Congress votes to increase minimum wage

[zanos]

It's great that the govt has finally did something about min. wage but that increase still won't address the poverty rate. The standard of living right now is just too high.

 

[hippie_hunter]

You better be careful hippie. This is two big government socialist bills passed in one week that you support.

And you probably support the funding for embyonic stem cell research bill passed a month ago, even though Bush vetoed it. That's also socialist.

Anyways though it should have had the tax cuts. That's how Howard Dean did it in Vermont, and they had no bad side effects at all.

I agree that the tax cuts should have been the route taken. I was just commenting that this was a smart move to basically corner Bush into the minimum wage issue. The fact is that minimum wage did need to go up. I don't think it should be above $10.00 or anything like that, but it was needed.

I don't see the idea of punishing price gouging on a necessary item as socialistic. Just adding more punishment to something that is already illegal.

And yes, I support embryonic stem cell reseach and again, I don't see it as socialist. I see it as scientific advancement.

 

[Spider-Bite]

I agree that the tax cuts should have been the route taken. I was just commenting that this was a smart move to basically corner Bush into the minimum wage issue. The fact is that minimum wage did need to go up. I don't think it should be above $10.00 or anything like that, but it was needed.

well yeah we agree on that.

I don't see the idea of punishing price gouging on a necessary item as socialistic. Just adding more punishment to something that is already illegal.

some people see it as the government meddling in the economy, price controlling and that kind of stuff.

And yes, I support embryonic stem cell reseach and again, I don't see it as socialist. I see it as scientific advancement.

well of course it's scientific advancement, but many people want it left entirely up to private investors, even though private investors will never put up the dough for it. They would rather invest their money in treatment, because you can treat the patient over and over again, where as a cure is permanent. Off my little sister alone the druc companies would lose like 800 dollars a month. She has diabetes, and she has to take a lot of insulin injections. It's really expensive.

Neither me nor you see it this way, but a lot of people say it's not the government's responsibility to get involved with this.

 

[hippie_hunter]

some people see it as the government meddling in the economy, price controlling and that kind of stuff.

But it isn't price controls. It isn't telling the oil companies where to set the prices, it's telling them that they better stop screwing us over or they'll pay financially.

well of course it's scientific advancement, but many people want it left entirely up to private investors, even though private investors will never put up the dough for it. They would rather invest their money in treatment, because you can treat the patient over and over again, where as a cure is permanent. Off my little sister alone the druc companies would lose like 800 dollars a month. She has diabetes, and she has to take a lot of insulin injections. It's really expensive.

Neither me nor you see it this way, but a lot of people say it's not the government's responsibility to get involved with this.

I think that private investors would be willing to invest in stem cell research, but the governments current position on it by being against it, hinders it. Also, I think that the government should promote science through funding, exploration, etc.

 

[Kritish]

It’s about damn time for a change in the minimum wage, the federal minimum wage hasn’t changed since 1997. What pisses me off is that Kansas who has a minimum wage of two dollars and Louisiana that has no minimum! I’ve had enough to state’s getting to decide what they think their people deserve, let’s start enforcing federal laws.

Green states have a higher than minimum wage.
Blue state have the federal wage of $5.15
Yellow states have no minimum wage
Red aka Kansas has a lower than federal wage.

Kudos though to the states with higher wages, it's sad when the states have to deal with something our government ignores.

 

[hippie_hunter]

It’s about damn time for a change in the minimum wage, the federal minimum wage hasn’t changed since 1997. What pisses me off is that Kansas who has a minimum wage of two dollars and Louisiana that has no minimum! I’ve had enough to state’s getting to decide what they think their people deserve, let’s start enforcing federal laws.

Green states have a higher than minimum wage.
Blue state have the federal wage of $5.15
Yellow states have no minimum wage
Red aka Kansas has a lower than federal wage.

Kudos though to the states with higher wages, it's sad when the states have to deal with something our government ignores.

To be fair, if it didn't pass, I would say that almost all of the blue states including Kansas, would have raised the minimum wage without the federal government's say so. With the exception of Texas.

 

[Kritish]

To be fair, if it didn't pass, I would say that almost all of the blue states including Kansas, would have raised the minimum wage without the federal government's say so. With the exception of Texas.

Would you explain why you think Texas wouldn’t (I’m not being a smart ass I’d just like to know your opinion).

 

[hippie_hunter]

Would you explain why you think Texas wouldn’t (I’m not being a smart ass I’d just like to know your opinion).

Because it's f**king Texas. That's why.

 

[Eros]

when I was 17, I worked as a cart boy part time at Pathmark, and made 6.50 an hour. I had no idea minium wage was 5.15 in some places.

 

[Spider-Bite]

In Wisconsin it had just gone up to like six dollars an hour.