Democrats Ramp Up For Minimum Wage Push

(CBS/AP)  Democrats are readying a maximum effort to raise the minimum wage.

Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts said Thursday that increasing the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 would be his top priority as chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

On the House side, incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., already has listed an increase in the minimum wage as one of the issues that would be taken up during the first 100 hours of the next Congress.

"Americans are working harder than ever, but millions of hardworking men and women across the country aren't getting their fair share," Kennedy said during a speech outlining his legislative agenda for next year. "We're not rewarding work fairly anymore, and working families are falling behind."

Ross Eisenbrey of the Economic Policy Institute says there's a good chance the increase will pass soon.

"I think that we will see a minimum wage increase within the next six or eight months," he told CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers.

President Bush signaled readiness last week to consider some Democratic priorities such as a minimum-wage increase, overhauling immigration policy and finding compromise on renewing the No Child Left Behind education law.

Critics of boosting the minimum wage say it kills job creation as employers hire fewer entry-level workers to compensate for the higher wage expenses.

Pizza parlor owner Dan Costello says it's not just the lowest paid workers who would get a pay increase if the minimum wage were raised, reports Bowers. "The ones that are making $8, $8.50, $9, what are their expectations?" he says.

But Kennedy said the minimum wage has remained at $5.15 an hour for nearly 10 years. Under Kennedy's proposal, the increase would occur over about a two-year period.

Most states have their own minimum wage laws, with some states having rates the same as the federal minimum wage and some with rates higher than the federal minimum.

Suzanne Cervantes, an employee at Costello's pizza parlor, makes the Illinois minimum wage of $6.50 an hour, but, newly widowed, she still struggles, reports Bowers.

"It's hard, because it only goes so far," Cervantes says.

Kennedy noted that ballot initiatives establishing or raising the minimum wage in six states all passed in this month's election.

"If there is one message from this election that emerged loud and clear, it's that no one who works for a living should have to live in poverty," Kennedy said.

Kennedy also said he would seek to expand federal support for research on stem cells coming from embryos, which Congress approved last year, but Bush vetoed. The issue won't go away, he promised.

On education, Kennedy said he would seek to make college more affordable by increasing the size of Pell Grants from $4,050 to $5,100, and by cutting interest rates on student loans.

He said that the student loan business has become too profitable for the banking industry. "It's time to take the moneychangers out of the temple on student loans," he said.

On health care, Kennedy said the Senate's HELP committee would expand a health insurance program that now provides health coverage for about 4 million children. He also would look for ways to expand coverage to other populations too, he said, but he did not provide specifics, such as how to pay for that coverage.

Some of the programs that Kennedy cited as priorities, such as lowering classroom sizes, expanding job training, and increasing financial aide for students, would require more money. He said that some of the money can be found just by adjusting priorities.

"There's a lot of money rattling around out there. The question is, who's going to get it," Kennedy told reporters.

Kennedy said that raising taxes on the poor and middle class "are all off the table for me," but he said he would look at raising what he referred to as the millionaires' tax.

[olebd]

My sister is a single mom with one dependent and BARELY makes it on $10 per hour plus a little child support.

I think of my parents generation as being the lucky ones. My dad worked hard long hours in a glass factory but had health and dental family plans for next to nothing, a free pension plan with survivor benfits, a company car and every year he would get a Christmas bonus of between $2 and 3 thousand. He retired comfortably in the mid 80's and his top salary was $55k.

The ratio between income and real estate prices was a lot less in his day. Same with tax rates (federal, local and state)

Today, we have higher everything, and although some technology is not a necessity, think of how much we pay for TV service, cell phones, internet service, etc. Higher gas, natural gas, taxes the list goes on and on.

I feel sorry for the future generations. Somebody has to pay off the fed's debt.

[ronniejw-2009]

I think it would be best if the minimum wage was increased every year to match the increase in the cost of living. Why do we need to wait 10 years?

I wonder how business owners would feel if price increases were frozen for the next 10 years while employee wages continued to increase.

[pakaal]

OlGreyGhost, I think there's a difference between "Land of Opportunity" and "Land of Opportunism".

Sure, things are great for those at the top, and they deserve more salary. In 1940, CEOs made about 12 times that of their average workers. OK, let's imagine that they got that because they worked 12 times as hard - that's almost believable. Currently, CEOs make an average of 180 times as much as their average workers. At the same time, real wages (buying power) have dropped something like 15% for the average worker. Are CEOs working 180 times as hard as the average worker (who now work 160 hours more than they did in 1988)?

[bellal-2009]

tru_America, you are consumed with hate. You do realize that it's the rich people that are taking risks and starting businesses that eventually provide jobs for people. Do you want to "eat" bill gates?

[bellal-2009]

Huskerarmy, having a low minimum wage helps people that would normally not have a job at all. People want to work. They want to be self sufficient. There are many people for many different reasons that may not be able to land a high paying job. Give them a chance to workl

[olgreyghost]

I feel really secure now in this country reading how many people who consider the straits of their lives that they got themselves into as justification to steal from me and others. What next, outlaw my firearms so I can't protect myself and my family from this band of thieves, burglars, and robbers?

What my employer and I decide and what my employees and I decide to be the wages that I am paid and that I pay are our business and no others. This country was formed on the concept of liberty and freedom from government interference in our lives beyond stopping us from causing direct harm to others but some people find no problem in the socialist policy of the government setting prices for commodities and labor is a commodity.

One person suggested that the minimum wage should be $10.00 per hour. Hey, why stop there? Let's push for $100 per hour! Then the damage to our collective economy will be so great and dramatic that it will be obvious to a blind man.

"Ubi Libertas habitat ibi nostra Patria est."

[newsjeff-2009]

Just as an aside comment: We could have had minimum wage at $7.25 per hour already passed if the GOP controlled senate and house would have acted reasonable and passed it back in July. I had a person post an angry comment to me on this network a month ago, complaining that it was Democrats in the congress and senate who prevented the minimum wage increase from passing. I guess I wasn't the only voter who wasn't impressed with the GOP controlled senate and congress's so called attempts to raise the minimum wage. A saying I have made up is: "Maybe the GOP party has lost its Talent,Burns got Burned,America wanted to quit beating around the Bush, about Iraq and this country's future, and maybe the GOP party could have used an Allen wrench on their mouths to control their comments".

[pendragon679]

This'll be controversial, but...
The minimum wage law is archaic, and needs to be scrapped completely. For most of the past 26 years (since the first Reagan admin.) it's been used as a bludgeon by big business to keep labor costs down while increasing profits. Instead of a federally-mandated minimum wage, let's insist that every state set a LIVING wage at the county level, based on the actual cost of living within that county, and tied to the Consumer Price Index (like Social Security). This will ensure an across-the-board pay raise for everyone once a year. If you MUST set a minimum wage, do so for workers aged 16-21 who live at home and have minimal expenses. In tandem with this, set a federally-mandated MAXIMUM wage as a percentage of corporate sales/revenue.

[observantx]

In the period after WWII, until about the mid to late 60%u2019s, most American families had one wage earner who could afford a house, a car, pay the bills, actually save money and help their kids go to college. Let%u2019s fast forward to now. We have Mom and Dad both working fulltime jobs and very often a part time job besides. The credit cards are on the verge of melting and saving for retirement is a pipe dream. The cost of food, shelter and clothing and gas and medical care keep going up. Wages have not for a long time. The only people making money are the fat cat CEOs who make 600 times the money their employees take home. They even get obscene bonuses when they ride their companies into the ground and get booted out.

This is what is going on for college educated people with decent jobs. Now imagine what it is like for those on minimum wage. Why they are on minimum wage is not the point. Life happens to people and they are doing what they can. They don%u2019t need anyone kicking them in the head while they are trying to climb the ladder. What they need is more green in their pockets at the end of the week. We need to roll back the high bracket tax cuts and raise the minimum wage. This is not socialism, it just being fair. Any man or woman who shows up everyday and works their tails off all week long should not live in poverty and have to decide to either pay for heat or food but not both.

[huskerarmy]

"Sunshine, I know you think you're saving the world... and good luck on that. If you think this is going to do it well, sure, whatever makes you feel good."

You know we've endured this attitude since the "me generation," 80's. Forget JFK. Social responsibility is too much trouble. In deed, the measure of life should be about collecting material wealth. Greed, is good. The saving grace is the pocket assertion that, as we cater to narcissism and the wealthy class, crumbs will fall off the table or "trickle down" to the minions below. And, as if this shallow pursuit of one's own interests were not enough, let's ridicule those who give a bee's behind for not falling in line... call them communists or simply naive, but absolutely question their patriotism.

Well, greed, self interest and denial has brought us to this place. Are we better than we were in the decades following FDR? ... four decades that saw the greatest expansion of the middle class in American history? It has now become an undeniable reality... the middle class is crumbling. Is more greed and catering to the top of the economic pyramid really what's called for? Even if we are at the end of days and, as some on the right suggest, it's all part of God's plan, do we want to go down without a fight? Maybe we should try... Would a little social responsibility and global citizenship really hurt any more than the "greed is good" paradign already has?