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Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike
    #19921982 -

WASHINGTON –  A bill to increase the federal minimum wage stalled Wednesday in the Senate, in the latest setback for Democrats pushing a set of election-year economic bills. 

Republicans argued that the change would be too expensive for employers and would backfire by costing jobs. Fueling their argument was a Wednesday morning Commerce Department report showing the economy grew at just a 0.1 percent rate in the first quarter.

The bill failed on a 54-42 test vote. It needed 60 to advance.

The bill by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, would gradually raise the $7.25 hourly minimum to $10.10 over 30 months and then provide automatic annual increases to account for inflation. Democrats argue that if fully phased in by 2016, it would push a family of three above the federal poverty line -- a level such earners have not surpassed since 1979.

Republicans, though, cited a February study by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that estimated the increase to $10.10 could have the effect of eliminating about 500,000 jobs — but also envisioned higher income for 16.5 million low-earning people.

"Washington Democrats' true focus these days seems to be making the far left happy, not helping the middle class," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

The debate was playing out half a year from this fall's elections, in which Democrats are struggling to retain their Senate majority and the economy remains a marquee issue.

President Obama has made boosting the minimum wage a top priority. Its rejection marks a defeat for him and the latest setback for a stream of Democratic bills that stress the campaign-season theme of economic fairness.

Obama blasted Republicans for the vote Wednesday afternoon.

"Workers who benefit from a minimum wage increase often work full time, often in physically demanding jobs. They average 35 years of age. Most low paying jobs are held by women. But because Republicans in Congress said no to even allowing a vote on the floor of the Senate, these folks are going to have to wait for the raise they deserve," he said, adding: "Change is happening whether Republicans in Congress like it or not."

Obama also praised lawmakers in Hawaii, who voted Tuesday to raise the state's minimum wage to $10.10 per hour over four years. Five other states have enacted increases so far this year, and 21 have minimums above $7.25.

"It's time for Republicans in Congress to listen to the majority of Americans who say it's time to give America a raise," Obama said in a written statement.

Supporters note that the federal minimum wage's buying power has fallen. It reached its peak value in 1968, when it was $1.60 hourly but was worth $10.86 in today's dollars.

The legislation was opposed by business groups including the National Council of Chain Restaurants and the International Franchise Association. The National Restaurant Association has hundreds of members at the Capitol this week lobbying lawmakers on several issues, including opposition to a higher minimum wage.

Also opposed were conservative organizations including Heritage Action and Americans for Prosperity, which is backed by Charles and David Koch. The billionaire brothers are spending millions this year to unseat congressional Democrats, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and his allies are casting them as unfettered villains.

Underscoring the political value they envisioned from the minimum wage fight, Harkin and other Democrats said earlier if the measure was defeated Wednesday, the Senate would vote on it again this year.

According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, about two-thirds of the 3.3 million people who earned $7.25 an hour or less last year worked in service jobs, mostly food preparation and serving. More than 6 in 10 of those making $7.25 or under were women, and about half were under age 25. Democrats hope their support for a minimum wage boost will draw voters from both groups — who usually lean Democratic — to the polls in November, when Senate control will be at stake. The GOP's hold on the House is not in doubt.

Harkin's bill would also gradually increase the minimum wage for tipped workers like waiters to 70 percent of the minimum for most other workers. It is currently $2.13 hourly, which can be paid as long as their hourly earnings with tips total at least $7.25.

The minimum wage was first enacted in 1938 and set at 25 cents.

Congress has passed nine laws slowly increasing it, including one each decade since the 1980s. The minimum has been $7.25 since 2009.

Source: FoxNews/Associated Press
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At least 6 Democrats voted against increasing the minimum wage, so Obama can whine all he wants, he can't even control his own party - they are in it solely for their re-election prospects, just like he was.


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There is no truer calling for mankind than that of true conservatism.

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: mpd] * 1
    #19922055 -

mpd said:
The bill failed on a 54-42 test vote. It needed 60 to advance...

At least 6 Democrats voted against increasing the minimum wage, so Obama can whine all he wants, he can't even control his own party - they are in it solely for their re-election prospects, just like he was.


There is a difference between not voting for cloture, and voting against a bill.

And there are only 53 Democrats in the Senate, and 2 independents who caucus with the dems. So if the bill received 54 votes for cloture, and if 6 dems didn't toe the party line... that must mean some republicans voted for it. Looks like Mitch McConnell is the one having trouble controlling his caucus.

WOW POLITICIANS ARE DOING THINGS THAT ARE POPULAR SO THAT PEOPLE WILL VOTE FOR THEM!!? OMG WHAT A SCANDAL!!!!

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: Dr. P. Silocybin]
    #19922068 -

but If you are interested in the actual facts...

Quote:
Voting yes were 51 Democrats, 1 Republican and 2 independents.

Voting no were 1 Democrat and 41 Republicans.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/senate-roll-call-minimum-wage/2014/04/30/8515a05c-d099-11e3-a714-be7e7f142085_story.html

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: Dr. P. Silocybin] * 1
    #19922073 -

I wonder how many of the senators voting against this bill have in the past voted to raise their own salary...

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: mpd] * 1
    #19922078 -

A good result.

There should be no minimum wage.


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You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for that my dear friend is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. ~ Adrian Rogers

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: Dr. P. Silocybin]
    #19922089 -

lol at Obama controlling the party. Obama isn't supposed to be telling the democrats how to vote; they are supposed to vote as their constituents would want. Too bad dems are corporate shills just like the repubs.


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Movie Thread - Reviews! Discussion! Fun!

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: luvdemshrooms]
    #19922093 -

:whatwhatwhat:


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Movie Thread - Reviews! Discussion! Fun!

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: luvdemshrooms] * 3
    #19922094 -

I say we do away with wages all together. Think about how many more job you could create if you didn't have to pay your workers.

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: luvdemshrooms]
    #19922099 -

luvdemshrooms said:
A good result.

There should be no minimum wage.


Agreed


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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: Gilgamesh18]
    #19922185 -

The minimum wage only serves as a floor for which services are bargained when an open economy where wages are determined by negotiation would find jobs going unfilled until market rate compensation was offered to virtually all participants as time goes on due to the pressures on the economy.


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There is no truer calling for mankind than that of true conservatism.

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: mpd]
    #19922207 -

9 reasons why raising the minimum wage is a bad idea!

1. It’s a big country. The costs of living, especially housing, vary widely in America from state to state and city to city. If the point of raising the minimum wage is to provide a “living wage,” why should the minimum wage in low-cost areas such as Texas or Oklahoma be the same as in high-cost areas such as San Francisco or Manhattan?

2. The states are already taking care of it. Twenty states and the District of Columbia already have minimum wages higher than the current federal minimum of $7.25 an hour.

3. Private industry and the free market are already taking care of it. Even low-skill, entry level positions in many areas already pay higher than minimum wage.

4. As an anti-poverty tool, it is a blunt instrument. A post by David Henderson cited by the chairman of the Harvard Economics Department, Greg Mankiw, points out that a lot of minimum wage earners are second or third-job holders in households with other income. That could include a teenage summer employee whose parents both have jobs. Other minimum wage workers may include retirees with income from savings and Social Security who own their homes mortgage-free.

5. It’s not clear that it’s constitutional. The Supreme Court, in its opinion in the 1923 case Adkins v. Children’s Hospital of District of Columbia, made a strong argument that a minimum wage was a violation of the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of contract embedded in the Fifth Amendment’s language about due process and the deprivation of liberty and property: “To the extent that the sum fixed exceeds the fair value of the services rendered, it amounts to a compulsory exaction from the employer for the support of a partially indigent person, for whose condition there rests upon him no peculiar responsibility, and therefore, in effect, arbitrarily shifts to his shoulders a burden which, if it belongs to anybody, belongs to society as a whole.” The Court later, in the 1937 case West Coast Hotel v. Parrish, reversed Adkins by a five to four margin. But maybe the court was right the first time around.

6. Even if the freedom of contract isn’t protected by the Constitution, it’s a natural right that should not be infringed. As President Kennedy put it in his inaugural address, “the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.” If two free people want to enter into a voluntary, consensual agreement that doesn’t infringe on anyone else’s rights, why should the government stop them? If someone wants to work for $5 an hour, and someone wants to hire that person for that much, and no one is forcing either one of them to enter into the agreement, by what authority does government step in and stop them?

7. It would eliminate jobs. Ordering businesses to pay entry-level workers more will make them hire fewer of them, and consider replacing more workers with robots or computers. That’s good if you are in the robot or computer business, but not so good if you are trying to combat unemployment. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that President Obama’s proposed $10.10 wage, once fully implemented, “would reduce total employment by about 500,000 workers.”

8. It would reduce the incentive for low-wage workers to get an education and move up to a higher-paying job. The lower the minimum wage, the more eager a minimum wage worker would be to enroll in a community college course at night, improve his or her skills, and apply for a higher-paying job. Making the entry-level jobs higher paying increases the risk that workers will get stuck in them for longer instead of moving on to something more rewarding.

9. It’s a sneaky way to increase welfare spending and raise taxes. Raising taxes to spend more on welfare is a political loser. But raising the minimum wage puts money in the pockets of working poor people, at the expense of business owners (and of consumers who would pay in the form of higher prices). If politicians want to increase the earned income tax credit or other work-related welfare benefits, they should do the hard work of building political support for such policies, rather than choosing the roundabout approach of a minimum wage increase.


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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: mpd]
    #19922248 -

I think its bad because its environmentally unsustainable.  A minimum wage worker in the US already consumes far more resources than the earth can support per capita.  If raising the minimum wage allows them to consume even more (which is what its supposed to do) then that is bad for sustainability, the environment and the future.

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: Gilgamesh18]
    #19922444 -

Gilgamesh18 said:
9 reasons why raising the minimum wage is a bad idea!

1. It’s a big country. The costs of living, especially housing, vary widely in America from state to state and city to city. If the point of raising the minimum wage is to provide a “living wage,” why should the minimum wage in low-cost areas such as Texas or Oklahoma be the same as in high-cost areas such as San Francisco or Manhattan?


I agree New York City should have a higher minimum wage than Oklahoma. Once the federal minimum is set at $10/hr NYC can raise theirs to $12 or $15.

Quote:
2. The states are already taking care of it. Twenty states and the District of Columbia already have minimum wages higher than the current federal minimum of $7.25 an hour.


Democratically controlled states are taking care of it. Most of the poorest states are controlled by republicans and they aren't doing a damn thing.

Quote:
3. Private industry and the free market are already taking care of it. Even low-skill, entry level positions in many areas already pay higher than minimum wage.


and in many areas they are not. people who work full time should not have to rely on government welfare to feed their children.

Quote:
4. As an anti-poverty tool, it is a blunt instrument. A post by David Henderson cited by the chairman of the Harvard Economics Department, Greg Mankiw, points out that a lot of minimum wage earners are second or third-job holders in households with other income. That could include a teenage summer employee whose parents both have jobs. Other minimum wage workers may inclu de retirees with income from savings and Social Security who own their homes mortgage-free.


And other people working minimum wage jobs have no other means of income, and are therefore forced to rely on government welfare to feed their families. Taxpayers shouldn't have to subsidize a business's labor expenses which is what we are doing when businesses don't pay their workers a living wage. And who cares if a minimum wage worker has savings or other means of income, they still deserve fair pay, and $7.25/hr is not fair pay.

Quote:
5. It’s not clear that it’s constitutional. The Supreme Court, in its opinion in the 1923 case Adkins v. Children’s Hospital of District of Columbia, made a strong argument that a minimum wage was a violation of the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of contract embedded in the Fifth Amendment’s language about due process and the deprivation of liberty and property: “To the extent that the sum fixed exceeds the fair value of the services rendered, it amounts to a compulsory exaction from the employer for the support of a partially indigent person, for whose condition there rests upon him no peculiar responsibility, and therefore, in effect, arbitrarily shifts to his shoulders a burden which, if it belongs to anybody, belongs to society as a whole.” The Court later, in the 1937 case West Coast Hotel v. Parrish, reversed Adkins by a five to four margin. But maybe the court was right the first time around.


Do you not think that precedent has been challenged since 1937? Of course it has, and it has withstood those challenges. 

Quote:
6. Even if the freedom of contract isn’t protected by the Constitution, it’s a natural right that should not be infringed. As President Kennedy put it in his inaugural address, “the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.” If two free people want to enter into a voluntary, consensual agreement that doesn’t infringe on anyone else’s rights, why should the government stop them? If someone wants to work for $5 an hour, and someone wants to hire that person for that much, and no one is forcing either one of them to enter into the agreement, by what authority does government step in and stop them?


What if I want to hire an 8 year old child to work in my textile factory? If the kid agrees then why should the government stop us? So he might have to drop out of school, and might lose a few fingers in the machine, at which point I'll fire him. He'll become a beggar with no education and only 7 fingers, but that's just pure capitalism, laissez faire baby.

The "freedom to treat my workers any way I want" is not a natural right. No one wants to work for $5 an hour. People would only do that if they had no other choice. And guess who makes up the difference between that $5/hr wage and the cost of living.. that's right! The taxpayer.

Quote:
7. It would eliminate jobs. Ordering businesses to pay entry-level workers more will make them hire fewer of them, and consider replacing more workers with robots or computers. That’s good if you are in the robot or computer business, but not so good if you are trying to combat unemployment. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that President Obama’s proposed $10.10 wage, once fully implemented, “would reduce total employment by about 500,000 workers.”


If you are going to put something in quotes you should make sure it's an accurate quotation. That CBO report actually said the it Could cost us between 0 and 500,000 jobs.

Quote:
8. It would reduce the incentive for low-wage workers to get an education and move up to a higher-paying job. The lower the minimum wage, the more eager a minimum wage worker would be to enroll in a community college course at night, improve his or her skills, and apply for a higher-paying job. Making the entry-level jobs higher paying increases the risk that workers will get stuck in them for longer instead of moving on to something more rewarding.


how can someone pay for community college on a minimum wage salary? They cant. If they made a living wage they would be far more able to make investments in themselves. And raising the minimum wage would have a ripple affect of raising other wages too, Incentive to move up would still exist. The only difference is that more people would have the ability to act on that incentive.

Quote:
9. It’s a sneaky way to increase welfare spending and raise taxes. Raising taxes to spend more on welfare is a political loser. But raising the minimum wage puts money in the pockets of working poor people, at the expense of business owners (and of consumers who would pay in the form of higher prices). If politicians want to increase the earned income tax credit or other work-related welfare benefits, they should do the hard work of building political support for such policies, rather than choosing the roundabout approach of a minimum wage increase.


Raising the minimum wage would decrease welfare spending because hard working Americans with full time jobs would no longer have to rely on welfare to feed their families. They would be able to afford groceries from their wages alone. And yes it would increase tax revenue, but not rates, so no it's not a tax increase.

Edited by Dr. P. Silocybin (04/30/14 03:48 PM)

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: mpd]
    #19922563 -

Great. Instead of raising the minimum wage we should reduce taxes, get rid of all the ridiculous regulations so jobs aren't shipped overseas, and most importantly end the federal reserve system which is devaluing the dollar, indirectly taxing the people and transferring the purchasing power to the banks/government/wall street. I hear too many people complain about the minimum wage without understanding how the middle class is being raped financially,

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: Aedan]
    #19922617 -

How ya gonna pay for those tax cuts?

The only regulations that cause jobs to go overseas are the ones that don't allow sweat shops, child labor, and general exploitation of the workforce. Are sweatshop jobs the kind of jobs we really want to be creating.

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: Dr. P. Silocybin]
    #19922648 -

Cut spending. Plus the economy grows when people get to keep their money.

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: Aedan]
    #19922678 -

Aedan said:
Cut spending.


:orly: what spending?


Quote:
Plus the economy grows when people get to keep their money.


The economy grows when we make investments into it. The bank accounts of billionaires grow when they get to keep more of their profits.

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: Dr. P. Silocybin]
    #19922714 -

Like drone striking people overseas with 97% "collateral damage". Or tsa groping children at the airports. Or the massive nsa spy centers. Or the hundreds of millions pumped into no bid contracts to build a fuckin healthcare website that doesn't work. On and on. Unless you think the government is all good and loving and spends our money efficiently.

We need a flat tax. Everyone should have their taxes cut and pay the same rate.

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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: Aedan]
    #19922721 -

Aedan said:
Like drone striking people overseas with 97% "collateral damage". Or tsa groping children at the airports. Or the massive nsa spy centers. Or the hundreds of millions pumped into no bid contracts to build a fuckin healthcare website that doesn't work. On and on. Unless you think the government is all good and loving and spends our money efficiently.

We need a flat tax. Everyone should have their taxes cut and pay the same rate.


:thumbup:


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Re: Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Block Minimum Wage Hike [Re: Dr. P. Silocybin]
    #19922723 -

Dr. P. Silocybin said:
Aedan said:
Cut spending.


:orly: what spending?


Quote:
Plus the economy grows when people get to keep their money.


The economy grows when we make investments into it. The bank accounts of billionaires grow when they get to keep more of their profits.


What spending lol there are sooo many cuts we could make


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