Back in 2008, when incoming President Barack Obama still seemed to incarnate progressive aspirations for a wide-reaching wave of social and economic reforms, he spoke about a very basic policy move to improve the lives of the working poor: an increase in the federal minimum wage. As part of the ?Obama-Biden Plan? to tackle poverty?which noted that the former Illinois Senator was a ?lifelong advocate for the poor??the President-elect promised to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2011, and index it to inflation.
Four years later, the federal minimum wage remains at a paltry $7.25 an hour, paling in embarrassing fashion to its counterparts across the industrialized West. To put that into context, the United Kingdom?s minimum wage is about $9.80 an hour, and France?s is roughly $12 an hour.
The U.S. minimum wage is not even close to a living wage. The poverty line for a family of four is $23,050, which means that any full-time worker earning wages under $11.06 an hour is below that line. For these minimum wage workers, and the tens of millions of other American workers whose wages keep them well below the poverty line, basic necessities like food, transportation, and housing are barely within reach. In fact, a recent report showed that households working the entire year at minimum wage cannot afford the fair market rent for two bedroom housing in any state in the country.
Out of the administration?s many reneged promises during its first term, this ranks among the most inexcusable. That Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress didn?t prioritize this issue out of some genuine concern for the poor isn?t surprising. But what is genuinely shocking is that amid a recession?and now sluggish recovery?raising the minimum wage actually makes basic economic sense, especially when that wage is so low in the first place.
An increase would put more money into the hands of workers, boost consumption, and help generate economic growth. Leaving millions of workers unable to purchase basic goods is just illogical from a purely economic point of view.
Of course, raising the minimum wage isn?t a solution to everything. Past experience has shown that businesses adjust by raising prices?for instance, inflation wiped away much of a wage increase in France in the early 1980s. Also, an increase in the minimum wage clearly does not alter the other structural factors responsible for poverty and accelerating inequality in the American economy, including wage repression, a regressive tax code that?s riddled with corporate loopholes, and the position of the U.S. in the global capitalist economy.
But to the roughly four million workers struggling to get by from paycheck to paycheck, an increase would make a huge difference. It matters if you?re struggling to keep up with increasing food and gas prices, but your paycheck stays the same. And it matters if you?re trying to support a family, but can no longer afford to pay your increasing rent.
Back in 2009, it seemed possible that the Democratic Party, in control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, would champion an increase in the federal minimum wage. Unfortunately, the prospects for that look rather grim at the moment, especially with the obstructionist, anti-poor Republican Party in control of the House.
But if there is any reason to not abandon all hope, recent months have seen an uptick on this front. Democrats from the House Progressive Caucus?the closest thing there is to a social-democratic political formation in the U.S.?introduced a bill this summer to raise the federal minimum wage to its 1968 level and finally index it to inflation. We can hope that this effort, however futile it may be, will continue in the 113th Congress, if only to keep the issue on the agenda.
Meanwhile, as most of Congress refused to budge on the matter, people finally took this issue into their own hands: in Albuquerque, San Jose, and Long Beach, coalitions of labor unions and community activists organized referenda to boost the minimum wage, all of which passed last week.
These victories, small as they are, remind us of the substantial support that exists for an increase, and the need to build a movement to push for it. Perhaps some unions could dedicate resources toward building a movement on the federal level, or perhaps demands might emerge from a potential progressive coalition organized to oppose the so-called ?grand bargain? on deficit reduction.
Ultimately, though, like nearly any other progressive legislation the Left hopes to win during Obama?s second term, an increase in the federal minimum wage will likely come from a social movement with roots among those who need the reform the most, and not from the Congress they elected.
Get a rise out of Cole at cstangler@georgetownvoice.com.
Source: http://georgetownvoice.com/2012/11/15/union-jack-minimal-progress-on-the-minimum-wage/
san francisco giants Medal of Honor Warfighter Richard Mourdock d t p zynga
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