Posted on 11/16/2006 11:10:42 AM PST by Quilla
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 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
This will be disastrous to many small businesses.
The city of Los Angeles just voted last night to force all companies in the city to pay $10.64/hour living wage. All companies, not just those doing business with the city like they did before.
But the Republican's tried to pass one and the demonrats defeated it...or did I read that wrong at the time???
I hope Bush is warming up his VETO stamp.... but I doubt it.
Disasterous for small business. Does this mean the Dems are going to raise their own salary also?
Bush has a veto stamp. Have you told him about it.
I doubt there are millions of people making the minimum wage.
And the republicans voted twice to increase the minimum wage this much, each time along with other things THEY wanted to pass, so it's hard for them to argue now that it's bad to do so.
Just be glad they aren't trying for ten bucks an hour now that they have the majority.
What will this do to McDonald's $1 menu?
He worked hard, got a raise to $5.50.
He worked well, got a raise to $6.00.
He worked very well, got a raise to $6.50.
Now he's gotta watch as the new kid (if they hire one) gets the same thing he gets.
A lot of small businesses are going to go bust, and a lot of low wage workers are going to be unemployed. I hope that the GOP legislators understand that before they decide how to vote.
I'd be shocked if introducing a raise wasn't their first piece of business.
This is all about the unions. Min wage goes up- union wages must rise.
Free money!
I'm pretty sure the pilot light went out.
"This will be disastrous to many small businesses".
...raising the minimum wage to $7.25 will not be disastrous. At present, very few companies, fast food etc pay less than $7.00. This whole minimum wage fiasco is the "FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS IN OUR 1st HUNDRED HOURS" (said in deeply toned echo) because it's popular. People are truly too stupid to realize how worthless it is. Dems get a quick thumbs up. THEN they can really sock it to us. Any minimum wage is wrong. It's wrong for government to tell a private business owner how to operate, but we have so many under-acheivers/losers it's a feather in the dem hat.
I believe that only applied to the hotels around LAX but it's still outrageous.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1739416/posts
anyone here ever gotten a 40% raise?
I don't think his office came with one.
Clearing the way for more "jobs Americans won't do".
When small business owners have to layoff because they cant afford the higher wages, those laid off will seek unemployment-a double whammy..
Nothing. You'll just get less of the crap.
After all, whether or not your business income exceeds your outgo isn't germane to your role as provider of social welfare...
And what about the guy who was hired two years ago at $5.15?
He worked hard, got a raise to $5.50.
He worked well, got a raise to $6.00.
He worked very well, got a raise to $6.50.
Now he's gotta watch as the new kid (if they hire one) gets the same thing he gets.
..."I agree with you 100%! Except now he'll get his raise to $7.25 instead of to $6.50. (unless he gets laid off)
lmao
Too late dems, you've already been out-RINO'ed by my state house/senate/gubner in MI., no brownie points for you.
Hey, but at least they're not raising the minimum wage for illegals, so the Pelosi vineyards will be unharmed.
It may be crap, but it's fast and tasty crap.
The Republicans tied an increase in minimum wage to ending the death tax.
As usual, the Dems hate the rich more that they love the poor, so they opposed it, and thanks to the RINOs, it was killed.
That's what I meant - the rookie gets the same pay as the guy who's been there two years.
So the boss has to raise HIS pay a couple of bucks, watch him go somewhere else, or raise him to min wage and do without the new guy.
Good choices those are not.
I would give myself a raise of the $2.25 per hour and demand the workers work harder after all I am now paying them more for the same job they had before.
See, part of the issue here is that Kennedy and such talk about the min wage increase as in "it's only another $2.10 per hour", but no one talks about the other monies. As I recall, there would be more $$ going into Unemployment, into insurances (not just their medical), into soc security, into 401K.
How much more does it really cost? That needs to be brought up each time.
So, Q, when you have a moment, see how much more that would cost you for 1 employee and let us know.
Why is it that these liberals just don't understand basic ecomonics? Forcing an increase in the minimum wage is not providing a "fair share" for people working in entry level jobs. When the minimum wage is increased employers have to either raise prices or cut jobs to afford the forced increases. If they raise prices, then all consumers have to pay out more - leaving them with less discresionary income. This includes those who just received the wage increase. So, the prices of goods and services still remain out of their economic reach and they actually lose ground as a result. People living on higher wages also lose out - so everyone suffers. Maybe that's what the dims regard as "fair". Then there is the issue of lost jobs resulting from forced increases in the minimum wage. So, the dims want these entry level employees to become unemployed and not have any income to live off of. Yeah, they're the party of the "little guy" alright. Now, let's take Quilla's 15 employees. If they are all at $6.00 an hour, the increase goes like this = 15 X $1.25 increase X 8 hours per day = $150 per day increased wage costs for this one employer. If they are paid for 52 weeks out of the year, then the increase in wages Quilla has to pay out is $150 per day X 5 days per week X 52 weeks = $39,000 per year just in wage increases. Unless Quilla increases his prices, he will have to pay out the equivalent of an additional 3.125 employee wages per year, or he will have to cut two jobs at least to keep competitive. Yeah, the dims have a great solution there, don't they? Why doesn't the entry level employee take the initiative to go get additional education/training so that they can obtain a higher paying position? That's what most of the rest of us do in life. I'd even be willing to consider programs aimed at increasing the work force skills so that people have the option of moving into better paying jobs. But an arbitrary increase in the minimum wage is idiotic at best. Why do people vote dims into office when we know that all they wish to do is decrease options for all of us.
Why don't they just have a cost of living raise every year. That would get rid of the entire need for minimum wage. Would that work better? I think that would be the best way to solve this and people won't have to get rid of people and people pay checks will got up a couple dollars and the extra money will help with the economy. I have thought about this for a while. Are you ready to hire me for your accountant? lol.
So the boss has to raise HIS pay a couple of bucks, watch him go somewhere else, or raise him to min wage and do without the new guy.
...absolutely! This all boils down to one simple thing. We will all pay extra for everything! Businesess will survive! They survived the $5.15 wage increase.
#4 Xtra Value Meal at 2:00pm leads to a couple #2's by three.
VETO it !!!
Get permanent tax cuts and some judges for this.
This is not about basic economics. It's about the "nanny state". They'll take care of us from womb to tomb! Isn't it great to know that you have nothing to worry about for the rest of your life!? (sarc)
Why don’t they just make it $500 an hour and we’ll all be rich?
Seriously, I don’t know anyone who makes minimum wage.
Tractorman junior got his first job as a bagger at a grocery store last year and he was hired at $1.50 above the minimum wage.
City of Los Angeles
High School Math Proficiency Exam
Name: ____________________
Gang: _____________________
1. Duane has an AK47 with a 30 round clip. If he misses 6 out of 10 shots and shoots 13 times at each drive by shooting, how many drive by shootings can he attempt before he has to reload?
2. If Jose has two ounces of cocaine and he sells an 8 ball to Jackson for $320 and 2 grams to Billy for $85 per gram, what is the street value of the balance of the cocaine if he doesn't cut it?
3. Rufus is pimping for three girls. If the price is $65 for each trick, how many tricks will each girl have to turn so Rufus can pay for his $800 per day crack habit?
4. Jarome wants to cut his 1/2 pound of Heroin to make 20% more profit. How many ounces of cut will he need?
5. Willie gets $200 for stealing a BMW, $50 for a Chevy and $100 for a 4x4. If he has stolen 2 BMW's and 3 4x4's, how many Chevy's will he have to steal to make $800?
6. Raoul is in prison for 6 years for murder. He got $10,000 for the hit. If his common law wife is spending $100 per month, how much money will he have left when he gets out of prison and how many years will he get for killing her since she spent his money?
7. If the average spray paint can covers 22 square feet and the average letter is 3 square feet, how many letters can a tagger spray with 3 cans of paint?
8. Hector knocked up six girls in his gang. There are 27 girls in the gang. What percentage of the girls in the gang has Hector knocked up?
If it is within the purview of the state to raise the minimum, how can it also be a power belonging to the Federal Government?
This is a sweeping statement and boy oh boy is it NOT PC but...well...here goes--ANYBODY WHO MAKES MINIMUM WAGE AS AN ADULT IS A LOSER!!! THERE IS NO NEED TO MAKE MINIMUM WAGE UNLESS YOU HAVE A BIG FAT 'L' ON YOUR FOREHEAD!!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.