'Congress Stiffs Working Americans'

[Adam Singer]

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Without much fanfare, the House of Representatives last week voted to give members of Congress yet another pay raise, as it has done almost every year for nearly a decade.

For some reason, our elected officials decided against holding a news conference. Maybe that's because they didn't want to draw attention to the fact that they raise their own salaries almost every year while refusing to raise the pay of our lowest-paid workers.

Corporate America, the Bush administration and the national economic orthodoxy with which they're in league have consistently argued against helping working men and women at the lowest end of the wage scale by raising the minimum wage. Big business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable say it will harm the economy and eliminate jobs. As is so frequent with the faith-based economics that grips both political parties in Washington, such concerns have absolutely nothing to do with reality.

full article:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/20/dob...e21/index.html

[V. Barbarino]

I'm not a fan of min wage increases... I use to work for 4.15 and hour, then 5.15 an hour. Those jobs aren't there for you to be 40 years old and raising a family on it. They are jobs for kids!!!!!!!

[trancepriest]

Originally Posted by Mr

I'm not a fan of min wage increases... I use to work for 4.15 and hour, then 5.15 an hour. Those jobs aren't there for you to be 40 years old and raising a family on it. They are jobs for kids!!!!!!!

I agree with you... some people are just uneducated or unfamiliar with entrepreneurial capitalistic thinking. Too bad most of those people have lived in America for generations. The problem is that too many people refuse to take control of their own lives.

[V. Barbarino]

In college I worked for 4.15 an hour and got paid once a month. By the time I got my check, it was gone 2 times over...

There were adults working there and I couldn't but think of them as losers... This was on campus.. I quit and became a bus boy and made a ton of cash...

Working for min wage teachs a person about hard work and moving forward with their lives.

[slamminshaun]

I'd be curious to see who voted how....