With a stroke of the pen, Obama gave any minimum wage worker involved with new government contracts a 40% increase. Did your wages go up 40%? Probably not, but one thing is true, that 40% increase "will" ultimately be passed on to everyone in the form of either higher costs or higher taxes. While the President seems to think he made a few thousand minimum wage earners less poor, he sure as hell made millions of other Americans poorer.
Especially hurt are all those on fixed incomes. Right now more than 38% of the 57 million people receiving Social Security checks are living solely off of that income; and, they are struggling. Obama didn't give them a 40% increase. They only saw a 1.5% increase this year. Since the President has been in office, social security checks have only risen an average of a little more than 1.1 % per year, while inflation was 50% higher than that. In his first two years, he actually gave no increases to social security recipients.
Lastly, there are 2 million workers in this country who don't even make minimum wage. That's a higher number than the 1.6 million who do. Where's their 40% increase? How does Obama propose they deal with any rising costs resulting from the minimum wage increase?
References:
New York Times: February 13, 2014: Obama Raises Minimum Wage for Contract Workers: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/us/politics/obama-raises-minimum-wage-for-contract-workers.html?_r=0
USA Today: Rising prices hammer seniors on fixed incomes: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/perfi/retirement/2008-07-01-retiree-fixed-income_N.htm
U.S. News and World Report: Retirees Increasingly Depending on Social Security: http://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/articles/2011/08/30/retirees-increasingly-depending-on-social-security
Social Security Administration: Month Statistical Snapshot: http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/quickfacts/stat_snapshot/
Social Security Administration: Cost-Of-Living Adjustments: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/cola/colaseries.html
Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2012.htm
Friday, February 14, 2014
Did You Get Your 40% Increase In Pay When Obama Pen-Legislated A $10.10 Minimum Wage?
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