Most Americans understand that the minimum wage needs to be raised to a more decent level, and several polls have shown that they support raising it to at least $10 an hour. Why won't Congress do that? The only reason I can think of is that most in Congress have sold out to the giant corporations and Wall Street. They still cling to the failed belief that whatever is good for Wall Street is also good for Main Street (which is the kind of thinking that got us into this current economic mess).
No one who works full-time should be paid a salary that puts them below the poverty line. Capitalists do not make make money just off their own efforts. They make that money off the labor of others -- and those laborers should be fairly paid. The rich deserve a decent return on their investment, but workers also deserve to be paid decently for their work -- because neither can exist without the other (and compensating either labor or investors unfairly is a prescription for economic disaster).
Raising the minimum wage does not punish investors. It just levels the economic playing field (and actually would help the economy by creating more demand -- which would increase business profits and create new jobs). Opposing a raise in the minimum wage is the worst kind of short-term economic thinking -- putting today's profit and stock prices above what is good for business, workers, and the economy over the long-term.
Raising the minimum wage is the single most important thing that could be done to put our economy back on the right track. It is also incredibly important for the women of America, because it would lift millions of them out of poverty and allow them (and their children) to achieve the American Dream through their hard work.
"Raising the minimum wage will cause people to lose their jobs and businesses to fold" has always been the battle cry of those in DC opposed to giving people a liveable wage. Raising it to $9.00/hr still would not be enough! Whenever it has been raised it is never raised enough. Past raises have not caused the drastic changes foretold by these crybabies. I know because I have lived through many of them. Raising the minimum wage will truly lift ALL boats.
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