Should we raise the minimum wage? If so, how much?

Answer 1

better yet, all public offices from president to senators and such should be a non paying position....

Answer 2

No.
1. Any increase in operating cost is only multiplied and reflected in retail prices.
While a min wage increase would put a larger dollar amount in those wage earner's pockets, the net purchasing power would be lessened due to the increased prices.
2. The great majority of minimum wage earners is high school students. Family supporters typically earn in the neighborhood of $10.00/hour, which is not a really good sum but better than min.
3. A minimum wage increase would negate the purchasing power of those who really need it, i.e., the $10.00/hour family supporters.

A much better alternative would be to increase the purchasing power by:
eliminating welfare 'bums' i.e., multi-generational welfare recipients.
eliminating 'offshore' outsourcing of American jobs
forcing members of congress and the senate to live on the average American salary of $35000/year before taxes
forcing those members to pay the same 27% to 30% tax that we the people pay
eliminating income tax altogether both Federal and state
replace the income tax with a universal sales tax, NO EXEMPTIONS!. That way everyone pays according to their usage.
There are many more possiblilties. I'll leave that to you to research.

Answer 3

We should probably raise it but in many states its a moot point since the states are raising the min. wage themselves. That probably makes more sense since it would be regionally influenced (e.g. More expensive to live in Cali than in say Oklahoma).

But problem is having some balance and fairnesss. I'm sorry but skills are worth different amounts in the marketplace.

There are also issues if min. wage is raised too much-- employers WILL avoid hiring if they can't afford it. There are some case studies of such a thing happening in Cali (SFO I think).

Majority of people on min. wage are relatively young (e.g. under 24 or so). Those making roughly min. wage make up roughly 5-8% of the working force (if I remember correctly from Bureau of Labor Stats). Given that, one could argue either way that its not that big of a deal as long as the raise is "reasonable" (e.g. we're only affecting 5-8% of the workforce)

At the end of the day, I'd say don't work for min. wage unless you aboslutely have to. If people don't do those jobs, employers will have to pay more to get people to work.

Answer 4

In a country where we often talk about the sanctity of Life, the minimum wage should reflect what it costs to purchase basic needs. Each location is different, so it should be determined by the community, not by federal rules.
The problem with changing it is that we are accepting inflation as an unavoidable factor. If we want to truly do something that makes sense, a better approach is the FairTax, where consumption is taxed directly, and income is paid directly, so that people are encouraged to produce and save, but discouraged from unnecessary consumption of resources, thereby reducing inflation and stabilizing behavior. The current proposal (HR25 in the House) includes a rebate on the amount of tax which would be paid for necessities. This keeps the impoverished from being taxed disproportionately to their low income.

Answer 5

10$

Answer 6

All this minimum wage talk

What about a Maximum wage law.

Answer 7

No, the federal minimum wage law should be abolished as un-constitutional. The federal gov't has no business in establishing a pay scale between an employer and a willing worker.

Answer 8

Minimum wage should be high enough to live minimally. You cant unless its just you in an efficiency. It should be enough to have a cheap car or bus pass,small apartmemnt and groceries. Not sure how much that should be. But dont have kids on that salary or youll all have to live in the gutter.

Answer 9

Did you forget the democrats voted no on a Bill the republicans introduced to raise the minimum wage.

I guess the Dems would rather see Republicans fail instead of doing what is right for America.

Answer 10

$10 is a nice even number . .

btw the Independence launched an airstrike on lebanon after the marines were killed. The eisenhower was on station during the event, and i can tell you the pilots sure wanted to launch.

Answer 11

Yes. Link it to the consumer price index so increases are automatic instead of a political football.