Americans across the country raptly waited as the results from the presidential election rolled in last night. Some election results that may have flown under the radar, however, were a few ballot measures in Albuquerque, San Jose, and Long Beach that would raise workers' minimum wage. While the president secured re-election with barely more than 50 percent of the popular vote, each of these ballot measures passed with decisive support -- all garnering about 60 percent of the vote.
In San Jose, California, Measure D was placed on the ballot to raise the minimum wage to $10 per hour and automatically adjust it for inflation in subsequent years. It passed with about 59 percent of the vote.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, voters had the opportunity to vote on a ballot measure that would raise the minimum wage in the city one dollar to $8.50 per hour from $7.50. The measure passed with overwhelming support of 66 percent of voters. By comparison, President Obama received just 55 percent of the vote in the same county.
Finally, in Long Beach, California, voters were deciding whether to provide non-unionized hotel workers with a living wage in a ballot measure that would increase their hourly pay to $13 per hour. This measure passed with over 63 percent of the vote.
Since President Obama's campaign pledge in 2008 to raise the federal minimum wage to $9.50 by 2011, he has been remarkably silent on the issue during the past four years -- even in the 2012 campaign which has now come to a close. In the vacuum left by President Obama's lack of leadership on this issue, members of the 112th Congress proposed legislation to increase the minimum wage. Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. proposed a bill in the House of Representatives, the "Catching Up to 1968 Act of 2012" (H.R. 5901), which would have increased the minimum wage to $10 per hour. Not long after, a prodded Congressman George Miller introduced a separate minimum wage bill, the "Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2012" (H.R. 6211) in the House that would have increased the minimum wage to $9.80 per hour in three steps by 2014. Senator Harkin earlier this year introduced a companion bill with Congressman Miller's in the Senate, S. 3453. With a lack of initiative coming from the Democratic leadership in Congress and in the White House, however, none of these bills made it to a vote.
In the absence of federal action on this issue, states and local communities across the country have decided not to wait anymore and are taking up proposals of their own to increase the minimum wage.
Consumer advocate Ralph Nader's new book, The Seventeen Solutions lays out his prescription for curing America's social and economic ills.
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Over 70% of the entire nations growth comes from domestic consumption... IE the masses buying products.
Consumption has been (Surprise!....) flat for the past 5 or so years which has been the reason why companies are not hiring.
The American masses (the middle and lower classes) spend the largest share of their income, putting it back into the economy to drive growth. Since their wages have been depressed (or non-exsistent due to high unemployment) they have been unable to fuel consumption which makes our whole economic structure start to stall out.
By raising the minimum wage to a living wage (IE atleast 10 an hour) and tagging it to inflation we ensure that more money will be pumped into the middle and lower classes whom will then spend it which will raise domestic consumption (remember 70+ percent of our total growth).
Epic fail GeeWiz. Epic fail. In labor markets, people seeking jobs are the SUPPLY of labor and businesses seeking workers are the DEMAND for labor. Elementary economics failed by GeeWizz.
"They pay you as little as they can for as much as they can"
And workers take as much as they can for as little as they can.
That is why supply curves slope upward and demand curves slope downward.
Says an innumerate who has never seen a Cobb-Douglass function before in their life.
You go, California and New Mexico! If anything, you're shooting too low. Can you really live on less than $20 an hour in California? Maybe $16 in NM.
Please raise your minimum wage, you are taking advantage of your workers and as an Arizonan I will benefit with you drive all the businesses out.
That is a lie. Anyone that has ever worked for minimum wage knows they worked harder at that job than at any others later on.
All real work is honorable work, but let's face it lots of people can flip burgers or answer the phone in an office.
:-)