Raise the Minimum Wage

Some Democratic representatives in Congress are not sitting around as convenient punching bags for repug thugs while waiting for the election to be over. Some Drmocratic representatives are proposing legislation that will actually boost the economy and help working people.

Pat Garofalo at Think Progress:

A group of House Democrats have proposed increasing the minimum wage to $10, which, as Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) pointed out would allow the wage to “catch up” with where it would be had it been allowed to grow with inflation: 

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The minimum wage hit its peak buying power in 1968; to have the same buying power today, the minimum wage would have to be $9.92. If the minimum wage had been indexed to the Consumer Price Index since 1968, it would be approximately $10.40 today.

But what kind of socialist hell-hole would that kind of livable income usher in?

An analysis by the Center for American Progress’ Nick Bunker, David Madland, and the University of North Carolina’s T. William Lester, however, found five recent studies showing that increasing the minimum wage — even during periods of high unemployment — does not have a negative effect on job growth.

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While increasing the minimum wage likely has no effect on job creation, it does have a tangible benefit for workers. Eight states increased their minimum wage at the beginning of 2012, providing extra benefits to 1.4 million workers. More than half of the workers directly affected by a minimum wage increase, as well as more than half who would be indirectly affected, are women, meaning increasing the wage provides help to a segment of the population that already faces significant disadvantages in the workplace.

And let's not forget that unlike the billion-dollar Wall Street salaries that go to fatten secret offshore bank accounts, the money paid to minimum-wage workers goes immediately and completely to buying food, clothing, shelter and transportation, thus growing the local economy.

Find more quick, easy facts about the minimum wage here.