Posted on 04/03/2014 8:13:38 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m Joe Biden. I’m filling in for President Obama, who is abroad.
I want to talk to you today about the minimum wage and the overwhelming need to raise the minimum wage. There’s no reason in the world why an American working 40 hours a week has to live in poverty. But right now a worker earning the federal minimum wage makes about $14,500 a year. And you all know that's incredibly hard for an individual to live on, let alone raise a family on.
But if we raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, that same worker will be making $20,200 a year—and with existing tax credits would earn enough to bring that family or a family of four out of poverty. But there’s a lot of good reasons why raising the minimum wage makes sense.
Not only would it put more hard-earned money into the pockets of 28 million Americans, moving millions of them out of poverty, it’s also good for business. And let me tell you why.
There’s clear data that shows fair wages generate loyalty of workers to their employers, which has the benefit of increasing productivity and leading to less turn over. It’s really good for the economy as a whole because raising the minimum wage would generate an additional $19 billion in additional income for people who need it the most.
The big difference between giving a raise in the minimum wage instead of a tax break to the very wealthy is the minimum wage worker will go out and spend every penny of it because they're living on the edge. They’ll spend it in the local economy. They need it to pay their electric bill, put gas in their automobile, to buy fundamental necessities. And this generates economic growth in their communities.
And I’m not the only one who recognizes these benefits. Companies big and small recognize it as well. I was recently in Atlanta, Georgia, and met the owner of a small advertising company, a guy named Darien. He independently raised the wages of his workers to $10.10 an hour. But large companies, as well, Costco and the Gap—they're choosing to pay their employees higher starting wages.
A growing list of governors are also raising wages in their states – the minimum wage. They join the President who raised the minimum wage for employees of federal contractors like the folks serving our troops meals on our bases. They're all doing this for a simple reason. Raising the minimum wage will help hardworking people rise out of poverty.
It’s good for business. It’s helpful to the overall economy. And there’s one more important benefit. Right now women make up more than half of the workers who would benefit from increasing the minimum wage. Folks, a low minimum wage is one of the reasons why women in America make only 77 cents on a dollar that every man makes. But by raising the minimum wage, we can close that gap by 5 percent. And it matters. It matters to a lot of hardworking families, particularly moms raising families on the minimum wage.
And one more thing, folks—it’s what the American people want to do. Three out of four Americans support raising the minimum wage. They know this is the right and fair thing to do, and the good thing to do for the economy. So it’s time for Congress to get behind the minimum wage bill offered by Tom Harkin of Iowa and Congressman George Miller of California—the proposal that would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour.
So ask your representatives who oppose raising the federal minimum wage—why do they oppose it? How can we look at the men and women providing basic services to us all, like cleaning our offices, caring for our children, serving in our restaurants and so many other areas—how can we say they don't deserve enough pay to take them out of poverty?
The President and I think they deserve it. And we think a lot of you do too. So, folks, it’s time to act. It’s time to give America a raise.
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend. God bless you all and may God protect our troops.
Amen to that!
Joe, are you and your min-wage blowhards going to pay for it?
why do we have food stamps (or the entitlement previously known as such) then?
Well, silly, we'll still need food stamps to feed all the people who lose their jobs because of the new minimum wage...
When Joe speaks, idiots listen.
Actually, this is great news! After that, we can reduce the food stamp roles to pre-Obama levels, right?
Oh, I’m not an idiot, and I listen anyway - the entertainment factor cannot be understated.
As mentioned in related threads, with the exception of the federal entities indicated in the Constitution’s Clauses 16 & 17 of Section 8 of Article I as examples, entities under the exclusive legislative control of Congress, the states have never delegated to Congress, via the Constitution, the specific power to regulate minimum or overtime wages. Only the states have the unque, 10th Amendment-protected power to regulate intrastate labor wages.
What’s going on is Constituton-ignoring politicians like Biden are exploiting low-information voters in the following way. Biden is wrongly promising such voters, voters who have never been taught about the federal government’s constitutional limited powers, a constitutionally indefensible higher federal minimum wage in order to win their votes and keep Democrats in power.
Note that there is nothing stopping the states from amending the Constitution to grant Congress the power to establish and regulate a national minimum wage if the states believe that doing so is the best way to handle minimum wage.
Hey it’s Plugs get over it! He knows what he’s talking about.
Higher wage Higher tax bracket man! The non productive can still get their crap! While the other 30% of wage earners
provide for their Brothers!
A man who never worked a day in his life at a real job is going to tell the rest of the world how to run a business. Darien? I doubt it. They make this crap up.
But, hey, Joe. I recently talked to a guy named Beau from Delaware who told me his daddy has severe brain damage. I didn’t get his last name.
Your comment shows just how far down the hole this country had gone. Biden had to drop out of the presidential race for plagiarism. Twenty years later he’s vice president. Just like it never happened.
Joe, the solution is not a raise in the minimum wage, but rather a raise in minimum “standards” of education and (actual) job skills.
Bottom line: if you don’t know ‘nuthin you won’t get paid ‘nuthin (especially if you got a poor attitude). It’s as simple as that...
it’s another form of that magic federal money machine, where higher costs can be demanded of some but the extra money for them will not cost ANYONE anything, “more money” will magically be created in the economy by government fiat
If you want to stimulate the economy and make it easier for poor people, take the taxes off gasoline. There will be a hiring bonanza and costs of many products on sale will come down giving net benefits greater than this minimum wage adjustment would provide. Imagine the economic stimulus of a $2 to $2.50 gallon. And the federal treasury would recover most if not all of that tax from increased income taxes.
Another concept that produces similar results to a higher minimum wage, without the strain on employers, would be a higher minimum tax level. Start to levy income taxes only after a “liveable” income is reached. Even a federal wage supplement would be less of a problem for employers than a minimum wage. In some way, the government should remove the disincentive to work instead of relying on welfare. Normally persons who enter the labour force at low wages progress to higher wages over time, the important part is to get them into the stream in the first place. Get them hooked on an income rather than a handout, in other words.
Sure... Raise the Minimum wage, get more taxes from the working person to pay the Welfare slobs and give them their EBT’s.
Nobody will notice what their doing to us in the name of income equality -— BOHICA
Currency value, Mr.Vice President. I’m a lowly utility worker and even I can see that.
Joe Biden is a drunk
It’s very sad that someone with this kind of economic ignorance is in the position that he’s in.
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