Democrats press higher minimum wage in ads

[UpInArms]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=684&e=8&u=/ap/20060715/ap_on_el_ho/democrats_ads

WASHINGTON - Democrats will spend $400,000 on radio ads that begin airing Monday in seven congressional districts, calling attention to GOP opposition to a higher minimum wage.

The ads are part of Democrats' strategy to make that issue a centerpiece of this year's congressional campaigns. Democrats have focused on areas hard hit economically, contrasting nine years of inaction on the minimum wage with $31,000 in congressional pay raises over the same period.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said the ads would run in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Mexico and Virginia, in the districts of vulnerable Republican incumbents.

A version of the ad, targeting Rep. John Hostettler (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., was on display on the committee's Web site. Against a background of game show music, an announcer exclaims: "Let's play, 'Who deserves a pay raise!'"

The Hostettler ad replaced a campaign video that depicted images of war and of flag-draped coffins. Republicans had objected to that video as an insult to soldiers' families and at least two House Democrats urged the committee to take down the ad.

...more...

[LeftCoast]

1. Sure, until the Republicans scream it's offensive. Then it's gone.

*poof*

[VegasWolf]

3. ROFL!!! Those DLC'ers are always good for a laugh! Bush enablers.nt

[ryanmuegge]

16. Yes, this will provoke a response from the class warrior Corpublican Party

Continuing and exacerbating economic inequality (in the direction of uppward redistribution) is the core of their platform, as we all know; their baseline policy.

[grannylib]

2. While I am really sorry that the 'coffin' ad was dropped, I am glad to see

that they will be making living wages an issue...and it is, of course, a MORAL issue.

I do wish they had stood up and said, "Hell no, we are not pulling this ad; it's true, it needs to be seen, and we will never apologize nor back down from telling the truth about the death-dealing unelected mis-administration with which this nation has been burdened."

[Control-Z]

5. They caved?

I hadn't heard. Damn.

[Danieljay]

15. of course they did. New Book idea for Hillary: "It takes a spine". n/t

[Amonester]

4. K & R

. It's long overdue.

[oasis]

6. k&r

[Cobalt-60]

7. I love that squeal

In a fight the squeal of pain from your enemy is not the signal to back off.
It's the call to POUR IT ON!.
So they don't like images of their handiwork?
Then let's write them across the sky!
Who gives a sh*t what these dirtbags say, anyway?

[oasis]

13. Well said, and Welcome to DU, Cobalt-60

:hi:

[eggbeater]

8. Raising min wage is one answer

but in the majority of cases raising min wage will only bring up the workers that are just starting out, or are working part time, students, kids etc...

what if instead of raising minimum wage for the lower level earners, or cutting taxes for the higher earners, equal energy was applied to lower the cost of living?

home prices, fuel, food, etc...

by raising the minimum wage those on the lower end of the scale might have an extra dollar or two to spend and I'm sure that every dollar counts, but if the cost of living were lowered, their current pay would go maybe further, and maybe home ownership could be in their future.

when you go into a store and buy a 3.29 gallon of milk, or you go to the pump and pay 3.00 + for a gallon of gas, or you look at that starter house thats only 299,000, something is wrong, something is very wrong.

I have never been one to request that the government regulates every inch of our lives, and I don't think they should be involved in the minimum wage price, If company A pays 10 and hour to start, and company B pays 3 and hour to start at the same job, how long will it be before company A finds that they have acquired the best individuals to fill their positions while company B discovers that their employees have a hard time doing the work, or even showing up. To compete, company B will have no choice but to become competitive with company A for the employees, and I think that the wages will increase. As long as we have a set minimum, company A and B can both set their wages at the lowest and the worker has no option.

Fuel and home prices can be controlled by government.
If fuel is less, the cost to produce and transport goods will also be less, the price of the items in question will drop accordingly.
Bring interest rates down on property loans only, let the rest of the loans do what they need to do to inflate their value.
when the loans become cheaper more people will be qualified to purchase and the market being flooded with first time buyers will force the price of the homes back to a realist amount.

How can this be done?
Well, as long as we have the "war" president sitting on his ass in office doing nothing, it cant be.
But with proper leadership that will gracefully pull our presence from the middle east, shore up our boarders, try to make piece with the rest of the world these things can and will be accomplished.

now there are people out there that will claim that the moment we turn our backs on the middle east we can expect another terrorist attack in this country, but I ask you, In the interest of the country economy would it cost less to continue bombing and replacing damaged equipment in our current situation, or would it cost less to take those troops and utilize them for the purpose that they were meant for in the first place, Our boarders, we have enough technology to watch and stop attacks on this country before the become reality.

sorry for being so long winded but In short here is what I said.

Dump the bush
bring back the troops
Secure the borders
leave min wage where it is BUT
reduce the cost of living.

Reduce the cost of properties and not only will the first time home owner be able to purchase, but business will also be enticed to expand due to the lower cost of doing so.

The min wage is the wrong answer to the problem.

[Toots]

9. You can't reduce the price of things or the wealthy will suffer

Can't have that now can we? How will we get trickled on?

[eggbeater]

11. If you reduce the price of things

The wealthy will gain just as much as everyone else.
it will cost less to fuel up the super yacht, it will cost less to power their home built for a family of 1000, it will cost less to have the Im the richest man in the world parties, airfair will be lower allowing them to spend less on their much needed vacation in some far away remote villa built to keep out the scum (that would be us)

the rich wont fight over lowering the cost of living, but they will fight over raising the min wage, because that hurts them in the pocket.
changing tax codes for the lower income can not make a big enough difference to allow for a better life.

again
dump the bush ( they say that most landscape jobs are only good for 7 years anyway, so its time to rescape the white house)

make interest rates for homes more affordable.

stop trying to police the world and sending our dollars out of the country (use some of the savings to ensure that every American has food, clothing and medical)I could never understand how I can read on one page of the paper about our contributions to other countries, and on another page read about the hungry and homeless right in our own towns.

close the borders to all but those that choose the apply for entry.

I say we go back to the way the country was run in the 50s but this time we include everyone here instead of only those that burn on the beach.

[Bretttido]

17. Raising the minimum wage will inherently raise the wage of low-income jobs

Many of the lower-income jobs are currently only a dollar or two above the minimum wage. These fields obviously have varying experience levels and desirabilities. When the minimum wage is increased, their wages will rise to a proportionally similar level that is remains a dollar or two above the minimum wage. The reason for this rise is simple, competition with the new minimum wage.

[eggbeater]

26. When will the raising stop?

At what level of our social ladder will the income not become greater due to the need to keep up with minimum wage?
And where is the money going to come from for the companies to give all these raises?
If the company has to raise the pay across the board, I imagine that the cost of goods will rise to cover that pay increase.
If the cost of goods rise to cover it, does the increase in the payscale really do what it was meant to do, or does it further our inflation rate.

Again I say, we bring down the cost of living while leaving the pay alone.
this can be done by lowering the interest rates on home loans, business loans etc...

raising the pay will not bring people out of poverty. Never has in the past, and it wont work now or in the future

[Bretttido]

27. The benefit is proportional to how low an income is

"At what level of the social ladder will the income not become greater due to the need to keep up with minimum wage?" There is no magic number, the benefit is proportional to how low an income is. The effects are obviously seen the most at wages that are exactly the minimum wage. The affects become less noticeable as you follow the economic ladder up. Perhaps a worker that was making $12.00 / hr will only see a change to $12.25 an hour. Of course, these changes are fluid and do not occur instantaneously. For people making 50k+ a year, they will most likely experience no noticeable change.

If a business cannot afford to pay its workers a living wage AND stay in business, then they have no business being in business.

[eggbeater]

28. 50k a year is not alot of money

To some I would assume that 50k would be like being rich, but to others, it does not allow for living the life of a king.
I wont go into details but, My home income is just a tiny bit over that 50k mark. Actually, it is quite a bit over it.
Yet, I do not live like a king, I still have to budget to make a purchase, I have to watch the money I spend. I do not live in one of those new McMansions that are being built all over the place and I dont drive new cars.

Dont get me wrong, Minimum wage has to be higher than it is. I dont even see how a high school kid living at home with mom and dad can afford to put gas in the car, let alone make the car and insurance payments on the slave wages that currently exist.

All I am saying is that if the employer is forced to pay more, he will then be forced to charge more for whatever product or service he provides. With higher prices, even my income will be affected by the cost. It could be devistating to someone in the 50k range.

I own a business, I have those that produce a labor for me. My Minimum wage that I will pay anyone to work is 11.00 and hour. I wont pay less than that, I can not afford to pay much more than that for starting pay without raising my prices to cover it.
Those companies that pay less right now, charge less and make more on their bottom line than I do, to raise the minimum wage would only force me to pay even more to keep the wage difference where it is.

I pay more than others becuase I want to be known as the best at what we do. Paying higher wages brings the best employees to me from the other companies. when those companies figure this out, I might as well find another means of income.

[Bretttido]

29. If only businesses had a conscience

I pay more than others because I want to be known as the best at what we do. Paying higher wages brings the best employees to me from the other companies. when those companies figure this out, I might as well find another means of income.

That is a noble idea, however businesses will never follow that trend. Cheap labor is the best labor for them; which, unfortunately, is why our jeans are made by children in foreign countries.

[sueragingroz]

10. Check out this article in TIME Magazine...

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1211589,00.html

[The Wizard]

12. Keep it simple

It needs to be framed as cheap labor Republicans succeed when working people have less money.
And we thought the feudal system was in History's dust bin.

[Danieljay]

14. Right idea...wrong message and audience. Min. wage earners rarely vote..

Sure, raise the minimum wage. But using this as a campaign issue is barking up the wrong tree, again. Don't these people get it?

[stevedeshazer]

18. Correct, Sir

Minimum wage workers who vote represent a tiny slice of voters.

This issue won't resonate with middle class voters.

[brentspeak]

24. If the Democrats want to win the middle class votes

they're going to have to advocate for fair trade agreements, as well as scrapping the so-called "free trade" agreements. There're still a lot of fair trade Democrats in Congress, but the influence of a few DLC/neoliberal types seems to trump them.

[OneMultnomahDem]

19. This is a good idea

[MoseyWalker]

20. The minimum wage

should always have been tied to the inflation rate, just as, supposedly, the social security increases have been.

The fact that a minimum wage exists today is itself a joke. The minimum.

Anyone earning 5.15 per hour today would need to work 72 hours per week to make ends meet.

And the bastards make damn sure they vote themselves a pay raise at the same time. Can you say "hypocrisy"?

[PegDAC]

21. If the minimum wage

had increased at the same rate as CEO pay since 1997, it would now be $23.42.

[Judi Lynn]

22. Democrats hope minimum wage push pays off

Democrats hope minimum wage push pays off
Edward Epstein, Chronicle Washington Bureau

Monday, July 17, 2006

(07-17) 04:00 PDT Washington -- House Democrats' election-year persistence in trying to force a vote on raising the federal minimum wage for the first time in almost a decade looks as if it could bear fruit.

The Democrats have seized on the issue, which polls show is overwhelmingly popular with voters, as a building block in their effort to retake both houses of Congress in November. Their effort in Washington is moving forward as organizers in several states push ballot initiatives for the fall election to adopt or increase state minimum wages, measures that the Democrats hope could boost turnout of voters likely to lean their way.

In California, one of 21 states with minimum wages above the federal level, the Legislature is considering bills that would raise the state minimum from $6.75 to $7.75.

Republican leaders in both houses of Congress oppose an increase, saying that mandating a higher minimum wage would hurt low-wage workers by destroying their jobs. They also say the Democrats are engaged in a cynical election-year ploy
(snip/...)

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/17/WAGES.TMP

[DRoseDARs]

23. Republican leaders: Democrats are engaged in a cynical election-year ploy.

I think the irony of that statement just gave me cancer.

[mkb]

25. Standards Tumble, Giving Over Financial Fraud

I hope as many people as possible realize the importance of raising the minimum wage is. This is the bedrock of support that keeps the economic status for everyone that isn't privileged or rich at a tolerable level. Solidarity is important here.
I don't recognize as valid the arguments that say raising the minimum wage will cost jobs. You must think about it relatively. The employer DOES NOT have to raise prices if he increases wages. He can simply take less of a share of the income for himself and management. The upper echelons of society have been increasing their share of the pie for a long period. Since the work that people do stays the same to a large degree, we need to respect and reward sufficiently those who are helping business succeed.