Posted on 07/24/2012 6:25:17 PM PDT by Sir Napsalot
A group of prominent economists today urged President Obama and congressional leaders to raise the federal minimum wage, which has been stuck at $7.25 an hour for three years. In a letter to the president and lawmakers they wrote:
A higher minimum wage at this juncture will not only provide raises for low-wage workers but would provide some help on the jobs front as well.
The group, including Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia University; former Labor Secretary Robert Reich; and Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), advocate a three-step raise of 85 cents a year for three years—which would mean a minimum wage of $9.80 by 2014—and then indexing to protect against inflation. They estimate close to 20 million workers would see a wage increase by 2014.
They also note that recent studies on the effect of increases in the minimum wage on employment show:
increases in the minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of minimum wage workers, even during times of weakness in the labor market. Click here for the full letter.
In related news, a coalition of groups, including the AFL-CIO, will hold a day of action tomorrow in more than 30 cities supporting legislation Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) will soon introduce to increase the minimum wage to $9.80 as the economists call for.
Click here for a list of cities and here for more information on the minimum wage from the National Employment Law Project (NELP).
Let's see how this will help 'the jobs front' for president Obama.
If they were really series about jump starting the economy, they would provide EVERYONE with food stamps...
Ralph Nader: Where is Obama’s promised minimum-wage hike?
Another push for minimum wage hike from an unexpected source.
The dirty secret is that the unions get a big pay increase if the minimum wage increases.
The last year in which the black unemployment rate was lower than the white unemployment rate was 1930. That was also the last year in which there was no federal minimum wage law.
The Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 was in part a result of a series of incidents in which non-union black construction labor enabled various contractors from the South to underbid Northern contractors who used white, unionized construction labor.
The Davis-Bacon Act required that “prevailing wages” be paid on government construction projects– “prevailing wages” almost always meaning in practice union wages. Since blacks were kept out of construction unions then, and for decades thereafter, many black construction workers lost their jobs.
Bwahahahaha...It'll provide help on the jobs front only if they think more unemployed is good for the economy.
Only thing that can help those making minimum wage,
is the desire to get off of it!
“How do you tame wild pigs?”
Maybe Obama is going to “Lucy” them again? Promise yearly min wage increases, to get votes, and then promptly forget about actually doing it.
http://change.gov/agenda/poverty_agenda/
“Raise the Minimum Wage to $9.50 an Hour by 2011: Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that people who work full-time should not live in poverty. Even though the minimum wage will rise to $7.25 an hour by 2009, the minimum wage’s real purchasing power will still be below what it was in 1968. As president, Obama will further raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2011, index it to inflation and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit to make sure that full-time workers can earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs such as food, transportation, and housing — things so many people take for granted.”
I think the government should give us all supplemental income until we all make 250,000. Think of how well off we’d all be.
No I’m not putting tags. Figure it out.
In countries around the world, minimum wage laws have a track record of increasing unemployment, especially among the young, the less skilled and minorities. It has done the same in America.
C’mon.
You don’t truly think AFL-CIO bosses care about the blacks (or anyone else) with minimum wage.
Yep, the turkey will do anything for a vote and he doesn’t give a whit about the country.
Who gives a rat's behind about what the minimum wage is or was?
What a load of crap. These guys will put another half million out of work each year for the next 3 years. They must want to start WW3.
“A group of prominent economists...”
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5 Alarm Commie Propaganda bells going off.
Unaccomplished academics who couldn’t run a lemonade stand properly.
The young should be out in the streets protesting this. This would be a good Tea Party issue.
yeah, ten million illegals will demand government reparations.
Why not $100/hour??
According to dems, each $1.00 in handouts yields $1.70 benefit to the economy.
Heck, poverty could be wiped out in a heartbeat.
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