Big Majority Favors Raising Minimum Wage

It is no secret that American workers are having a hard time these days -- and none have it any harder than those millions who work for minimum wage. For a worker to have the same buying power that someone making minimum wage in the late 1960's had, they would need to be making a little over $10.00 an hour. Since the current minimum wage is only $7.25 an hour (or about $15,000 a year), that means today's minimum wage workers have significantly less buying power than those in the 1960's.

This is not an insignificant loss of buying power. A minimum wage worker can only buy about 70% of what those previous minimum wage workers could buy -- and with the cost of nearly everything going up, that spells trouble for many workers. In fact, one recent survey showed that just renting a two-bedroom apartment in any state would exceed the income of a minimum wage worker. This means many families must have both parents working just to make ends meet -- an option not open to single-parent minimum wage workers (who are below the poverty line even though working full-time).

There is an easy fix to this deplorable situation -- raise the minimum wage to a decent level (about $10.10 an hour). This would lift many out of poverty (thus reducing or eliminating the need for government assistance). It would also put an upward pressure on the wages of those making above the minimum wage (ending worker wage stagnation and a falling median wage in the U.S.). It would not solve all the problems of our economy, but it would create new demand for goods/services (which would help businesses of all sizes) and help get the economy moving in the right direction.

And as poll after poll has shown, the American people know this -- and they are in favor of raising the minimum wage. Now a new poll has been done by Hart Research Associates (conducted between July 15th and 17th of 1,010 nationwide adults -- with a margin of error of 3.1 points), and it shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans (80%) are in favor of raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

And that majority exists among all races, sexes, income levels, education levels, political persuasions, and parts of this country. It even includes 62% of Republicans (well above the margin of error). So, why are the Republicans in the House and Senate blocking any minimum wage raise (when a majority of their own constituents favor raising it)?

The answer is that congressional Republicans don't represent working Americans -- not even the workers in their own party. They represent the rich, the giant corporations, and the financial hooligans on Wall Street. They represent those willing to abuse workers to squeeze out another penny to add to their already record-breaking profits.

It is just one more reason (among many others) to vote the Republicans out of power in the 2014 election.