Here's a link to The Oklahoman's coverage of the Raise Oklahoma rally that was trying to enlist support for a one dollar an hour increase in the minimum wage. Ethics Daily posted my entire speech.
Rally's like this usually have a lot of support from union workers. This one did not. Most union workers think raising the minimum wage to $6.15 an hour is inadequate. They are certainly right about that. Union workers support a drive for a "living wage" which is considerably higher than $6.15 an hour. I also support the drive for a living wage.
It is hard for me to understand how the Governor, legislators, and business people opposed to this modest increase in the minimum wage can sleep at night.
We need to tie minimum wage increases to the salary increases that state legislators give themselves.
I think we need to pass a law that mandates that the minimum wage increase by the same percentage that the salaries of state legislators increase. If it was also made retroactive for the past nine years, I am certain that we would be a lot closer to a "living wage" than to $6.15 an hour.
7 comments:
Perhaps they can sleep at night because they realize that a higher minimum wage correlates to higher unemployment across workforce.
Remember all those people who lack job skills and really need the money? They are the first to lose their jobs when employers move towards more highly skilled applicants in order to justify the higher wages imposed on them by the government.
I do agree that the minimum wage should be tied to the salary of state legislators though. Both should be tied to inflation/deflation and then preferably left alone.
I have to agree with Jeff the Baptist on this one. As a small business owner myself I pay higher than minimum wage to all ten of my employees and they all started at a rate higher than the national minimum wage. I think calls for higher federal or state mandated minimum wage are normally not based in the market place but more emotionally driven. Politicians and unions use it to sound like they care. The question should not be what we pay but how do we get the unskilled work force to the next level and tackle the gross failures of the public school system bureaucracy in the US that leaves us to deal with adults that can?t function in the market place.
Jeff and Brent,
The truth is, there will always be unskilled workers and/or workers with handicaps and disabilities -- for whatever reason they lack the skills necessary to secure a job at a higher pay grade.
Social Darwinism is not a Christian solution.
What is needed is a minimum wage that is adequate for the lowest paid workers to survive on their own -- without government and charitable assistance.
Sorry, but Jeff the Baptist is wrong. I have two economists in my church and have checked this with them as well as the statistics on the Jobs with Justice website. Every time the minimum wage has been raised, people have predicted rising unemployment and this has not occurred. Yes, huge labor costs can lead to unemployment, but not at the bare levels of minimum wages. What leads to unemployment most often is rising interest rates and slowing of consumer confidence--and currently that is linked to the huge government debt and trade deficits (the result of massive tax cuts for the wealthy on top of war/occupation costs, etc.) and the weakening dollar as other governments switch their reserve currency from the dollar to the now-more-stable Euro.
Republicans try to have it both ways. They insist that massive tax cuts won't cripple government revenue because they will lead to such economic growth that govt. will still collect enough taxes---something proving very untrue since the wealthy are NOT using those tax giveaways to invest in the economy. Meanwhile they insist that mild minimum wage increases will cause unemployment when, in fact, they generate growth to the economy because workers who work for minimum wage put those paltry extra paycheck dollars right back into circulation as groceries, rent, gas, etc.
What is largest labor cost and the one which hits small businesses the hardest? Healthcare. So, a single-payer national healthcare system would allow businesses to save all that money and able to compete with other Western democracies whose countries have those benefits and who thus can save that cost. With that huge savings, businesses could raise wages easily--far past the minimum to a living wage--and still have more profits and be able to hire more people. This isn't speculation--it's been done.
Oh, and the last time the U.S. minimum wage was raised 10 years ago (to dire predictions of doom), it coincided with the largest expansion of our economy in 100 years and a drop of unemployment to 4%--after nearly 2 decades at double digits under Reagan & Bush I. These are the facts. Look them up.
I agree with Michael the Leveller. I have been with the Unions on a Living Wage for a long time. I worked too long at minimum wage while trying to help raise three kids. Jeff the baptist and brent dix just use the same old tired line. Santa Fe raised there's recently, I wonder how they are doing. Pat and Linda will be here June 30 through July 5. Maybe P knows how Santa Fe is doing.
They insist that massive tax cuts won't cripple government revenue because they will lead to such economic growth that govt. will still collect enough taxes---something proving very untrue since the wealthy are NOT using those tax giveaways to invest in the economy.
Have you looked government tax revenue since the cuts? Just like with Kennedy and Reagan, receipts have increased. The national debt problem is directly related to overblown spending not taxation.
the wealthy are NOT using those tax giveaways to invest in the economy.
The wealthy do invest heavily, where do you think the venture capitalists get their money from? Their money in stocks, bonds, and funds doesn't just sit in a bank. It is being used by the corporations to build their business and grow. The rich also spend heavily. As you pointed out consumer spending is a good thing too. Whole luxury good industries are kept afloat by rich peoples' spending, which is why the luxury tax didn't work.
Every time the minimum wage has been raised, people have predicted rising unemployment and this has not occurred.
If you look at the minimum wage across the US states with higher than federal minimum tend to have higher unemployment (12 out of 19). But you are right in that this is a weak effect compared to other trends. For instance in places like Hawaii and Vermont, high cost of living necessitates a higher minimum wage. Also any drops in employment are short term because the minimum wage is not tied to inflation.
A single-payer national healthcare system would allow businesses to save all that money and able to compete with other Western democracies whose countries have those benefits and who thus can save that cost.
Only if that system is more efficient and less costly than what we have now. If, on the other hand, a single payers system simply creates additional expense through increased government overhead (as is likely) then we will be doing people a great disservice.
Oh, and the last time the U.S. minimum wage was raised 10 years ago (to dire predictions of doom), it coincided with the largest expansion of our economy in 100 years and a drop of unemployment
But correlation is not causation. Economic expansion had everything to do with the information revolution and computer modernization efforts prior to Y2K. People were not doing those jobs for minimum wage.
I also have to agree with Brent, the best way to help the working poor will be to institute training programs to continuously train individuals for the jobs the economy needs. Currently we are addressing shortfalls by importing them from abroad through immigration or by sending the jobs abroad by off-shoring.
We could create these programs through direct government action, but I believe that will be inefficient in the long run because the employment needs of business will change too rapidly for the government to keep up. Instead I believe we should give tax incentives to industry in order to encourage them to do this training themselves or through independent programs. Currently businesses are responding to dropping profit margins by reducing their training budgets, which is not healthy in the long term. This sort of program would reverse that trend and should raise the quality of the workforce.
Also, Dr Prescott, I believe you are correct about social darwinism. I do not believe you are correct about the minimum wage being a necessarily Christian solution to the problem.
The minimum wage is a government enforced mandate. Enforced mandates are not how Jesus operated either. Jesus exhorted us toward morality through example and persuasion, not by forcing us.
The minimum wage compells private business owners to pay unskilled laborers wages of questionable equity without any sort of compensation. The US has some of the highest wages and also highest labor costs in the world. This is good for the workers, but bad for marketing our goods as the only thing keeping many businesses afloat abroad is the weak dollar and the use of non-US labor.
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