“I’m hard-pressed to see why we shouldn’t have the same [minimum] wage we did in the late ‘60s.  This isn’t welfare. By definition, we’re talking about people who are working. It gets a lot of sympathy from the public, and guess what? It’s good for the economy right now.”
~Economist Dean Baker 

House Democrats proposed a bill today called the “Catching up to 1968 Act of 2012″ which might as well be called “Republicans Would Rather Drown Their Own Grandmother Than Give Poor People A Better Wage Bill” because … as long as their is a Republican majority – this will never make it to the floor for a vote.  I have long called for a living wage bill that is indexed for inflation … but it’s just not happening.  There is no reason that a 50 year old should have to work for $7.25 an hour; it just shouldn’t happen.  $10 isn’t enough but it’s a step forward … when will voters decide to punish the party obstructing what’s in their best interests?

The sad part is…there is actually a growing chorus in the country among Republicans to eliminate the need for a minimum wage altogether.  Do you smell that progress?

Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr (D-IL) presented the main elements of the bill HERE:

The Catching Up To 1968 Act of 2012 contains four basic elements:

It raises the minimum wage to $10.00 per hour;

The minimum wage is raised  immediately – not gradually as in the past – beginning 60 days after the date of enactment; and

Beginning one year after the $10.00 per hour minimum wage takes effect, and each year thereafter, the minimum wage will be indexed in proportion to the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

For workers earning their living on the basis of tips, the cash wage paid to such an employee is to be 70% of the minimum wage when the law takes effect, but in no case less than $5.50 an hour, adjusted annually as necessary thereafter.

But it’s a really sad state of affairs when over 50% of Americans making the minimum wage are 25 or older.  People can’t live off of that.

Source

This chart shows by state how many hours y0u need to work on minimum wage in order to afford an apartment.

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