Democrats Prepare to Raise Minimum Wage

AP via Newsday ^ | November 16, 2006 | Dennis Freking

[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.

[albie]

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.

[roaddog727]

Sen Kennedy's top priority should be enrolling himself into the nearest detox clinic

[MrCFdovnh]

#4 Xtra Value Meal at 2:00pm leads to a couple #2's by three.

[CPT Clay]

VETO it !!!

Get permanent tax cuts and some judges for this.

[albie]

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)

[tractorman]

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.

[jdm]

Your post reminded me of this classic:

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?

[The_Victor]

Government sponsored wage inflation. I guess the democRATs think wage inflation is only bad when it occurs due to a roaring economy at full employment.

[wayoverontheright]

How is it that three states just voted to raise the minimum, and now the Federal Government feels the need to take up the issue? Doesn't the Constitution ENUMERATE these powers?

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?

[albie]

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!!!!

[SoldierDad]

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)

Nothing to worry about except that they wish to take all that I've worked hard to build to give away to those who aren't willing to work hard at all. As I live out the remaining years of my life I have to look forward to living on what they decide is my "fair share" (which will be considerably less than what I've worked for). I don't need these dims working for me.

[Dems_R_Losers]

Seriously, I wanted Newt Gingrich to do this when he was Speaker. Offer an amendment to raise the minimum wage to $30 an hour. That's $62,400 a year. Plenty for a family of four to live on. Watch Democrats squirm.

[italianquaker]

harry,chucky and nancy are sure glad that voters stood home to teach bush and the pubs a lesson

[Kimberly GG]

$6 ????? agghh. I made more money per hour babysitting and that was 34 years ago.

"This will be disastrous to many small businesses."

What goes around, comes around.

[albie]

...by the way, sounds like tractorman jr. will do well! For a kid to get a job at all is music to my ears! (especially at $1.50 over)

[Quilla]

Above and beyond what the employee pays, employers pay matching FICA (7.65%), state unemployment (.6% if you've never, ever laid any one off), and federal unemployment (.8%). Workmen's compensation is dependent on the type work one does. Mine is roughly 11% on the dollar. These are the required basics and don't include any benefits (uniforms, health insurance, retirement plans, etc.) paid on behalf of employees. All totaled, that's 20.05% I must add to any wage paid.

[albie]

Nothing to worry about except that they wish to take all that I've worked hard to build to give away to those who aren't willing to work hard at all. As I live out the remaining years of my life I have to look forward to living on what they decide is my "fair share" (which will be considerably less than what I've worked for). I don't need these dims working for me.


...I agree wholeheartedly! Tax shelters, tax shelters, tax shelters.

[andy58-in-nh]

 

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics: 

Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2005

According to Current Population Survey estimates for 2005, 75.6 million American workers were paid at hourly rates, representing 60.1 percent of all wage and salary workers. Of those paid by the hour, 479,000 were reported as earning exactly $5.15, the prevailing Federal minimum wage. Another 1.4 million were reported as earning wages below the minimum. Together, these 1.9 million workers with wages at or below the minimum made up 2.5 percent of all hourly-paid workers....

• Minimum wage workers tend to be young. About half of workers earning $5.15 or less were under age 25, and about one-fourth of workers earning at or below the minimum wage were age 16-19. Among employed teenagers, about 9 percent earned $5.15 or less. About 2 percent of workers age 25 and over earned the minimum wage or less. Among those age 65 and over, the proportion was about 3 percent.
  
  
• About 3 percent of women paid hourly rates reported wages at or below the prevailing Federal minimum, compared with under 2 percent of men.
  
  
  
• Less than 3 percent of white hourly-paid workers earned $5.15 or less. Among black, Asian, and Hispanic hourly-paid workers, about 2 percent earned the Federal minimum wage or less. For whites and Hispanics, women were twice as likely as men to earn $5.15 or less.
  
  
  
• Never-married workers, who tend to be young, were more likely to earn the minimum wage or less than married workers.
  
  
  
• Among hourly-paid workers age 16 and over, 2 percent of those who had a high school diploma but had not gone on to college earned the minimum wage or less.
  
  
  
• Part-time workers (persons who usually work less than 35 hours per week) were more likely than their full-time counterparts to be paid $5.15 or less (about 6 percent versus 1 percent).
  
  
  
• By occupational group, the highest proportion of workers earning at or below the Federal minimum wage occurred in service occupations, at about 8 percent. About three in four workers earning $5.15 or less in 2005 were employed in service occupations, mostly in food preparation and service jobs. The proportion of hourly-paid workers whose earnings were reported at or below $5.15 was lowest for persons employed in management, professional, and related occupations and natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations (less than 1 percent for both).
  
  
• The industry with the highest proportion of workers with reported hourly wages at or below $5.15 was leisure and hospitality (about 14 percent). About three-fifths of all workers paid at or below the Federal minimum wage were employed in this industry, primarily in the food services and drinking places component. For many of these workers, tips and commissions supplement the hourly wages received.
  

[AmishDude]

Exactly. Let's make it $10. I'm willing to destroy the economy to make a point.

But Kennedy is just talking nonsense. I don't think even the state minimum wages that passed will be that high.

You have to understand what min. wage is (and you probably do): It's a sop to the unions to get their pay raise and it's the standard Dem populist move. Kennedy will get a 25 cent increase. Guys like you will breathe a sigh of relief, nothing much will happen because it's under the prevailing wage in most places and the Dems will have the issue to demagogue in 2 years.

If it gets passed at $7.25, Bush should sign it.

[poobear]

I don't know if Q got back to you yet but here goes:

$5.25 per hour

Employer matching
SS - $13.02, MED - 3.05, Fed Un Tax - $13.02, State Un Tax - $5.67
Total - $34.76
40 hour$210.00
Total $244.76

$7.25 per hour
Employer matching
SS - $17.98, MED - $4.21, Fed Un, $17.98, State Un - $7.83
Total - $48.00
40 Hour$290.00
Total $338.00

Quite a difference wouldn't you say?