Minimum wage should match cost of living

[KingFlorez]

How come no Democrats are fighting for this? The cost of living goes up, but wages stay down and that's not a good thing. I'm not sure how much it should be raised, but it needs to be raised.

[MsConduct]

1. Great idea, too bad it involves logic. The government doesn't

like dealing with logic! ;-)

[Snotcicles]

2. And lets make that retroactive back to the eighty's were it stopped n/t

[Deja Q]

14. Nor do the corporations.

[Selatius]

3. Because people are greedy

Why should I, a corporatist, have to pay Americans 5.15 an hour when I can go to China and pay workers there the equivalent of 60 cents on average? In their eyes, it is not "economically feasible." Free trade is good for America, they say.

[KingFlorez]

4. You know, you're right

This free trade nonsense is a way for the corporations to get cheap labor. I believe in free trade, but only when it truly benefits us and not corporations.

[idlisambar]

9. in other words...

...you don't believe in free trade. Join the ranks.;)

[Spinzonner]

5. As moral and politically desireable as that sounds

Isn't there some danger of promoting a wage-price spiral with an automatic thing like that ?

[Name removed]

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[Spinzonner]

8. Hey, I'm on your side

but an inflationary spiral ultimately hurts workers too.

I'm not against having a reasonable minimum wage, I'm just questioning whether there are risks to having it be too reflexive.

[Name removed]

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[nothingshocksmeanymore]

15. Depends on how it is enforced

I don't think raising the minimum wage would really suppress job growth all things being considered. That is usually the argument business makes for every regulation is to scare people into thinking so, but with CEO's making 500 to 1000 times the average workers' pay, I think the argument becomes nothing more than a cannard.

[KingFlorez]

18. Gradual increase

It should be done gradually to keep things from going out of control. One increase every few years until we get decent wage.

[Name removed]

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[CrazyForKucinich]

11. Because they're idiots!

Or at least the ones who aren't fighting for it...a few are.

[newswolf56]

12. Washington state -- often described as "the Soviet of Washington"...

by Harry Truman's postmaster general -- has the highest minimum wage in the United States, and it's indexed to inflation: goes up automatically as the consumer price index increases. As of January 1, 2005 (he said proudly), our minimum wage is $7.16 an hour. This works out to $286.40 for a 40-hour week -- hardly livable in today's economy, but nevertheless the best our Democratic legislature and governor were able to do in the face of genuinely rabid opposition from the oligarchy -- and damn sure many times better than what's available elsewhere in the U.S.

Which is why, by the way -- despite my many complaints about today's Democratic Party and its constant selling out to the oligarchy (NAFTA, CAFTA, the bankruptcy aka mandatory lifetime indentured servitude law, the Medicare Prescription Drug Lord Benefit, etc.) -- I still have some hope the party can again be made true to its New Deal class-struggle roots: a good starting point would be a nationwide demand by Democratic politicians for a federal law identical to the one we have here in Washington state.

[Name removed]

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[The2ndWheel]

16. As long as capital

is as free as the wind to cross those arbitrary lines drawn on maps, there isn't much to be done.

There are too many divisions to be exploited by the people who pay the salary to create an organization big enough to collectively bargain in a global economy.

Corporations have one color. They don't have kids. They don't have to eat, sleep, or breathe. They don't have different religions. They don't have different sexes. They don't have different ages. They don't have different thoughts.

[wli]

17. we're in the midst of the great wage arbitrage...

Minimum wage increases are a secondary concern in comparison.