This minimun wage thing .

[blues90]

I am all for it but what good does a few dollars an hour really mean to the vast amount of workers who make low pay such as $10 per hour which is still not enough to survive on for most people if you can even find a damn job these days .

And this few dollar raise is over two years by then the cost of living will void the increase it will just keep people in the same situation .

Health care is a huge issue too and this hages around for so many years that the only way to fix this is cut the costs across the board . And you notice most jobs available today are in the health care fields .

I think the politicians should work for the min wage and no health care and end this king and queen treatment they seem to have .

I am sick and tired of being one american who is stalled in life with nothing to show for the work other than hoping you will have a job next week , the fear factor is right there , talk about terrorism , well there it is .

[porphyrian]

1. It's a baby step in the right direction.

Democrats plan to take a bunch of baby steps in the right (left?) direction, this is just one of them. Health care will (hopefully) be another.

[blues90]

4. How do you think it looks

When most of the population living on basic nothing see these politicians prancing around in a beautiful building with huge fancy offices and well dressed along with all the fame they seem to have .

Yes I know they worked for this but still we do treat them as royalty not so different then kings and queens . For the most part they are in an exclusive club with little exposure to reality so how can they ever understand the commons ?

Baby steps would be nice if the grew as a child grows however we have been stunted with political games for decades and the business owners have held wages low at will , sold their products for increased price each year and profited off the herd work of others . Sure they must pay increases in raw material and increases in outsourced work such as legal fees and such . But they don't pay for benefits or give raises for good performance so they win long term and they never cut back on their lifestyle instead they lay off workers and spread out the workload to others and increase their hours and many employees and on commissions not an hourly wage .

Third world USA , we are there and will never pull out of this strangle hold .

[porphyrian]

5. "We" don't treat them as royalty at all.

You have already given up on them and aren't giving them a chance, is what it sounds like to me. What did you expect, instant equality for everyone in a week?

[blues90]

11. Party true / mostly true

I have given up on politicians years ago since so far nothing has really changed and remained changed for the better in the last 50 years at least .

We are still dealing with the same problems mainly due to the american society and their outlook but even so when the elections come along ever 4 years and there is a party change most times it's out with the good ides and in with the bad , everything gets turned around and we start all over again .

To see the dems fighting the repubs yesterday made them both look bad even though I am a dem and the repubs certainly deserve the fight back .

The entire whitehouse is now impermeated with a stench that will never be removed without a complete gutting .

I have given up , yes that's true until I see actual results provided I live that long .

I am not all excited about the new dems as many seem to be , after all they are just people who were hired to do a job , no different than anyone else doing their job .

Lets see just how many visit their districts and get down in the trenchs to actually feel the pain of the commons , lets see how interested they are in new orleans or anyother beaten down place . Not when they run for office but while they are holding office .

They all are certainly there when it comes time for campaign contributions .

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. I'd like to see Congress have only Social Security

as their pension plan as well as what you suggested. It would even be instructive if members tried to live on minimum wage, no benefits, for one month. Bet they couldn't survive.

[Freddie Stubbs]

9. I'll bet you that a good number of Senators could survive, as

they are already wealthy.

[thoughtanarchist]

3. It does plenty good.

First and foremost it provides more money to a demographic that typically spends all their income.

This is not only good for the economy as a whole, but it helps to relieve income inequality up and down the scale.

Your typical $10 / hr workers are likely to get a pay bump that you only see when employers need to lure a higher skill set than you'd get at the fed min wage. That pattern repeats all the way up the pay scale.

Over time, the cash glut this creates on Main St. leads to a better standard of living for everyone.

[TahitiNut]

6. In addition to all the other benefits, it HELPS SOCIAL SECURITY.

100% of the wage increases will result in more payroll taxes for the Social Security Trust Fund. Higher payrolls = Higher Payroll Tax receipts.

By far, the greatest harm has been inflicted on Social Security by the ever-widening income gap between the "top 5%" and the "bottom 90%." While we're inundated with claims about "overall" and "average" improvements in income and the 'economy,' the fact of the matter is that an increase in the 'average' is entirely at the highest end of the economic scale. The poor merely get poorer after working to enrich the 'ownership society.'


FACT: Despite an increasing population, the number of workers paying Social Security taxes has been essentially flat since Cheney/Bush embezzled their way into the White House.



FACT: The per capital wage base has been stagnant since Cheney/Bush embezzled their way into the White House.




FACT: Corporate profits compared to employee compensation have never been higher since before the Great Depression - the Age of Robber Barons.



FACT: Taxes on Corporate Profits are at all-time lows ... totally repudiating "trickle-down" delusions.

[On the Road]

8. Oh, Right! That Hadn't Occurred to Me

one more reason to do the obvious.

[chaska]

7. What's hard to believe (and frankly shameful)...

is that they're planning to take over two years to get to a measly $7.25. Un-real....

[bluewave]

10. Do it like Washington State: yearly increases based on inflation

index. We avoid this fight by increasing it by the index every year. And, unlike the NeoCon pundits claim, it does not hurt our economy.