President Obama put together a liberal wish list and outlined it during his State of the Union address on Tuesday. Among the ideas he put forth was that of raising the federal minimum wage to $9 per hour by 2015 and then adding in automatic adjustments based on the rate of inflation (the one reported by the federal government, not the real, higher rate of inflation). "Even with the tax relief we've put in place, a family with two kids that earns the minimum wage still lives below the poverty line. That's wrong," Obama said on Tuesday night. "Let's declare that in the wealthiest nation on earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty."
It is, no matter how much Obama would like it to be so, very unlikely that Republicans in the House and Senate will go along with the plan. House Speaker John Boehner already shot the idea down, indicating that a higher minimum wage would ultimately hurt the growth in job creation.
Noted Boehner, "When you raise the price of employment, guess what happens? You get less of it. Why would we make it harder for small employers to hire people? Listen, I've got 11 brothers and sisters on every rung of the economic ladder. I know about this issue as much as anybody in this town. What happens when you take away the first couple of rungs on the economic ladder, you make it harder for people to get on the ladder. Our goal is to get people on the ladder and help them climb that ladder so they can live the American dream. A lot of people who are being paid the minimum wage are being paid that because they come to the workforce with no skills. This makes it harder for them to acquire the skills they need to climb that ladder successfully."
The last time minimum wage rose was in 2009, after a 2007 law went into effect under President George W. Bush. That law moved the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour. Perhaps the current president is preparing for the inflation that must inevitably come from the massive government spending that has been occurring lately, and doesn't want those toiling at the current minimum wage to be left out when it hits.
It is, no matter how much Obama would like it to be so, very unlikely that Republicans in the House and Senate will go along with the plan. House Speaker John Boehner already shot the idea down, indicating that a higher minimum wage would ultimately hurt the growth in job creation.
Noted Boehner, "When you raise the price of employment, guess what happens? You get less of it. Why would we make it harder for small employers to hire people? Listen, I've got 11 brothers and sisters on every rung of the economic ladder. I know about this issue as much as anybody in this town. What happens when you take away the first couple of rungs on the economic ladder, you make it harder for people to get on the ladder. Our goal is to get people on the ladder and help them climb that ladder so they can live the American dream. A lot of people who are being paid the minimum wage are being paid that because they come to the workforce with no skills. This makes it harder for them to acquire the skills they need to climb that ladder successfully."
The last time minimum wage rose was in 2009, after a 2007 law went into effect under President George W. Bush. That law moved the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour. Perhaps the current president is preparing for the inflation that must inevitably come from the massive government spending that has been occurring lately, and doesn't want those toiling at the current minimum wage to be left out when it hits.
