Republicans call for lowering, eliminating federal minimum wage

Republicans throughout the country have proved yet again they are not on the side of working class Americans by saying they want to lower or eliminate the federal minimum wage.

Democrats have been pouncing on their Republican challenger’s own words against the minimum wage, and with the help of Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele’s lack of knowledge on the minimum wage as well, more Democrats should press their opponents on the issue. On Tuesday night’s show of The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Steele was asked several times if he knew the minimum wage, but through his dodging around of the question, trying to change subject and actually giving two amounts that were both incorrect, it was clear he did not.

Congress passed the law in 2007 that made the federal minimum wage increase over time to today’s amount of $7.25 an hour or about $15,000 a year. Three of the four San Bernardino County Republican congressmen voted against raising it. The other Republican did not vote, and the lone Democrat for the county voted for it.

Sure Steele is not running for office, but as the chairman of the national Republican Party and being the spokesman for the Republicans as a whole, it goes to the larger problem of the GOP clearly being out of touch with what most Americans go through day to day and want – despite the party claiming they understand better than the Democrats. Republican candidates Joe Miller of Alaska, John Raese of West Virginia, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Linda McMahon of Connecticut have all called for reducing the minimum wage with Raese flat out saying it should be eliminated. If this is what the American people want then those candidates must not have gotten the memo showing most Americans actually want the minimum wage to increase.

Americans’ views

Democrats would have a winning campaign issue with this if they chose to press their challengers on it because the Public Religion Research Institute conducted a survey that showed two-thirds of Americans support raising the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour. The poll showed 67 percent of respondents, including 51 percent of Republicans, favored the increase; however, 50 percent of the people who identify themselves as belonging to the Tea Party oppose raising the minimum wage.

“This poll is yet another affirmation that maintaining a strong minimum wage is a core American value,” National Employment Law Project Director Christine Owens said in a statement. “Americans overwhelmingly support a minimum wage rate that will help working families make ends meet and provide the boost the economy needs for full recovery.”

In fact had the minimum wage, which began in the 1930s, kept pace with inflation, the National Employment Law Project said it would be more than $10 today.

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 3.6 million workers had wages at or below the minimum wage in 2009, which accounts for 4.9 percent of all hourly-paid workers. The Labor Department also found Texas, West Virginia and Alabama had the highest proportion of hourly-paid workers earning at or below the Federal minimum wage while Oregon, Washington and California had the lowest proportion.

For most people, making $15,000 a year would be nowhere near enough to get by in this country. When people consider their own lives with groceries, gas for their cars, mortgage payments or rent, various bills and other expenses, bringing in slightly less than $300 a week would probably seem terrifying and stressful for them.

The idea that some Republican candidates would not see that as an issue proves they do not understand and do not care about the problems of the middle class. There is no reason to think the previous 116 Republicans who voted against the wage increase in 2007 would now vote for an increase. If Republicans regain the majority, middle class America could see their lives become that much harder.

While the candidates opposed to the federal minimum wage are running for the Senate, it would be hard to believe there are not several candidates who are running for the House of Representatives that feel the same way as well.

Republican philosophy

That is why, while all politics is local, it also is necessary to look at the big picture. Putting these few out-of-touch Republicans into office would increase the chances of a Republican majority. A Republican majority – especially a Republican majority where the once semi-common sense party has become so engrossed in the radical and extreme positions of the Tea Party movement – would do all they could to work against the American worker.

The Republicans have already proven they do not have the interests of the middle class at heart by voting against a bill that would keep teachers from being laid off, voting against a bill that would give small businesses the credit they need to hire more workers and voting against a bill that would keep American jobs from being shipped overseas.

They also have said they would vote against middle class tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans just because they might not get the tax cuts they want for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans. They also have voted against a healthcare bill – putting all debate aside on its cost – that at its very core stops insurance companies from dropping you because of pre-existing conditions, keeps children on their parents’ plan longer and covers millions more Americans. Republicans also have voted against a bill that would provide equal wages for both men and women when doing the same job.

The Republicans’ voting record these past two years and the revelation now coming to the forefront that they would look to decrease the minimum wage when so many Americans actually want it increased should be enough reason to keep the GOP from regaining the majority in Congress. They claim Democrats and President Barack Obama are not listening to what the American people want, but clearly the Republicans are not listening to the American people either. Nothing the GOP has said and nothing they have done – both now and when they had the majority under President George W. Bush – has shown they want the economy to bounce back and want the middle class to be prosperous again.

Like what you read?

 Click Subscribe at the top of the page to receive e-mail alerts when new articles are published.