Could Minimum Wage Be Ruled Unconstitutional?

TIME:

It sounds like a bizarre argument to make. The federal minimum wage has been around since Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938. In 1941, the Supreme Court upheld it by a unanimous vote, in a decision written by a Republican Justice. Among legal experts, there is little real debate about the minimum wage's constitutionality.

Read the whole story: TIME

Comments

[chevy706]

02:24 AM on 10/22/2010

This article would've been much better if they would've presented the case that these senate hopefuls are making. Rather than just dismissing it as improbable, let's see what their argument is, and let us decide accordingly.

[amd02148]

10:58 PM on 10/21/2010

Oh yes that sounds like a great idea abolish the minimum wage that way the rich employers can get richer. If employers can set their own prices their employees can work all week for a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter. Whats the matter with that? sounds like a plan.

[kaptaintripps]

09:45 PM on 10/21/2010

Could it be described as "Unconstitutional?"

If the Chr!st!an, crass, black-hearted ReRhugs get in??? Of course it could!

[rawresolve]

05:53 PM on 10/21/2010

if the right wing on behalf of their transnational corporate masters have their way...ya betchca!

[Jim Anderson]

05:04 PM on 10/21/2010

Congress should be making the minimum wage. Then maybe they'd be more sympathetic to the poor. They'd also then be getting paid for the actual work they accomplish which is usually nothing.

[Benjamin Rosenfeld]

05:15 PM on 10/21/2010

They shouldn't be getting all of August off, either.

[RageCage]

04:26 PM on 10/21/2010

I've always wondered this myself. On the surface, I just can't find where in the Constitution Congress has the authority to set price floors for labor. It's not providing anything since the employer does that on their own. It's not regulating interstate commerce because you're usually talking about a one on one employer/employee relationship that takes place in one specific state.

So tell me, what power of Congress gives them the authority to tell me how much I have to pay my employees?

[RightWingMarine]

04:22 PM on 10/21/2010

what part of the Constitution grants Congress the power to regulate wages between consenting adults operating solely within one state?

[chevy706]

02:43 AM on 10/22/2010

The liberal part, ie. the one that was unofficially rewritten.

[scorch50]

04:13 PM on 10/21/2010

"Not that that has stopped opponents from railing against the minimum wage for decades. After all, Big Business really does not like the laws. Payroll is a large part of most companies' expenses, and many — particularly in the fast-food and hotel industries — see the minimum wage as a burden. They argue that it has been set at too generous a level, and that it actually prevents more out-of-work Americans from being hired."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2026515,00.html?xid=huffpo-direct#ixzz131bl8RJA
______________________________

In reading the article the above stands out. What do they really think that people are going to work for nothing? They are complaining about payroll but they are not complaining about the CEO pay and bonuses and the fact that many of these board members are serving on multiple boards. These are the people who are scre.wing the American workers. Its who you know and who you can f..over.

[lobear00]

03:39 PM on 10/21/2010

All members of congress should be put under the Federal Minimum Wage act and kept there for Ten Years and see how they like living poor.

[Benjamin Rosenfeld]

04:55 PM on 10/21/2010

Better yet, political office should be considered volunteer work.

[Jim Anderson]

05:05 PM on 10/21/2010

Love that idea!!!1

[tacevad]

06:57 PM on 10/21/2010

they would live off "campaign donations" like..who was it? oh yeah the delaware witch

[amd02148]

11:06 PM on 10/21/2010

@tacevad you're too much lol

[vippy]

03:37 PM on 10/21/2010

Lower the wages even more and force a larger government aid package! It goes hand in hand.
If Walmart would only pay decent wages and do away with the intermittent category and make them all fulltime with only a few parttime, then we, the tax payer would not have to pick up their social responsibilities. Just read an article where someone said they could fix the economy immediately if the people would only spend LOL. I guess everyone has a lot of money buried in their backyard. How ridiculous after so many decades with stagnant wages.

[vippy]

03:32 PM on 10/21/2010

Then lets remove all of the amendments as well. The constitution is hardly recognizeable anymore anyway. Our government makes the laws as it sees fit and serves their purpose. Bush started with it and this administration seems to follow the same footsteps. All for the corporations and nothing for the people. Let market forces determine the wages, which are meant to be competitive with the Chinese and the rest of the third world. Now that would be a very good question to ask the politicians and leave out the other top priorities like religion,
abortion and gay issues. Does anyone else feel so helpless?

[Raccoon1]

03:01 PM on 10/21/2010

Wanna see a nation-wide work stoppage?

[vippy]

03:33 PM on 10/21/2010

We are not a strong nation like the French. We are brainwashed and we roll over unlike the French! Yes, we should all strike for one day,but it will never happen.

[chevy706]

02:30 AM on 10/22/2010

The French will be speaking Arabic soon enough.

[Benjamin Rosenfeld]

03:43 PM on 10/21/2010

Underemployment: Keeping the working class in debt and in check so they can't afford to strike.

[Raccoon1]

04:03 PM on 10/21/2010

only means that things haven't gotten bad enough yet.

[scorch50]

04:16 PM on 10/21/2010

At this point with the number of unemployed what do they have to loose. Hell, working for minimum wage is like not having a job.

[CTDFalconer]

02:41 PM on 10/21/2010

The minimum wage is not just an arbitrary number, it's largely based on statistical analysis of the labor market. On a level playing field, where every business has to pay at least the same minimum rate, there is no market disadvantage to competition. Where there is work to be done, businesses will find someone to do it. Either they hire someone or the work goes unfinished and they fall behind their competition. Additionally, a minimum wage increases economic activity by giving more workers greater means of participation in the economy. It is well known that anything that puts more money in the hands of lower and middle class people boots economic activity at the rate of several dollars per each dollar added because they automatically have to spend what they get. Eliminating minimum wages would have a depressing effect on the economy, with reduced buying power in the lower-income segment. After all, all that stuff that people make needs a market. The free market has not always made things better and cheaper. Abusive labor practices are a sad cliché. Lastly, goods and services can be more expensive only if people can buy them. Buying power equals inflation equals growth. The US has followed a policy of encouraging a low level of inflation for decades for exactly this reason.

[MrsOrtiz]

01:38 AM on 10/22/2010

Fanned for being logical.

[Actongue]

02:18 PM on 10/21/2010

This goes on every single day in the United States

http://www.laborlawtalk.com/showthread.php?t=277235

Can my employer prevent me from eating? North Carolina
My employer has decided we may not purchase food from the restaurant I am employed by while on duty I started packing a light lunch or snack such as a sandwich or a yogurt. After he seen others began doing the same he then decided we were not allowed to eat at all, and then proceeded to start throwing employees food away. The reason for the store policy was to keep people from making a mess and leaving it for others to clean up. I do not mind being told I can not eat if I only work 4 or 5 hours. On days I work 8 to 10 hours I feel my blood sugar drop (I am border line diabetic). this employer and managers cook themself a full meal, Do I have the right to consume food? We do not receive breaks.

Your state of North Carolina has no laws requiring rest breaks or meal periods. I know this sounds icky, but are there snacks you can put in your purse or pocket (do you have a locker you can lock?) and snack briefly on restroom trips?

What the F. K is wrong with the United States? People should not have to sneak off to the bathroom to grab a snack from their pocket and hide it from owners/managers

Answer
Republicans

[amd02148]

11:23 PM on 10/21/2010

I am so appalled to hear this Actongue, I can't even begin to find the words to say how horrible your boss is, and how sorry I am that you have to deal with that treatment. This should never be allowed to happen in America. Your boss is treating you and your co-workers like you're totally beneath him. Think of how much worse things will be if the minimum wage is repealed. I find it totally outrageous that theres no law to protect you against this treatment. SMH

[CTDFalconer]

02:16 PM on 10/21/2010

In this day and age of growing inequality, soaring corporate profits and multi-billionare Wall St. trough-hogs, it seems like the ultimate insult to say that the poorest of our workers should have the floor taken out from under them. What do these guys have against the working poor? It's unconscionably heartless.

[Raccoon1]

03:09 PM on 10/21/2010

Born the children of privledge, isolated from every hardship, educated with their 'peers' in private prep schools and ivy league colleges, provided with trust funds, employed by wealthy family friends or other connections, and members of exclusive country clubs. And YOU say, they don't understand America? Shocking!! Marie Antoinette once put it very succinctly: "Let them eat cake."
I wonder if they understand that these conditions will not be tolerated indefinitly. If history is any indicator, they won't.

[scorch50]

04:22 PM on 10/21/2010

No they do not understand. They also forget they will not be around forever. You have to blame the people for not rising up to deal with this mess sooner. These people have worked their magic on division, cha.0s and mayhem so that people are so distracted they will not see what these cr.o0ks are doing behind the scenes. Those that are so blindly following are afraid of their own shadow and any legitimate dissent is cast out like extremist( not talking TEA PARTY). The majority of the people are conditioned to walk lockstep..no changing them.