Visitor,

What kind of silly statement is that? I can just as easily say, never before in history has outsourcing been so out of control or been used as a such a viable option and that would be absolutely true. That's like saying never before in history has an Arab terrorist attacked us on our own soil so we should not make Arabs have to go through Customs at the airport. There is absolutely no question that an increase in min wage of any kind will increase outsourcing, and the higher the wage increase, the more jobs will be lost. Yes, those that do not lose their jobs will be in much better shape than they were, but to say there will be no down side is not only inaccurate but the same kind of dishonest bullshit that the jerks in Congress use all the time to get their way. Also, I did not say to keep it at $5.15. The debate is not over increasing the wage -- it is about how much. You should read the article that started this thread!

Visitor,

[b]It is not a proposal that will harm small business employers. Never in the history of minimum wage increases has anyone been able to show economic damage from modest increases in the minimum wage.[/b]

Maybe it shouldn't be called minimum wage, it should be called living wage. Is there anybody here that can live on $5.15 an hour for 40 hours per week?

Visitor,

It's not that simple. If raising the min wage 2 bucks instead of only one means thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of already underpaid workers lose their jobs altogether, is that right? The min wage is too low for a country this rich - that is a given. But the scum at the top of the food chain who haven't started outsourcing yet because it's too much trouble find the new min wage is significantly more than they could pay people in southern Asia or elsewhere, they won't give it a second thought. We MUST deal with outsourcing first, or there won't be that many Americans left to make that extra buck an hour. It's fucked up no matter how you slice it, but if we don;t address it the right way, outsourcing will begin invading industries you never thought it would.

The real answer is to get the government out of the pockets of big business. But that will never happen. After all, this is America. And its leader is a man who waltzed into government a millionaire who never worked a day in his life.

dumbass,

You're right, but if we do nothing then it's lose-lose (unless you're a rich fucking Bushie). And since Bush is NEVER going to do a damned thing to discourage outsourcing (since his buddies benefit from it), we might as well work on something that at least has a shot. Yes, it's ass backwards, but maybe we can work in the minimum wage problem now and address outsourcing once Bush is gone.

On Monday, March 7, there will be a debate in the U. S. Senate on increasing the federal minimum wage. The Senate will be considering two competing versions of a minimum wage increase.

Sen. Kennedy (D-MA) has offered an amendment to raise the federal minimum wage, in stages, to $7.25. Sen. Santorum (R-PA) has offered an amendment to raise the federal minimum wage to $6.25. And Sen. Santorum's amendment also includes changes in labor law that will result in the loss of overtime pay for many workers and, in fact, may actually remove some workers now given minimum wage and overtime protection from coverage under these laws.

The last time the minimum wage was increased was Sept. 1997, to its current $5.15/hour. That's almost 8 years ago. At this time, the value of the minimum wage is at its second lowest level in the last 45 years. The Kennedy proposal would lift the minimum wage to $7.25 by the middle of 2007; it would help 7.5 million working Americans to feed their families, pay their rent, continue their schooling. This is a modest increase considering the length of time since the last increase. Without it, minimum wage workers will just fall further and further down the income scale. It is not a proposal that will harm small business employers. Never in the history of minimum wage increases has anyone been able to show economic damage from modest increases in the minimum wage.

The Santorum proposed minimum wage increase to $6.25 will leave 5.5 million workers behind - because it will only reach 1.8 million workers compared to the Kennedy proposed increase of $7.25. And as the value of the minimum wage continues to fall, anything less than a $7.25 increase is simply not enough. The Santorum proposal, in addition to its inadequate minimum wage increase, also calls for changes in labor law that will
- change the overtime rule from 40 hours/week to 80 hours over two weeks, allowing employers to schedule a 50 hour work-week one week and a 30 hour week the next without having to pay any overtime;
- change the definition of which employers are required to pay minimum wage, thus exempting their employees from minimum wage coverage.

Please make a call to your Senators' offices and urge them to support a decent increase in the federal minimum wage (to $7.25) and oppose the inadequate $6.25 increase which comes in a package of damaging changes to the nation's labor laws.

YOUR CALLS MUST BE MADE ON MONDAY, MARCH 7TH TO BE EFFECTIVE.

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