Senate Kills Minimum Wage (GOP Millionaires Rally 'round their Wallets)
The GOP killed the minimum bill (only one GOPer voted “Yes”
– Sen. Corker from TN).
Republicans continue to show no interest in budging on this
issue. They are playing poker, gambling since they believe they are poised to
make gains in the 2014 midterm and take control of the Senate, while retaining
the House. So, the earliest Americans can expect progress on the issue would be
in 2017, barring an unexpected boost in progressive turnout later this year to
give the DEMS an airtight 60 votes.
In theory, GOP lawmakers are risking a public backlash by
uniting against such a popular economic issue. However, the Republicans are
again gambling and working from the assumption that those struggling most
probably won’t even turn out to vote – and those assumptions are
generally true (graph seen here).
The GOP would have us believe that raising the minimum wage
is a “job killer” – it is not. They also want us to believe that most minimum
wage workers are teens on their first job and thus don't care about a pay hike.
That is so false I can't begin to say how much. But, a few stats might help and an excellent segment here:
1. About 3.6 million Americans were earning at or
below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour in 2012, and those people were
not all high school students flipping burgers.
2. About half of them were 25 or older, a little more
than one-third were working full-time, and a little less
than three-fourths had graduated from high school; many have families to
support, too.
3. Working full time for minimum wage would take home an
annual salary of $15,080. That’s a shade higher than the poverty threshold for
a household containing two adults, and about $8,000 less than the poverty line
for a family of four.
4. These are the workers who answer your customer
service calls, deliver your pizzas, take care of your children, bag your
groceries and serve your food.
The
GOP is flat out wrong on this issue. Will the public respond in November? We
can only hope
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