CA Congressman Barbara Lee wants min. wage at $25 per hour!

Yeah... That'll REALLY help the economy! Right...

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It's too much, the current economy couldn't handle that.

That was basically the norm for unskilled labor 30-40 years ago, but with unions weakening, jobs going over seas and people opting not to buy American goods over foreign ones we're in this situation. Honestly, all these problems are solvable too, but Americans really shit the bed and continue to do so.

I wouldn't support anything above $9.

Sounds good in theory until businesses raise prices to match the increased wages. Once upon a time you could buy a comic book for ten cents and now three or four dollars seems to be the norm.

$52,000/year minimum wage? LOL

Good for her.

Considering your political views, I find it hard to believe that you think that.

Dat massive inflation/unemployment.

That doesn't sound good.....

That would kill the economy, when will they learn min wages never works it just does more harm than good.

A minimum wage job is not something should be able to "live" on for a long period of time. It is a jumping-off point, used to develop more and better skills, that a person can build themselves into a more desirable worker. People aren't "entitled" to a luxurious lifestyle, where they come home after working a 4 hour shift flipping burgers to a leather couch, cold beer in the fridge and HBO on television.

One has to WORK for the nice things in life, and minimum wage for a single person CAN provide enough to "live" on (with basic needs, not wants, fulfilled). Granted, minimum wage in the US is on the low side (it hasn't gone up for a while, to keep up with the cost of living IIRC), but it shouldn't jump drastically just because people think they "deserve" more money. How can anyone work a job for a year and not get a raise? Don't most unions in the US have written into their bargaining agreements that after a certain amount of time they get a raise regardless of performance?

$25/hour is just ridiculous. No one who works a menial job that can easily be replaced by an unskilled worker should ever make that much. That's why companies offer advancement programs and training to give people who stay loyal to a company have somewhere to go.

Maybe $10 would be OK. I know republicans have a study that they say that it'll cost a lot of jobs if we raise the minimum wage too much, and I believe they're probably right to an extent. But at the same time there there are some studies that say it won't cost jobs.

I have to believe at a certain point, jobs will start to become lost, but I don't think it's at 1 or 2 dollars more than what it is now. $7.55?

I REALLY don't understand why so many people don't share this view.

I think this politician is probably rich, and like a lot of rich people, they sort of live in their own world. So they don't know the lifestyles of living at 16,000 dollars a year vs. a skilled worker making 50,000 a year with her proposed wage, nor do they understand the consequences of many of their fiscal decisions.

I remember one senator (R) was bet that they couldn't live on minimum wage for a month, and he failed after one week.

These people just live in their own little worlds, and don't understand what the average person goes through.

Go for it. Could make a neat social experiment.

How fucking stupid of her. Seriously, that is the salary some nurses make...

Will people stop being so damned stupid please? Raising minimum wage is NOT the way we should be going about helping out the lower class. All minimum wage increases do is raise the cost of goods and potentially cost jobs.

Put in some programs or something to get the money into the hands of the people who need it. Don't fucking raise minimum wage though...

I think the Seattle's $15 minimum wage stands a better chance.

The federal minimum is $7.25 >_>

I didn't know, I haven't gotten that since college. >_>

I remember at my first job I got 5.25 and hour.

Well it's easy for me to remember, my state doesn't try to have their own minimum wage.

I like the idea of it:

$25 dollars per hour is an amount of money to allow someone to live a relatively comfortable American life.

However it's hard to imagine that this would actually work practically without massive overhauls. There's a lot wrong with this.

The main issue with this is I know people with four year degrees who work in their degree fields that don't make that much. For the most part, minimum wage jobs are expected to be filled by younger workers such as students and unless you are a convicted felon you should be able to get something better as you get older. Rasing the minimum wage too much gives people less incentive to move up and it will eventually contribute to inflation.

For people who don't think a higher minimum wage could cost jobs, consider what has happened on some military bases after the president signed a higher mandatory minimum wage for federal workers. Certain contractors unable or unwilling to pay the higher wages, simply opted to close up shop on base and keep their business off-base where they can continue to offer the current minimum wage.

What's the cost of living there?

@MakeMeaSammitch: i guess we're lucky to have 10,35 an hour xd

Yes it will cost jobs....and increase prices. Honestly.....minimum wage isn't a fix. Maybe the politicians should consider taxing businesses that outsource and adding some tax onto imported goods. Only way to even the playing field.

Yeah, bankrupting the country would be neat. *rolls eyes*

Aljosa astounds me

More taxes for the state coffers too.

This sounds great. But in reality, if one desires 25.00 per hr. One must work beyond their minimum wage, look into a career, or just get a second job.

The cost of living would skyrocket, hell no lol

Would never happen in a country that keeps raising the debt ceiling. :/

That would be absurd. I make $65,000 per year and am tasked with running a business that does in excess of $2 million per year in sales. That would place my most base level employees near my pay rate and would put profits deeply in the negative unless prices on our products rose massively, at which point most people would opt not to buy our goods.

I'm sure such a scenario coming to fruition ($25 min. wage) would see, among other things, many businesses closing their doors or downsizing the labor force dramatically and placing unrealistic work loads on those who remain.

Making minimum wage exceed gdp per capita is genius.

I'd rather they tried it in a smaller less important state. >_> Rhode Island comes to mind.

That would be a huge increase for me, and I have a PhD.

The response to the GOP blockade for any increase isn't to go completely crazy.

I feel like people would just cry if their hondas cost an additional thousand or two, without really thinking about the consequences.

Congresswoman

I bet most Americans would not support this view.

'Look ma' I ain't ga do shiitt! I make 25 an hour flippin burgas! **** workin' hard, na mean? Be right back, gotta 'bate!'

in parts of california maybe. but they're their own little bubble. that number is much lower elsewhere in the nation

At least Spongebob could continue living under the seas. Its so expensive!

That's quite a bit, unless those employees get no benefits (i.e. they have to buy their own healthcare and take care of their own pension plan), though even then it's probably too expensive.

I guess that would mean among other things fast food places would have to get rid of the $1 menu and replace it with a $5 or even $10 menu.

In toronto the min wage just recently went up to $11 from $10.25. It has to be in the middle. You cant keep the cost of living too high for too long while min wage is too low. The wage has to keep up with the cost of living.

$25 is just crazy and shows why woman arnt fit to make decisions for a civilization.

Suddenly almost every small business goes under, the price of good skyrocket, we launch ourselves into another recession far worse then the last one, unemployment skyrockets to unprecedented levels, and shit really hits the fan.

Y not $10,000? Than everybuddy can b millionaiers?

Lol. I know right. This nation has been "bankrupt" for decades.

Minimum wage should be raised to the living wage of said state but $25 an hour is ridiculous.

Yeah, it would definitely depend where you live. I just spent a night in San Francisco for a concert a few weeks ago, and the price of literally everything absolutely blew my mind. I found myself thinking that you'd have to be making 50K+ per year to justify living there. Any less and it just wouldn't be worth it. Don't know how the employees of the 5 subway restaurants I saw within 4 blocks of my hotel do it. Maybe they all live together in a giant apartment, splitting the rent 30 ways.

In the town I live in, 8 bucks an hour is more than enough to live comfortably, assuming you get 40 hours a week. Obviously, you're not gonna be some kind of high-roller, rolling in cash and buying luxury items, with that wage, but anyone who thinks minimum wage workers should be able to live like that is a fucking moron.