If you want a real issue that matters to most people to get worked up about, how about asking President Obama where the hell the increase in the minimum wage is? That wont affect three guys in jail in Afghanistan but it will impact millions of people who are currently in poverty.
So whats up Kossacks? Are we gonna get motivated only about ivory tower stuff, or worked up about bread and butter stuff also?
The policy implications should be obvious:
See those steep declines under Reagan and Bush? Thats what you want to go ahead and reverse Mr. President. Madam Speaker. Leader Ried.
Smack dab on the whitehouse.gov Urban Policy Agenda page it says clearly:
Increase the Minimum Wage: President Obama will raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2011 and index it to inflation so full-time workers can earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs such as food, transportation, and housing -- things so many people take for granted.
Oh yeah? Well I haven't seen it in any legislation so far. Whats up with that?
Then Senator Obama campaigned fiercely on the minimum wage and an urban agenda which I wholeheartedly endorsed. Now, I'm not one of these "why haven't you saved the world yet" folks who expects him to get all this done right away. In fact, a few of these elements are in the Recovery Act. But it seems to me an increase in the minimum wage is a no-brainer legislatively and politically.
Every Kossack has their pet issue, and mine is urban policy. I live not very far from the same neighborhood I grew up in, and I don't have to. It's just that important to me. So when Senator Obama outlined help for struggling families, and told us how he was going to rebuild after Katrina, these were the things that I was looking for. Especially from a president who is the first in a long time to come from a big city.
If the Republicans trot out their usual tripe about millions of small businesses being destroyed and all that, ignore it. Just push the damn thing right on through and move on. This is one of those no brainer bills that can be done in a day. If you keep your promise and raise it to $9.50 and index it every year thereafter, that will do more to redistribute the wealth in this country than any tax. It will be $7.25 on June 24th of this year. That will just match the state minimum wage already in effect in many places. Especially states with lots of Democrats.
Why is it so important that they keep this promise?
The minimum wage causes ALL wages to rise. Most importantly, it allows the least skilled among us to earn enough to keep themselves from starving to death or turning to crime.
Like I said, this could be something passed in a day. It's not news. It's right there on the President's web page. He's talked about it over and over again on the campaign trail. It's a 3 page bill at the most. Limit debate, push it right on through in 24 hours and move on.
Be nice to see something like this on the Rec List for a change.
Federal Minimum Wage History