Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Invoking President Franklin D. Roosevelt In Support Of Increasing The Minimum Wage

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By increasing the federal minimum wage by $2.10 – from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years – we are giving a long overdue pay raise to about 13 million Americans, which amounts to an additional $4,400 per year for a family of three.  I am proud that my home state of Massachusetts already has taken similar action, increasing the Commonwealth’s minimum wage to $7.50 effective January 1, 2007.  A total of twenty-eight states along with the District of Columbia have a state minimum wage above the current federal level.  It is time for the federal government to catch up.

Raising the minimum wage will make an important difference in the lives of hardworking Americans across the country.  The Senate should quickly pass similar legislation and President Bush should sign into law this much-needed increase as soon as it reaches his desk.

[IMPORTANT FACTS]:

http://www.speaker.g…

[BILL TEXT]:

http://www.speaker.g…

(a copy of Congressman Markey’s post can also be found at http://markey.house….)

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Comments

  1. things that really matter to Americans, gettin’ done.

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    Thanks for working for this. 

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    I attended your excellent Town Hall meeting on Domestic Surveillance, and one by my rep Mike Capuano as well.  Y’all made it very clear that we couldn’t do much unless we took back the Congress.

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    Well, we did it.  Looking forward to progress on a bunch of other items, too! 

  2. Is there a compilation of unemployment rates in states that have raised their minimum wages relative to the national unemployment rate? The fact that so many conservative pundits arguing that mass joblessness will ensue from this policy have yet to site a single statistic on unemployment in states with raised minimum wages sets of an alarm for me. Media Matters has a number of statistics to counter conservative rhetoric on the issue, but I haven’t seen numbers looking at individual states and the long term effects of minimum wage increases.
    http://mediamatters….

    • The fact that so many conservative pundits arguing that mass joblessness will ensue from this policy…

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      Can you point me to a pundit arguing mass job loss? I’ve not seen that.

      • and I apologize. I made my comment after reading George Will’s objections to the proposal, and finding some of his arguments repugnant (the refusal to consider low wage workers generally, and focus solely on those earning exactly the federal minimum), I overreacted.
        http://www.washingto…

      • From the Mittster.

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        “I have spent hours reading a wide array of reviews on the minimum wage and it’s impact on the economy, and there’s no question raising the minimum wage excessively causes a loss of jobs, and the loss of jobs is at the entry level,” Romney said.

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        Then check MassBudget.org (pdf file) who got the actual facts about minimum wage increases in MA.

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        Minimum wage increases have not led to widespread job losses. Following minimum wage increases in 1995, 1996, and 2000, total employment in Massachusetts grew

    • From the WSJ aricle selectively quoted by Media Matters regarding the Oregon min wage increase:

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      “In a new report, economists David Neumark of the University of California at Irvine and William Wascher of the Federal Reserve Board say a review of more than 90 studies in more than 15 countries since the early 1990s shows nearly two-thirds of the studies find a “consistent” though not always statistically significant negative impact on employment. Fewer than 10 found a consistently positive impact. While there’s “no consensus,” they say, “the weight of empirical evidence” supports the traditional view.”

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      —>Not the numbers you were asking for, I understand, but I think this is relevant to the discussion.

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      —>Shane

  3. “We continue to recognize the greater ability of some to earn more than others. But we do assert that the ambition of the individual to obtain for him a proper security is an ambition to be preferred to the appetite for great wealth and great power.” – FDR

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    We can only hope that this legislation is the long, long overdue re-birth of a recognition of the importance of a middle class in our country.

  4. If you don’t think George Will has strong arguments as to why increases to the minimum wage are a bad idea http://www.realclear… perhaps a common sense example explanation is what you need.  Pretend you’re a business owner that makes widgets using predominately minimum wage employees.

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    U.S. Company:
    Sale Price 6
    Shipping Cost 1
    Material Cost 1
    Labor Cost 3
    Profit 1

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    Foreign Company:
    Sale Price 6
    Shipping Cost 3
    Material Cost 1
    Labor Cost 1
    Profit 1

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    Then do this same math assuming we increase the minimum wage in this country by 40% or 5.15 to 7.25.  Result: the U.S. Company goes out of business; unemployment goes up, welfare/foodstamp expenditures rise, taxes revenue drops, etc.:

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    U.S. Company:
    Sale Price 6
    Shipping Cost 1
    Material Cost 1
    Labor Cost 4
    Profit 0

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    Foreign Company:
    Sale Price 6
    Shipping Cost 3
    Material Cost 1
    Labor Cost 1
    Profit 1

    • your arguement about the effect of the tiny percentage of people affected by this increase might make me bother with your numbers.  But right now, it is so miniscule a problem, if even a problem, that I’m laughing my socks off.  Laughing and crying. 

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