RAISE THE MIMIMUM WAGE – It’s Sound & Ethical Economics

[N'Zinga Shani]

RAISE THE MIMIMUM WAGE – It’s Sound & Ethical Economics.

Connecticut Business & Industry Association Opposes An Increase in the Minimum Wage!

The question is WHY? An increase in the minimum wage will benefit employees, tax-payers and the state.  People need to earn a livable wage so they do not have to be a financial drain on the state; they can lift themselves out of poverty, and care for their families.

• The very people opposing a livable minimum wage are those who are also complaining about people needing to pull themselves up by their boot straps. 
• If there is no increase in the minimum wage from year to year, how will working people who only earn minimum wage keep up with the cost-of-living in Connecticut, or ever get out of poverty?
• Increasing the minimum wage makes sound economic sense. 
• Executives in big business earn more in bonus than they pay all of their minimum wage employees combined.  How many of these financial big-shots will forego their bonuses this year?

The Most Rigorous Research Shows Minimum Wage Increases Do Not Reduce Employment.

• The opinion of the economics profession on the impact of the minimum wage has shifted significantly over the past fifteen years.
• Today, the most rigorous research shows little evidence of job reductions from a higher minimum wage.
•  Indicative is a 2013 survey by the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business in which leading economists agreed by a nearly 4 to 1 margin that the benefits of raising and indexing the minimum wage outweigh the costs.

CT is a state with a high cost of living. Businesses are always raising the cost of their products and services; yet, the industry is advocating keeping entry–level and minimum wage employees in poverty although they are working full-time.   It is unconscionable and unethical.  They force such employees to be a burden to the state and to tax-payers; many minimum-wage employees must get state subsidies in order to survive and take care of their families. All of us have a vested interest in everyone being self-sufficient.

This is another reason why everyone NEEDS access to affordable health care; it makes for more healthy communities and reduce the overall cost of health care to the rest of us. Connecticut derives no benefit from creating a permanent underclass of citizens.

• Millions of Americans over the age of 25 depend on minimum wage jobs for full-time work; it is a fallacy to believe that minimum wage jobs are only taken by teens who live at home with their parents.
• We should ALL support the governor’s proposal to increase the minimum wage over the next two years; as citizens, we have nothing to lose snd much to gain. 
• Under the new law (Public Act No. 13-117), effective January 1, 2014, the state minimum wage will rise from $8.25 per hour to $8.70 per hour.

The Job Loss Myth | Raise The Minimum Wage

www.raisetheminimumwage.com/pages/job-loss‎

http://www.jacksonlewis.com/resources.php?NewsID=4558

Right-Wing Media's History Of Attacking The Minimum Wage ... 

While the Right-Wing Media's Campaign Against Raising The Minimum Wage may seem to be reasonable, it is inherently flawed and the facts are twisted to comply with an agenda http://youtu.be/fZfxk6NJ89Y

 Comparative graph from 1938- 2013  mediamatters.org/...of...mini/195026‎

[Skip Borgerson]

I don't think it's all that simple.  Occasional small raises don't have much affect either way.  But large increases like going to $10.10 / hour in one big jump will likely have a devistating affect. 

 

The best way to raise wages is to let the economy go, stop holding it back with so much regulation and tax.  If  you have doubts about this, just look at Texas and North Dakota.  The official minimum wage may be something like $8.50/hr, but the  lowest paid worker is being paid something like $17.00 per hour.   Why?  Because their economy is booming and there are not enough people to fill all the jobs.  It's called the "supply & demand" phenomenon.  It's all part of the "free enterprise" thing. That is what made the USA the greatest economic success in the history of the world.  We started with no government and everyone was FREE and everyone was RESPONSIBLE for themselves.  Everyone worked hard and made the best decisions for themsleves that they could.  And it worked like magic.  If we continue on our current path, "the land of the free and home of the brave" will be but a memory.