why don't the republicans want to raise the minimum wage?

Question

the congress recently ( today ) voted on a proposal to raise the minimum wage and turned it down. mostly because repubs voted against it. It has not been raised in many years and the working poor are being priced out of homes etc. What is the big deal to them? The congress gave themselves a handsome salary increase recently but begrudge the working poor a modest hike of $1.15 per hour. WHY? WHY ? WHY? It is not welfare, you have to have a job to benefit. It encourages people to get off welfare and poor Moms to not get abortions, so why wont they do it? Somebody please explain it to me. There have been so many cost of living increases in recent years so the working poor get poorer and poorer. soon we will be like Mexico with a rich upper class and a very poor lower class and nothing in between but fences and guard dogs. WHY?

I am getting some very good answers on both sides of the issue, thank you evryone. i still cannot decide yet. I think maybe the heartless economic answers are least appealing and perhaps a little flawed too.
It dodges the issue of why the raise at the top for people that have done nothing to deserve it, but nothing at the bottom for the drudges that work hardest at worst jobs. Must the powerful always deny mercy on economic principle or is that just a lame excuse to not care. Why doesn't raising the salaries of the rich cause inflation too?
Does not WAR cause even more inflartion than a $1 hr raise for the lttile people. The WAR pasy out borrowed money for stuff that we do not get to buy here so the value of the dollar paid to make the stuff goes down here as the workers cannot buy the stuff they made, isn't that economics 101 too? so why is the cost important when helping poor but not when slaugtering innocent people in IRAQ? ( YES INNOCENT "collateral damage"_

Answer 1

Since 1997 the minimum wage has remained the same...despite rising costs of EVERYTHING! Yet congress o.k.'d a raise for themselves.........Aren't republicans repulsive?

Answer 2

Because it will raise the cost of everything and the increase of the minimum wage will be lost with in months. Every time the minimum wage has been increased it has inflated prices.

If a person isn't happy making what they are making they have the right to go get a better job. That is why we pay for job training out of our tax dollars so people can pull themselves up. This is America where people have options to do something else.

Also, it takes out of the hands of businesses what they think someone is worth. Yogi Berra once was asked about the high priced baseball talent but applies to all business. His response, "It's not the high price of talent, but the high price of mediocrity." What does this mean? It means those that are currently making five dollars more an hour than minimum will demand that they should be making more. While they would have an argument there comes a point when a business just doesn't have the money to pay more to pay. There have been times when the minimum wage has been increased where people were laid off because there again business just have so much money. Business is supposed to make money not take care of people.

Answer 3

I guess the answer that we are programed to say is that if you raise it our stuff will go up, not entirely true, if wages go up 7% products will rise 2% they can`t get away with much more then that. Not only wages and the gap between the rich and poor vs. the 50s or 60s. but another problem is that the value of the dollar has dropped 13% since `02. These new Republicans are turning "We the People" into "We the Corporation"

Answer 4

Preach on brother.Its all about greed isnt it.Why didnt we foresee the mess we would be in with the oil situation 30 years ago.We could have had technologies in place years ago to overcome not only the political but environmental problems as well.Greed prevented it.On the evolutionary scale,humans being at the top,its all about survival of the fittest.For humans our ability to survive isnt based on size or physical strength.Those who survive the best are the wealthy.How do you scare a rich man?Make him a poor man.I wish all the wealthy would go through a similar experience as Dan Akroyd an Eddie Murphy from the movie trading places did.It might make them a little more compassionate.Tax cuts during wartime for the richest 1 % is so ludicris but right in line with all the other BS isnt it?

Answer 5

Raising the minimum wage will inadvertently raise the cost of living. The ONLY people who benefit from a minimum wage increase is the labor unions and other political offices that base their wages on a percent of minimum wage.
Most people do not live on it. Last time they raised minimum wage, my salary did not get the same percentage raise, so therefore I got a pay cut. Cost of living increased to cover the costs of the minimum wages, however most employee's who are not making minimum and are not part of a union get a cost of living CUT.

Economics 101.

Answer 6

My feeling are it would take money out of there pockets. Same old saying my dad uses the rich get richer the poor get poorer. Spelling beside the point. Its because the american people don't vote. I have many friends and there attitude is that we have robbers in offices they love to spend money but not give. Not enough Democrat's in office. At least most of them seem to show they do want better for the working class.

Answer 7

Increasing the likelihood and duration of unemployment for low-wage workers, particularly during economic downturns; Encouraging employers to cut worker training; Increasing job turnover; Discouraging part-time work and reducing school attendance; Driving workers into uncovered jobs, thus reducing wages in those sectors; Encouraging employers to cut back on fringe benefits; Encouraging employers to install labor-saving devices; Increasing inflationary pressure

Answer 8

because if you raise wages...who pays for that wage raise...big business...no...they pass it onto the consumer...which in affect has no meaning to the person making minimum wage...the cost of living does raise...but don't people on minimum wage usually get a raise within a year and more after that...i would be for inflation fluctuation for minimum wage...if inflation goes up 1% minimum wage goes up 1% if inflation goes down 1% minimum wage goes down 1%...but to set a certain amount would only give more reasons for businesses to raise prices...and more tax money would be collected...what do you think...

Answer 9

Proably because most republicans in authority are the ones owning the company and raising the minimum wage would mean that they will have less money left over after the payroll to pay themselves,just my opinion.

Answer 10

It is up to the employers to pay their people correctly. It is not up to the government!

If you are a good worker you will get raises that will help with the cost of living increases.

The government does not need to control everything!!

Answer 11

Everytime the minimum wage is waged unemployment explodes and can go up 1-5 percent it is not worth losing hundreds of thousands of jobs.