Half Of U.S. Republicans Back Minimum Wage Of $9 Per Hour: Poll

[Crabtownboy]

I am beginning to believe the GOP learned nothing from the last election.

Top Republican leaders are lining up to oppose President Barack Obama's proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $9 per hour. And that apparently puts them at odds with a large number of the people they represent.

Roughly half of Republicans -- and 71 percent of Americans overall -- support raising the minimum wage to $9 per hour, according to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center and USA Today.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/..._2758307.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics

 

[Aaron]

I agree they learned nothing if half are still in favor.

 

[padredurand]

I guess roughly half are opposed to the $9.00 minimum wage then.

 

[Mexdeaf]

I fully believe that more than half have lost their minds.

 

[Crabtownboy]

I guess roughly half are opposed to the $9.00 minimum wage then.

Yes, and it seems to be primarily the leadership in Congress who are running afraid of the Tea Party ... and the Tea Party is destroying the party. How can the leadership say they are for the middle class and poor while keeping the minimum wage low and protecting the rich?

 

[Aaron]

Don't you grow tired of simply repeating the lie?

 

[Robert Snow]

Don't you grow tired of simply repeating the lie?

He's not lying, you just don't like the truth.

 

[Crabtownboy]

He's not lying, you just don't like the truth.

The truth can be a very nasty revelation. We can deny it. We can rail against it. We can refuse to believe it. But truth has a nasty way of sticking around until we have to accept it.

If the GOP does not want to disappear as a viable political party they must see how the demographics of the country are going, they must recognize how the majority of the voters view them and they must take measures to correct this or they will gradually disappear.

And, as I have said before, we need at least two good viable political parties are we are in very big trouble.

 

[padredurand]

Yes, and it seems to be primarily the leadership in Congress who are running afraid of the Tea Party ... and the Tea Party is destroying the party. How can the leadership say they are for the middle class and poor while keeping the minimum wage low and protecting the rich?

$9.00 an hour won't lift anyone out of poverty either. Someone trying to support a family of four at minimum wage would still fall nearly $5000 below the federal poverty guidelines. source

 

[Crabtownboy]

$9.00 an hour won't lift anyone out of poverty either. Someone trying to support a family of four at minimum wage would still fall nearly $5000 below the federal poverty guidelines. source

I agree with you ... good reason to raise the minimum wage. Probably should raise it even higher.

 

[FR7 Baptist]

What a lot of people fail to realize is that, adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage is lower than it is in the past. To match the minimum wage in 1968 in inflation-adjusted terms, we would have to raise it to over $10 per hour.

 

[just-want-peace]

Why do you liberals want to keep young people from finding jobs?
Do y'all really hate young folks that much?

Conservatives want young folks to be able to get jobs while they ARE SINGLE, and don't need a "living wage" so they have EXPERIENCE and can get better paying jobs later when they DO need to support a family!

 

[FR7 Baptist]

There is no evidence that reasonable minimum wage increases have an overall negative effect on employment or the economy. In fact, by increasing demand for goods in the lower-income ranges, it probably has a positive effect.

 

[Salty]

I agree with you ... good reason to raise the minimum wage. Probably should raise it even higher.

Generally, wages are 50% of the cost of a business.
Raise the minimum wage - then the owner has no choice but to raise prices and or cut hours

Cutting hours means more work for for those remaining

Also, when the minimum wage is raised than those who are making a little more than the previous minimum wage than believe they should be entitle to a pay raise as well.

And keep in mind - if the minimum wage is raised to $9/hour - it will cost the employer about $10 to pay the employee per hour.

 

[church mouse guy]

The truth can be a very nasty revelation. We can deny it. We can rail against it. We can refuse to believe it. But truth has a nasty way of sticking around until we have to accept it.

If the GOP does not want to disappear as a viable political party they must see how the demographics of the country are going, they must recognize how the majority of the voters view them and they must take measures to correct this or they will gradually disappear.

And, as I have said before, we need at least two good viable political parties are we are in very big trouble.

If the GOP goes out of business, what does it matter? The Whigs are gone, and maybe others. The American people may want a liberal party and an ultra-liberal party and therefore have no need of a conservative party like the GOP. Everyone knows that in a recession with 23 million unemployed it worsens matters to make hiring someone even more expensive.

 

[Revmitchell]

There is no evidence that reasonable minimum wage increases have an overall negative effect on employment or the economy. In fact, by increasing demand for goods in the lower-income ranges, it probably has a positive effect.

What is reasonable to you may not be reasonable to the market. And I am sorry for your error but you do not seem to know what you are talking about:

University of California, Irvine economist David Neumark has examined more than 100 major academic studies on the minimum wage. He states that the White House claim “grossly misstates the weight of the evidence.” About 85 percent of the studies “find a negative employment effect on low-skilled workers.” A 1976 American Economic Association survey found that 90 percent of its members agreed that increasing the minimum wage raises unemployment among young and unskilled workers. A 1990 survey found that 80 percent of economists agreed with the statement that increases in the minimum wage cause unemployment among the youth and low-skilled. If you’re looking for a consensus in most fields of study, examine the introductory and intermediate college textbooks in the field. Economics textbooks that mention the minimum wage say that it increases unemployment for the least skilled worker.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/20...cs-101-higher-minimum-wage.html#storylink=cpy

 

[Salty]

There is no evidence that reasonable minimum wage increases have an overall negative effect on employment or the economy. .

When I was in charge of a small radio station, I worked all holidays so I would not have to pay any overtime/holiday pay. The company was on a shoe string and could not afford any extra expenses.

 

[Don]

What a lot of people fail to realize is that, adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage is lower than it is in the past. To match the minimum wage in 1968 in inflation-adjusted terms, we would have to raise it to over $10 per hour.

"Adjusted for inflation...."

SO -- the fed wants to keep pumping funds, thereby increasing the inflationary effect, which in turn negates the increase in the minimum wage. Meanwhile, those that were already making $9/hour are now classified as minimum wage earners, increasing the number of people earning minimum wage. Meanwhile, companies are raising prices to off-set the mandatory increases in wages and healthcare, meaning that the value of increased minimum wage has NOT increased.

If you don't believe this or understand it, just ask one simple question: why do we have to keep increasing minimum wage? Why didn't the last increase fix the problem? Or the one before that? What happened that we have to increase it again?

 

[InTheLight]

Generally, wages are 50% of the cost of a business.

Can you cite a reference for this?

 

[InTheLight]

"Adjusted for inflation...."

SO -- the fed wants to keep pumping funds, thereby increasing the inflationary effect, which in turn negates the increase in the minimum wage.

This is the classic theory--that somehow has been failing for the past decade. Despite the loose money supply inflation has probably been the lowest its been for over 60 years.

What typically happens when the minimum wage is raised is that prices in the industries that employ a lot of minimum wage workers--fast food, retail clerical work, general basic labor--go up, which ironically affects people that make minimum wage the most because they buy these low priced products.

Meanwhile, those that were already making $9/hour are now classified as minimum wage earners, increasing the number of people earning minimum wage.

Which means that those people that were making $9.00 an hour, or $1.75 more than minimum wage are now angry and demanding raises.

Meanwhile, companies are raising prices to off-set the mandatory increases in wages and healthcare, meaning that the value of increased minimum wage has NOT increased.

Yes, this is what happens. It's a vicious circle. However, the price of most goods do NOT go up with an increase in the minimum wage. It's mostly only those industries that employ minimum wage workers or low wage workers.