The debate over raising the minimum wage is heating up. In November, voters in four states passed referendums that would increase the minimum wage. Now, Republicans are pushing back hard.
The free marketeers are casting doom and gloom scenarios to scare politicians away from support. The American Enterprise Institute has a post up titled, “How the minimum wage destroyed 1.4 million jobs.” The Locke Foundation’s John Hood claims that raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would cost North Carolina between 7,300 and 46,000 jobs because employers will cut jobs to make up the increased cost.
Progressive think-tanks say they’re wrong. They cite their own studies that say raising the wage won’t affect jobs. The Economic Policy Institute found that raising the minimum wage leads to “no discernible impact on employment” and would give the economy a boost because low wage workers spend most of their money immediately, putting it back into the hands of merchants and businesses.
The debate gets to the heart of the problem facing American workers. While the stock market is at record levels and corporate executives are making record salaries, wages and income for working families have remained flat while the cost of living has continued to increase. That’s why so many people think the country is still in recession.
Raising the minimum wage may be an imperfect solution, but it’s at least a start. Republicans and conservatives don’t even have realistic way to address the problem–probably because they don’t see it as a problem. Hood says that workers need to “boost the productivity of their labor.”
But that’s the economic equivalent of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown. The conservative answer is for workers to work harder, longer and smarter but the problem has little to do with workers and a lot to do with corporate greed. For thirty years, workers have been increasing their productivity only to see the benefit go to shareholders and CEOs.
Republicans like to scream about income redistribution but since the Reagan tax revolution, we’ve been shifting income from the workers to the wealthy. Our tax system rewards those who make their money from investments at the expense of those who work for wages. The result is a shrinking middle class and increasing income disparity.
Raising the minimum wage should be just the start. We need to revamp our tax code to encourage companies to pay their workers more so they share in the prosperity. If Republicans want to broaden the tax base, fine. But first they need to offer real solutions for increasing wages and incomes instead of telling workers they just need to work a little harder.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Let me see how can I say this intelligently for the majority of the readers and yet keep it dumbed down for the Republicans and the rich and powerful that they blindly support for all the money that they receive.
[1.] Think of employing me on piece work, the more I produce the more you should pay me.
[2.] Presently the harder I work the more you profit and do not share with me for my hard labor.
[3.] You father understood that when he shared with his employees that everyone moved ahead in the Economy and in Society it was a “WIN-WIN” situation.
[4.] When the greed of the already Rich and Powerful exploded and the Corruption of our Elected Politicians spread to the majority of the U. S. Congress and the Majority of the State Legislatures and all of you Collaborated to steal every penny you could from the Poor and Middle-Class you went CRAZY.
[5.] As the result of all your Greedy and Corrupt actions you are leaving the Majority of the Citizens and Employees no choice but to RISE-UP against all of the RICH AND POWERFUL OWNERS and the GREEDY AND CORRUPT POLITICIANS in what will be the SECOND Revolutionary War in the United States Of America.
[6.] As a result of the actions of the Rich and Powerful and the greedy and Corrupt Politicians “WE THE PEOPLE” will rewrite the U.S. Constitution to correct the flaws you have shown us exist in it. “WE THE PEOPLE” will create a Justice System that is truly EQUAL, FAIR AND JUST for all.
[7.] Due to the technology that we presently have and that will be created in the future “WE THE PEOPLE” SHALL REPRESENT OURSELVES AND NO LONGER NEED YOU LYING, CHEATING AND CORRUPT POLITICIANS NOR SHALL WE ELECT YOU TO REPRESENT US, BECAUSE YOU HAVE NEVER REPRESENTED THE MAJORITY OF THECITIZENS WITH YOUR ACTIONS.
WE THE PEOPLE SHALL OVERCOME AND DESTROY YOUR PHONEY CAPITALISM AND REPLACE IT WITH AN ECONOMIC SYSTEM THAT ELIMINATES INEQUALITY BY USING THE FEDERAL INCOME TAXES TO REDISTRIBUTE THE WEALTH FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL OF THE CITIZENS..
You are dealing with people who would sell you the air you breathe if they could control how it gets to your nose. And if you cannot afford to buy “their” air? You should have worked harder, planned better, and saved more.
I find it amusing that the the “free marketeers are casting doom and gloom scenarios” regarding minimum wage and supporting working people in our country. They are quite prolific regarding claims of job destruction and less so regarding real data of jobs lost to globalization, stagnation of wages over the past 35 years and wealth and income inequality. Median household income is around half of what the “American Dream” actually costs and their answer is “work harder”. The reality is that the “dream” is a mere mirage for most Americans and the policy makers have been co-opted by the forces that need to be regulated fairly and transparently.
Only the truly uncaring, callous and greedy will criticize and fight efforts to raise the state’s and nation’s minimum wage. The GOP and AEI and Locke Institute are playing the role of Scrooge, saying “More? You want more? Bah! Humbug! Work harder!” to those who earn a wage that simply won’t sustain even a below-poverty-level household. They and many big companies will also argue that the minimum wage needs to be low as a fair entry-level wage, but then they will offer only measly career opportunities/ladders, or lay-off such workers in lieu of providing them with stepped pay increases or decent fringe benefits (such as heath insurance).
For the life of me, I cannot understand how so many workers who have been oppressed by minimum wages and by denial of job opportunities and benefits from their employers continue to vote for candidates of the party that openly advocates the lowest of wages and looks the other way when companies put profits far above fair treatment of employees.