Do you think the minimum wage should be increased? Do you think corporations need more tax cuts? Discuss it below!
This article was authored by Tyler Lewis and originally published on civilrights.org
Fifteen million Americans can finally look forward to an extra $2.10 an hour in their paychecks.
On February 1, the Senate passed the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, (94-3), giving millions of low wage workers their first raise in 10 years. The bill will raise the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour over the next two years.
"Passing this wage hike represents a small but necessary step to help lift America's working poor out of the ditches of poverty and onto the road toward economic prosperity," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, in a USA Today article.
However, civil rights groups expressed disappointment that the Senate added “unnecessary” tax cuts for businesses to the bill.
"In the last 10 years, the Republican-led Congress provided corporations with a whopping $276 billion in tax cuts and provided small businesses with another $36 billion in dedicated tax breaks, while America's lowest paid workers have gotten nothing," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.
The bill will benefit nearly 15 million workers, which includes more than 7 million of those workers are also children. People of color, some 40 percent, are also disproportionately represented in the ranks of low-wage workers.
"Every Congress passes important legislation but few bills have the measurable impact of the Federal Minimum Wage Act," said Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. "It's unfortunate, though, that Congress couldn’t pass the bill without loading it up with yet another set of business tax sweeteners."
The House passed the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 (315-116) on January 10 without amendment. Because the Senate version is different from the House-passed bill, both chambers will have to agree on the final language that will go before President Bush for signature; a process that civil rights groups say delays a bill that is too long overdue.
"Minimum wage workers in this country have waited far too long for a raise – and it’s shameful that they must now wait even longer because of the Senate’s insistence on business tax giveaways," said Sweeney.
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Comments: 14
Eliminate the minimum wage and a starting wage will be $2.25/hr.
Viva Mexico .We can all invade them!!!!
Minimum wage increases doesn't affect big corperations where the owners have 5 houses. Most minimum wage workers work for small buisnesses, so not changing the minimum wage can't equate to corperate greed. Small buisnesses are verry important and small buisness owners have the real entrepernuerial spirit, and we should be trying to promote that rather than supress it. Helping them cope with extra costs imposed on them (richeously or not) is important.
The fact is people are not trying to live on the federal min. wage. it is a starting wage for young workers, it is a wage earned by primarily part time workers like senior citizens supplementing their income.
Studies show the raising of the min. wage has a negative impact on the lower income earners.
Tax breaks for Business, there is no such thing as a tax paid by a business, all costs are ultimately passed on to the consumer.
>> Larger businesses like walmart for example CAN afford
>> to pay that, they just wont be able to make as big profits
>> as they are used too..
I think you have a limited and most fantasy view of Walmart. The fact
is that Walmart got where it is by offering substantially lower prices
to its customers ... in effect making a deal with them. If Walmart
reneges their whole buisness model will crumble. While Microsoft
earnings per employee are in the 100,000's, Walmarts are in the
1000's ... meaning that on average they cannot do what you are
talking about without jeopardizing their business model.
I don't shop at Walmart and do not like Walmart, but I dislike bad
arguments even worse. I would also agree that executive pay is
too much, but so is celebrity and musician, etc pay. I would like
to see two things happen in our country. One I think taxes should
be more progressive and higher, and two, I think the fairness
doctrine in the media should be reinstated.
Also ... minimum wage should not be a wage high enough for someone
to coast on, to have kids and party ... minimum wage is something
someone should be getting for a minimum time. If it is not then
there is a bigger problem with that person, or the economy ...
and anyone on minimum wage that has kids should pay twice the
taxes on it as totally irresponsible.
As I see it there are several possible futures.
1) This process continues rewarding the upper class Americans highly and driving lower class Americans into a 3rd world kind of life while and international capitalist elite of wealth takes over everything, corporate feudalism. The world is most used to and familiar with this structure, it takes the least effort and is the probably outcome in my opinion. We have a small group of very rich families and some upward mobility for superstar average people who filter to the top, but because there is no capital reform we have a static plutocracy for the most part.
2) The American workers can get together and try to save their privileged place in the world by vote and essentially unionizing. This is unlikely considering that the lower classes in America are so diverse, perhaps by delibeate planned importation of foreign workers designed to sow social discord. If this did work for a while it probably would not for long because it would lead to isolationism of America from the world ... a complet U-turn from what we have been doing for 100 years now - unknown territory.
3) The workers all over the world could unite and demand to be treated fairly, in other words install the same standards that were fought hard for in the US in the early 1900's worldwide and get everyone working to raise the whole boat, but create a worldwide social contract similar to what Roosevelt did in the US to end the depression. This would be the most sensible and probably work the best, it just involves the most activity from the people and deciding to unify to support each other .... seems unlikely and easy to break up by actions and propaganda.
Anyway you look at it the American middle/working/lower classes are in the decline because they have not been proactively looking after their own interest, they have let others make their decisions for them and are reaping the consequences of that misplaced trust and bowing to propaganda from the right-wing.
You people who claim that business's will pay because they can afford it might want to think how they will finance this. Increasing the prices of their services to offset their costs. Only government thinks like this. Costs must be offset or business goes under. Why do jobs move overseas? Why has the American auto industry fallen by the wayside? Union industrialized work is disappearing because of sheer cost. Minimum wage affects teen agers, single mothers and minorities the most according to every economic theory out there (except for those economists who work for the government).
Oh yes, the minimum wage has a great history. Check out Washington DC's first one back under President Wilson in the early 20th century, that effect is the classic one. Try reading about the effects for a quick lesson in economics before you all start clamoring for mandated wage increases.