Why do republicans vote themselves pay increases but have not voted to increase the minimum wage in a decade?

Question

Republicans just voted down a proposed minimum wage increase. There hasn't been a raise in the mimimum wage since 1997.

But last week the house of representatives voted to give themselves a pay raise, as they have done nearly every year since 1997.

Why do republicans complain constantly about having to spend money on the poor but won't vote to give them a decent wage?

How many $5.15/hr jobs does it take to feed a family?

John, if you're going to call someone stupid.....learn how to spell. I don't know what the hell a reprerentative is. Repuke.

I realize that an increase in the mimimum wage can lead to inflation. But there hasn't been a raise in TEN YEARS. 5.15 isn't what it was ten years ago.

Shouldn't the minimum wage be at least a little closer to a living wage?

God repukes make me sick. You idiots wouldn't care if your next door neighboor was starving as long as you had a buck in your pocket.

But...the universe tends to unfold as it should. Watchout for falling pianos.

Answer 1

Republicans are very.. Stubborn so to say. They believe in giving buisinesses and the wealthy every tax cut they possibly can, but could care less about the single parents, the less fortunate, and the hard working.

THANK YOU DEMS FOR VOTING NO TO THE PAY INCREASE.
THANKS DEMS FOR VOTING TO RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE!

Why can't the Republicans have someone like Feingold, who whenever he gets a pay raise, he puts all of that money in the treasury.

The congressmen and women of our government are hardworkers, but come on now.. They were elected to represent the American people, and to do what's best. If having a social security system that is going bankrupt, poverty at its highest, and medicade failing is what people say is representing the American people, then they are sadly mistaking.

It's time for a change. It's time to raise that minimum wage. It's time to help the American people.


VOTE DEMOCRAT ALL THE TIME!

Answer 2

See, republicans are the smart ones that look at the big picture and make sure the right decision is made for everyone. Democrats like to whine and complain that republicans are doing the wrong thing, while the demos do nothing at all. Republicans know that when you raise the minimum wage, prices also go up. So while you think you are making more money, you are also spending more money. So, if you make minimum wage, you are still in the same position as you were before, but now everyone else who does not make minimum wage is paying more for goods. Hitler wanted to exterminate the Jews just because they were Jewish. Bush wants to rid the world of terrorists because they kill innocent people for a living. Not the same thing. My advice is to get educated so you don't have to worry about making minimum wage. If you can't get educated, get a specialized skill that you can use to make better wages. So basically, quit whining about how Bush is this, and Bush doesn't do this, and go do something about it. If you truly believe something, do your research and make a stand. Until you do that, who are you to complain?

Answer 3

Anything worthwhile in life isn't given to you. Republicans are trying to protect the "poor" from themselves. If you raise the minimum wage then jobs will be cut to make up the difference in the labor cost. 10 people having a job at 5.15 is better than 8 having a job at 7.15! Furthermore, the market does a pretty good job at setting fair wages. I made 6.00 an hour at Taco Bell 6 years ago!

Answer 4

Actually, they did not vote themselves a pay raise, this is a parliamentary trick that has been around for a long time, to be complained about by the party out of power.

The law states that Congressmen and Senators will receive an automatic pay raise on a specific date unless there is a majority vote against it. Usually, it turns out that the schedule on the necessary day is just too busy for this vote, and then the next day (darn it!) the raise goes through and all the Senators are very unhappy about it but what can they do? The law is the law.

Believe me, this is not just a republican thing!

Answer 5

If Republicans don't vote for a wage increase, they won't get a wage increase. Democrats vote for wage increases as well. We do not have another system in place for granting pay raises to legislators.
In 2005 the Pennsylvania Legislature voted for big pay raises, in the wee small hours of the morning, on the last day of a legislative session. In the 2006 primary election, most of the Republican leaders were voted out of office. That's how the system works.
Minimum wage is counter productive. To my knowledge, practically no one is working for minimum wage, in my area. Every time the minimum wage rate is increased, lots of people, earning minimum wage, end up losing their jobs. Watch out for unions. Union leaders are always agitating for increases in minimum wages because many union contracts have provisions to raise hourly wages for members, when the minimum wage rate is increased.
If you advocate raising the minimum wage, what would you raise it to? How about $25.00 per hour? A family of four could probably survive on what works out to $55,000.00 per year.

Answer 6

What and no democrats voted to raise their salary? Get a clue. And guess what happens when the minimum wage is increased, the price of everything goes up so its really not a raise at all. Its pure economics, if it costs more to produce something then that increase will be transferred to the consumer, why can't people understand that?

Answer 7

Don't believe most of what you read in the Liberal media. They are decietful and they lie and twist information. The liberal democrats think that illegal immigrants should just be able to come over here. There are a lot of problems with that however, such as the fact that the illegal immigrants take jobs that US citizens should have and they lower wages in this country because they are willing to work for lower wages, and they use up our welfare money that should go to citizens, and they cause over-population and drive up home prices, among other things. So if you want to talk about lowered wages, blame the Democrats.

Answer 8

.We the People need to ask them that , over and over again .
If you care , stand up and ask Congress the hard questions , pay attention to the answers . Don't let them off the hook . This is our country , we live here , work here . and give the lives of our children for the right to make a decent wage to support those children . Congress has given themselves a raise , why not you and me ( aren't we good enough ) ?????
It has been proved that raising wages makes a better economy and jobs go up not down . After all , is there any lack of congressmen looking for relection to Congress ?

Answer 9

This is a ridiculous question. It's so touchy-feely to say that "everyone should make a living wage" but what does that even mean? Am I responsible for paying people more money through my taxes to make sure this happens? Is the company I work for responsible for paying people who are too unskilled or unmotivated to get a better paying job more money just so they can continue to be unskilled or unmotivated? There's absolutely no logic to this question.

By the way, less than 2.5% of HOURLY workers actually make minimum wage. When you factor in salaried and commissioned workers it's less than 1% of all workers that make minimum wage.

If somebody makes minimum wage and that person wants a better paying job all they need to do is acquire more skills and make themselves more valuable to their employer. Nobody handed me a guaranteed raise, I spent YEARS trying to prove my worth to my employer so I could get paid more money. And it worked.

And instead of having the market dictate reward for performance you want to legislate it. That's crazy. You're willing to let the same nitwits in Congress who can't pave roads decide what a "living wage" is? Great strategery.

The truth is that almost nobody makes just minimum wage. I work in a company of almost 200 people and NOBODY makes less than $9.50 per hour. Nobody.

Here's a question for you ... Since you're wanting the minimum wage increased to a "living wage" but you're failing to factor in all the welfare and food stamps and all the other assistance people like this usually receive, are you willing to scrap the entire welfare system in trade for a $3 per hour increase in the minimum wage?

Answer 10

The problem with increasing minimum wage is that everything else goes up too, making a person worse off than before. I'm not a republican either. I have seen this happen over and over. Minimum wage increases and milk goes up .40, gas goes up .10, bread goes up .04. Looks small but add it all up after shopping, you'll have less money in your pocket that before the increase.