2008 Woodie Awards
Increase in Federal Minimum Wage is Long Overdue
Jack Z. Smith, Knight Ridder
Issue date: 3/16/05 Section: Opinion
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A member of Congress making $162,100 a year probably has little comprehension of how difficult it would be to live on less than one-15th of that amount.
That cognition chasm appears to be especially wide and deep for many Republican members of Congress.
Last week, the U.S. Senate voted 49-46 against a proposal by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to boost the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour- a $2.10 increase.
Kennedy had proposed the long-overdue pay hike- which would have come in three stages over two years- as an amendment to a bankruptcy reform bill. But it was strongly opposed by Republicans in what was predominantly a party-line vote.
A minimum-wage earner working 40 hours a week has an annual gross income of $10,712. That's less than one-15th of the salary of members of Congress, who also enjoy ample benefits and perks not available to most low-wage workers.
Thanks to callous and indifferent Republicans, the minimum wage hasn't been increased since 1997. Since that time, members of Congress have received seven pay raises totaling $28,500, an increase easily exceeding the total annual pay of two minimum-wage workers, notes Holly Sklar, co-author of "Raise The Floor: Wages and Policies That Work For All Of Us."
That's shameful.
Congress should approve a sizable increase in the minimum wage to help low-income workers and their families. Many are desperately struggling to cope with sharply rising housing, health care and energy costs.
A higher wage floor would not only help those making $5.15 an hour but also put upward pressure on the wages of millions of other working-class persons making $1 to $3 more than the current minimum.
When adjusted for inflation, the purchasing power of the minimum wage has sharply eroded since it stood at $1.60 in the late 1960s. Today's minimum wage would have to be raised to $8.70 to provide the same purchasing power as the $1.60 wage floor of nearly four decades ago, according to Kennedy.
That cognition chasm appears to be especially wide and deep for many Republican members of Congress.
Last week, the U.S. Senate voted 49-46 against a proposal by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to boost the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour- a $2.10 increase.
Kennedy had proposed the long-overdue pay hike- which would have come in three stages over two years- as an amendment to a bankruptcy reform bill. But it was strongly opposed by Republicans in what was predominantly a party-line vote.
A minimum-wage earner working 40 hours a week has an annual gross income of $10,712. That's less than one-15th of the salary of members of Congress, who also enjoy ample benefits and perks not available to most low-wage workers.
Thanks to callous and indifferent Republicans, the minimum wage hasn't been increased since 1997. Since that time, members of Congress have received seven pay raises totaling $28,500, an increase easily exceeding the total annual pay of two minimum-wage workers, notes Holly Sklar, co-author of "Raise The Floor: Wages and Policies That Work For All Of Us."
That's shameful.
Congress should approve a sizable increase in the minimum wage to help low-income workers and their families. Many are desperately struggling to cope with sharply rising housing, health care and energy costs.
A higher wage floor would not only help those making $5.15 an hour but also put upward pressure on the wages of millions of other working-class persons making $1 to $3 more than the current minimum.
When adjusted for inflation, the purchasing power of the minimum wage has sharply eroded since it stood at $1.60 in the late 1960s. Today's minimum wage would have to be raised to $8.70 to provide the same purchasing power as the $1.60 wage floor of nearly four decades ago, according to Kennedy.