.

The thing about the CBC is that they know who they're dealing with.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

?????

 

[KingOrfeo]

Because we live in a free country, not a Soviet style command order economic system.

False dichotomy. Radical economic totalitarianism and radical economic libertarianism are never the only options.

 

[koalabear]

False dichotomy.

UD says that a lot, but he adds an edit and rolleyes.

Edit: I see you did edit it.

 

[Hubs_in_hose]

Debate points obvious:

1) Is this a good idea? What economic impact would it have?

2) Any breath of a chance of even getting it to a floor vote in a Pub-controlled House?

1) Hell no it is not a good idea. The minimum wage increase in 2007 was one of the early dominoes to the failing job market. Raising the min. wage does NOT increase take home pay for min. wage workers. It increases the COST of everything else so the purchasing power of those on the lower end of the wage scale in effect get NO help when the Min. Wage is increased. Also, increasing the min. wage removes a large portion of people from the job market. When businesses have to pay more for employees they don't hire more, they have to cut workers. There is a set "cost" for how much each job is worth. Also, this is part of a Union Payoff as many union contracts are indexed to set their wages at a certain rate above minimum wage. When the member of congress want to "repay" the unions they try to increase the minimum wage. That is another reason why costs go up.

2) If it ever gets to the floor I would be greatly disappointed.