“There are people at WalMart who make under $10 an hour. The CEO makes over $11,000 an hour,” said consumer advocate Ralph Nader. The average income in the U.S. is $40,584. The current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.
Nader joined member of Congress as they reminded reporters that, since the minimum wage was last raised in 2007, a taxpayer funded multi-billion auto and bank bailout was voted through Congress. Advocates pushing to raise the minimum wage say it’s time for average Americans to receive help in the form of an increase in the minimum wage.
Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), who is the chief sponsor of legislation to increase the wage to $10, reminded reporters of President Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign position to raised the minimum wage.
“The President of the United State said himself as a candidate he wanted to see the minimum wage raised to $9.50. It is now 2012. I’m calling on President Barack Obama to honor his campaign commitment of 2008 and stand behind legislation that raised the minimum wage for the American people,” Jackson said. He told reporters the minimum wage should be raised to $10. Jackson is offering legislation, The Catching Up to 1968 Act of 2012, to do just that.
“A rising tide does not lift all boats,” said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who is a co-sponsor on Jackson’s legislation. Kucinich may have been referring to President Obama’s 2009 reference as he answered a question on high Black unemployment. “The President would win the election if he did this,” Kucinich added. A raise in the minimum wage would effect roughly 30 million people.
“It will raise the morale of all Americans to know that this Administration is doing everything they can,” Conyers said referring to his hopes the White House will support the a minimum wage increase.
Jackson, Nader and Conyers asserted that raising the minimum wage should be bi-partisan. Nader claimed that former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum and presumptive nominee Mitt Romney have expressed past support for a raise in the minimum wage.
“Raising the federal minimum wage involves 30 million workers. These are not just liberal workers or progressive workers, these are conservative workers and libertarian workers. This is a unifying issue in our country,” Nader said.
“They are not lazy they are not on welfare, they are not seeking state subsidies… at the end of a hard days work they deserve $400 dollars a week or $20,800 a year,” Jackson said. Since the Democrats are in the minority it is doubtful Jackson’s legislation woud move forward though he claims Repubican support is not out of the question.
LAUREN VICTORIA BURKE, Politic365 Chief Congressional Correspondent, publishes the blog Crewof42 on the Congressional Black Caucus. She is heard every Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET on WMCS 1290 in Milwaukee on Earl Ingram’s show The Evening Rush as well as on WPFW every Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Washington DC. You can e-mail her at LBurke007@gmail.com follow her on twitter at @crewof42.
To Continue The Minimum Wage Saga:…We Need Jobs and Minimum Wage Increase,which provides a Floor to The Wage Structure in order To Protect Workers at The Bottom of The Wage Distributions…Minimum Wages are a Universal Policy Instrument that Applies in More Than[90%] of International Labor Organization Member States…Minimum Wage Must Take a Legal Perspective That Must have The Backing of Force by Law and be Enforceable under Threat of Penal or Other Sanctions… It is This Aspect of The Minimum Wage Saga that Generates The Heated Battles between Labor Organizations and Governments…Besides that, Minimum Wage Process Articulated by Organizations such as The Ethical Trade Initative[ETI],have Become Embroiled in The Minimum Wage Debate.[ETI] defines a Concept it called Living Wage as”A Wage that Allows a Worker to Provide for Their Family…We can also Categorize Another form of Wage:…Poverty Wage,which[ETI] has Associated With The Following Signs: Depend on Food Stamps…Borrowing from Loan-Sharks or Indebtedness…Lark of Non Essential, Medicine, Clothing ect…Many are Crying That,”Their Take Home Pay Cannot Take Them Home.” This Wage Increase is Especially Diffulcult When The Economy is Fragile…A Living Wage is More Than Money, it is Something About The Force of a Moral Proposition, first,that Work Should”be Rewarded”…Second,that no one Who Works Full Time Should Have to Live in Poverty…Flowing from this,a Living Wage is seen as a Decent Wage…It Affords The Wage Earner and Their Family The Most Basic Cost of Living Without Need for Government Support or Programs…With a Living Wage an Individual can Take Pride in Their Work and Enjoy the Decency of a Life Beyond Poverty, beyond an Endless Cycle of Working and Sleeping,beyond The Ditch of Poverty Wages.
To Continue The Minimum Wage Saga:…According To Government Research,Which States That”The Security and Welfare of The People Shall be The Primary Purpose of Government.” It is Thus Instructive That a Living Wage is Not Just a Wage,since Minimum Wage Attempts to Cover Only The Very Basic Necessities and Do Not Even Account for Savings or Emergencies,Living Wage Goes Beyond This, it is Only One Small Step Towards a Truly Just Wage…The Living Wage Obviously Differs from The Minimum Wage in that The Latter is Set by Law and can Fail to Meet The Requirements of a Living Wage or is so Low That Borrowering of Application for Top-Up Benefits is Necessary…It Differ Some What from Basic Needs in that The Basic Need Models usually Measures a Minimum Level of Consumption Without Regard for The Source of Income…”Trade Unions Represents Matters as The Agitation for Wage Increases and Other Benefits…Congress and Trade Unions,have had a Long Running Battle With The Government on The Subject…One Way Through Which Attempt has been Made to Reconize this is The Legislation of a National Minimum Wage….Wages and Salaries are Today Sharply Depressed and Incapable of Meeting The Basic Needs of Most Workers…Inflation has Intensified With The Cost of Living Index…The Cost of Food Means That Erosion in The Real Wages and Salaries of Workers is Alarmingly Severe…All Over The World, Salary Increase in The Public Sector Underlined by The Principal of The Need to Bridge Social Inequality in The Face of Widening Economic and Social Gaps Among Citizens of a Country…Issues and Challenges to Minimum Wage Process:…Successful Implementation of The Minimum Wage in Other Parts of The World Will Continue to be Challenged by a Number of Factors…It is Necessary to Identify These Challenges so That Solutions Will be Offered to Them…The Most Important of Such Factors is Perhaps Insufficent Revenue, Incessant Call for Wage Review by Civil Servants and Their Inability to Justify Such Demands….We are Calling on Congress for a Cost of Living Wage Hike. We Deserve a Long-Long-Long Ajustable Living Wage Hike. We Want Serious Legislation on a Living Wage Increase Now…Stop The Politics and Game Playing. We The Citizens Want JOBS-JOBS-JOBS and Living Wage Increases Now!! Do What We Elected You To Do, Govern To Ensure The Best Interest of The People,or We Will Remember You at The Polling Place in November!!