| Our capitalistic democracy is all
skewed up |
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Even the notion of raising the minimum wage is an
issue that's going nowhere at the federal level. Apparently political
leaders think that paying workers a minimum of $5.15 an hour is
completely acceptable.
The argument goes that America runs on a free enterprise
system that government shouldn't meddle with.
"When you have the government tinkering with
the free market enterprise, it's no longer free," a spokesman
for Citizens for Community Values told The Wall Street Journal last
March.
But the federal government does get involved when
things get skewed too far in one direction. Witness the Securities
and Exchange Commission's recent involvement with CEO pay disclosure.
Here's an example of government intercession, an attempt to restore
fairness in the system because of wildly lopsided executive pay
(more on this later). Why isn't anyone at the federal level restoring
fairness and justice on pay issues concerning those at the other
end of the wage scale?
Federal legislators last addressed the minimum-wage
issue in 1997, during the Clinton administration, when it was elevated
to the current level. Some states have since imposed minimum wages
above that level. Several states are introducing proposed increases
as a ballot issue for fall elections.
Think about it. $5.15 times 40 hours equals $206 per
week. Gross wages, before taxes. That's barely enough to pay for
groceries, not to mention all the other living expenses that we
have to contend with. How is a family earning this type of wage
supposed to put away money for retirement or set aside a three to
six month emergency fund? Just living at this income level must
make them experts on crisis management.
But why should the members of Congress be concerned
about the wages of the poor? After all, they have looked after their
own needs. Congressional pay rates are now $165,200, up 24 percent
from the $133,600 level they enjoyed back in 1997, when they voted
to increase minimum wages to $5.15. If members of Congress work
a 40-hour work week, their wages break down to $79 an hour. That's
more than 15 times the minimum-wage rate. Looked at another way,
in three hours their earnings exceed what the minimum-wage earner
gets in a week.
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