The Evening Post: Minimum Wage Debate

Geek Alabama Evening Post


Tonight on The Evening Post; I wanted to talk about the Minimum Wage.  During the State of the Union address  President Obama talked about the minimum wage and he said he wanted to see it rise to $9 an hour.  Most states including Alabama now pays a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.  And with the prices of things today; this does not take you very far!  If the minimum wage kept up with the nation’s inflation rate, it would be well over $10.  One business that pays its workers good wages is Costco.

minimum-wage-povertySure; if the minimum wage went up, it would affect small businesses hard.  Some small businesses might be forced to lay off employees, or close their doors.  If the minimum wage goes up, businesses should get tax breaks for hiring full-time workers.  One business where the minimum wage should go up now is the restaurants.  The pay for servers is only $2.13 a hour.  Dine in restaurants are making a killing off their waitstaff by paying next to nothing, and sometimes the tips don’t cover the lack of wages.

Yes; some people are going to say things like your work ethic should determine your pay.  Or a business is going to pay you for what you are worth.  Some people are going to say that workers are paid on how valuable you are to the company.  Other people are going to say that if people don’t like being paid the minimum wage, they should get off their butts and get into another field or work your way up.  Try saying this to people who are never offered a chance to move up and get paid more.  These videos talk about why a minimum wage increase is bad for the economy.

I don’t buy the notion that businesses will suffer because of a higher minimum wage.  Several states and cities in America has a higher minimum wage than $7.25 an hour.    Also, other countries have higher minimum wages, and they do just fine.  In my opinion, some businesses just wants to be greedy.  Some businesses have been hoarding the wealth. They are not trickling it down to the other workers.  Last year, corporate profits were at a record high, whereas wages were at a record low!  They have decided to give those at the top an increase instead of helping their workers with the cost of daily life.

Minimum_Wage_IncreaseFor a worker making a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour; their weekly total would be $290 before taxes.  With the cost of living being so high; some people can’t afford to buy food or rent an apartment.  That means minimum wage workers are on food stamps to get by.  If the minimum wage did not exist; you can bet there would be several businesses that would severely underpay even more than they try to get away with now and nobody would be able to afford anything.  This would result in more people being on government assistance.  Tell me how you can live making $1-2 a hour; you can’t!

If the minimum wage was not law; people with disabilities would be left out in the cold!  Disabled people would get paid with so low wages that it would not be worth working at all.  It would be better to be on government assistance.  I have had this problem!  Several employers have taken advantage of my disability by paying me less while other workers got paid more.  This is wrong!  I think the minimum wage should be around $9-10 an hour.  Most businesses can afford this wage!  And it would not kill most businesses from paying this wage!  Every HARD worker is worth more than $7.25 a hour!  Enjoy these videos showing support for a minimum wage increase.