Posted on 08/17/2006 9:14:56 AM PDT by Condor 63
MONTGOMERY -- Sounding a populist tone she attributes to her rural, meager upbringing, Alabama Democratic gubernatorial nominee Lucy Baxley on Wednesday unveiled a nine-point agenda topped by promises to roll back annual property reappraisals and raise the minimum wage to $6.15 per hour.
(Excerpt) Read more at al.com ...
That seems unusually cruel, especially when a person realizes that he has the power to raise it to $16.15 an hour.
Isn't Alabama one of the lowest wage states in the country?
Tell that to the workers there making $20/hours working at new Toyota and Nissan plants there.
According to the Department of Labor, if one were to put a face on the average minimum wage earner, the face would be that of a white suburban teenager whose parents make 3x over the poverty level.
Do-nothing, feel-good legislation that costs people money.
Actually, it's Hyundai, Mercedes and Honda.
Ruh-roh! They're only going to get $16 in San Antonio! Tsk!
Congressional pay and Social Security payments are indexed to keep them from being political footballs. Indexing the minimum wage would keep it from being:
1) A political issue for the Dims, and
2) A nuisance for employers.
It is so low that it is not currently an issue. Indexing it for inflation would keep it at this inflation-adjusted level forever. Business are not hurt by a really low minimum wage, they are hurt by the uncertainty every election year that the minimum wage may be raised significantly to a harmful level. They cannot plan for business when there is this major uncertainty.
My personal preference would be that there was NO minimum wage, but politics being what they are, a menaingless one that the opposition cannot exploit every two years would be better than what we have now.
I agree, but it scares me since we have plenty of nit-wits in this state that might buy into that hook line & sinker.
Isn't Alabama one of the lowest wage states in the country?
I don't know, but see above. There are enough under the poverty line that it could have a significant effect on the campaign.
It also peaks my interest because clearly it show what the Democrats are planning to run with.
"Isn't Alabama one of the lowest wage states in the country?"
I believe that it is the lowest or second lowest. The same can be said for Alabama's cost of living, though. One of the lowest.
I didn't see what the min. wage is now. I thought it was $5.15. Does that vary between the states? I know McD's in NY starts at about $11-15/hr. and can't keep people!
"I thought it was $5.15. Does that vary between the states?"
Yes and yes. Several states have passed laws that make the state minimum wage higher than federal.
Because of the sometimes massive differences in the cost of living in different areas of the country, I personally think a federal minimum wage is pretty stupid. That 11.00-12.00 an hour may not go too far in New York but down here in MS, I used to live pretty well on that.
It is no accident the Ala GOP is offering to buy Howard Dean a plane ticket to Bammer to stump for Democratic candidates. They know the typical Alabamian looks at the likes of him and sees a lefty fool.
That is what worries me about this. Minimum wage is one of the few issues they could run on here and get a little traction.
I totally agree. And factor in that there aren't too many states left without income taxes and fed. min. wage is a nightmare. That and the housing cost variations are astronomical.
Maybe she should propose a minimum worker productivity increase. The wages would take care of themselves.
This is why voter education is so important. And you notice that Democrats don't care about this, again because they depend on stupid people to elect them. What if every short order cook in Bama all of a sudden realizes that of the extra $1.00 an hour, Uncle Sammy will get $.47? And he'll still be a burger flipper?
First, we have to get people off the "me first, feel-good" mentality. Too many don't actually think about our efforts to protect people overseas. Way too self-involved.
Not to mention that the boss might decide he can get by with one less burger flipper than he originally thought at those prices.
Well, there you go. The lesson to be learned is evident, given the outsourcing we've experienced around the country.
Uh, what's that sucking noise...?
At infoplease.com, I found 9 states to be lower than Alabama in per capita income for the year 2005.
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