Boosting the Minimum

SUMMARY





Recently, the minimum wage any worker can recieve has been raised to $7.25 an hour from the previous $5.15 and hour which Congress passed in 2007. The minimum wage increase was included in a large Iraq spending bill which also included $4.8 billion dollars in tax cuts for small businesses. Those who support the increase in minimum wage argue that any person living on minimum wage should not be below the poverty line so the increase will help all who struggle with poverty who live on minimum wage salaries. Supporters also argue that since people have more money to spend, it will cause an economic boost which will outweigh the negative effects of the wage increase which include higher material costs to cover the higher salary those companies will be paying their workers. Finally, they make the point that although they support the wage increase, they don't necissarily support the tax cuts for businesses because they claim that these same businesses have already recieve an abundance of tax breaks. Opponents of the minimum wage increase also have many strong points in their argument. They say that minimum wage only affects a small percentage of the workforce because they majority of people working at minimum wage are teenagers who aren't fully supporting themselves. Opponents, contradictory to supporters, believe that instead of an economic boost, a slump will occur from the loss of jobs and raised prices from businesses who don't have enough money to pay their workers the increased wage. They also think that the laws of supply and demand should govern the minimum wage and suggest that a better way to reduce the number of people in poverty is to increase the EITC program which rewards people with jobs who recieve low income but also doesn't interfere with America's market-based economy which jobs keep rolling strong.





OPINION





Personally, I am a full supporter of minimum wage, and the tax cuts for small businesses. Last Spring, Summer, and Fall, I worked at Dairy Queen North. This is considered a small business and this one store was all the owners had. If they hadn't recieved tax breaks, I don't think they would have been able to keep all of the employees that they have right now while paying us on the increased minimum wage. I think that this is a similar situation for all small business owners. The reason why i support the minimum wage increase is because, even though we are teenagers, working long hours and recieving low pay doesn't even meet our demands of gas and other things (assuming that we don't work full time.) Onlookers also have to realize that although we are still technically "supported" by our parents, that doesn't mean that they provide more than a shelter for us. Many teenagers in America have to pay for much more, especially if they are living in a povertized home. As frustrating as it is to see people drop out of school, have kids when they aren't married, and fall below the poverty line, it happens every day in our society. People's choices affect all of us which is now apparent in this sliding economy. Someone chose not to go to college, they find a minimum wage job because they have few learned skills, fall below the poverty line, apply for medicare, welfare and food stamps, and drag our economy into a lower slump. Likewise, it works the opposite way as well. I think that a minimum wage increase will benefit these people working full time at minimum wage, and will therefore benefit the rest of the economy as well. Another person who supports the minimum wage increase is: George W. Bush.

Joe Wymore did his blog on "All Things Being Unequal" and Issue # 3: