Should House Democrats introduce legislation to index the minimum wage to inflation?

[Clarkie1]

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Index To the Average Top 1% of Incomes

That will help to keep income distribution less fucked up.

[Clarkie1]

2. That's an intriguing idea...good thinking! nt

[Joe Bacon]

3. This is what I have been advocating for years.

It makes no sense NOT to give the same COLA increases to working folks making the minimum wage that we give retired people on Social Security! It's only fair!

[Darkhawk32]

4. A similar bill just passed in Missouri by a 75-25 margin. n/t

[Clarkie1]

5. Please keep voting...I will send the results to my representative and Pelosi. nt

[Trajan]

6. In all honesty ...

Your poll choices are quite limited .... they present a false choice .... but nevertheless, I agree with the premise ...

[Clarkie1]

8. Well, it's my poll!

So there!

:P

[OzarkDem]

7. My concern

it could lead to spiraling inflation, with higher wages leading to higher costs, and more inflation.

[Clarkie1]

10. That's an argument against the minimum wage.

I don't agree with it. A fair wage is a fair wage. Your argument implies that we should keep lowering the real minimum wage (using inflation-adjusted dollars). Do you believe we should keep lowering the minimum wage?

[OzarkDem]

11. No

What I'm saying is that any formula that automatically increases wages with inflation, regardless of what is causing inflation, may end up making the situation worse.

Wages do need to keep pace with inflation, but to make such increases immediate and automatic may not help the situation. It makes it more difficult to use other tools to control inflation.

What happens when inflation is due to energy prices? What happens when those prices decline and inflation drops? Does that mean everyone gets a cut in pay? No, the labor cost is not just automatic, its permanent. In that sense a temporary aberration that causes a spike in inflation results in a permanent increase in labor costs.

I'm not saying wages shouldn't be increased to meet inflation, but it needs to happen with consideration of the factors that caused inflation to begin with and when other methods of getting inflation under control don't work.

[Clarkie1]

12. I am against cutting the minimum wage to control inflation

which is what you are advocating. The only real dollars are inflation-adjusted dollars.

Also, if there is deflation then of course the minimum wage would be indexed to that as well.

[justice1]

14. My problem with your argument

It's always used when we discuss minimum wage, but it's never used with executive pay which has increased dramatically. People living on small incomes spend most if not all of their income, and spend it locally. The same can't be said about the rich.

[mntleo2]

15. Uhhhhh, The Rich Are Already Doing That

They are the ones driving up inflation right now by refusing to pay into the system fairly, therefore driving up our debt. Why not even the balance and make them pay the same as we do (proportionally) and then use the inflation index? Because they are so damn greedy they want it all for themselves and the rest of us can starve!

Cat In Seattle

[Viva_La_Revolution]

9. DUH!

Washington and Oregon are leaders when it comes to minimum wage. Both states make annual inflationary adjustments to minimum wage and, partly as a result, they have the first and second highest minimum wages in the US, at $7.63 and $7.50, respectively. These wages boost economic security for low-income workers and create a meaningful incentive to find work.

The US federal minimum wage, however, is set at just $5.15 per hour and is not adjusted for inflation. As a result, minimum wage is at its lowest value in real terms in five decades, making economic security elusive for low-income people and reducing the incentive for unemployed residents to find work. Workers in Idaho and Montana, whose states don't have their own minimum wages, are especially harmed by the low federal minimum wage.

One key step would be for all Northwest jurisdictions to peg minimum wage to inflation, as Washington and Oregon have done.

http://www.sightline.org/research/sust_toolkit/solutions/wage

[JDPriestly]

13. I wonder how much increased Social Security

revenue a $1 increase in the minimum wage would mean? It would add up mightily, I think. For every hour worked, an additional 7.5 cents would go into Social Security.

[Clarkie1]

16. Just sent results of this Poll to Nancy Pelosi and my congressperson. nt