St. Louis Post Dispatch Editorial, Sept 8, 2014. Also in the Missourian, Sept 9, 2014
With the nation’s minimum wage stuck at $7.25 an hour, it is no surprise that a recent Pew Research study of economic optimism shows that 56 percent of Americans say they are falling behind financially even in the midst of an economic recovery. ...
Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, wrote on these pages recently that small-business owners want an increase in the minimum wage because they depend on consumer spending, which is heavily dependent on wages.
We’ve all read about how McDonald’s makes $5 billion a year in profit but tells its workers to file for food stamps and other forms of public assistance to make up for leaving the beef out of their paychecks. It’s not news that Jane and Joe Taxpayer are subsidizing giant corporations with their inflated executives’ salaries and demanding shareholders. ...
There is no longer a gap between the rich and poor in America, there is a gulf. The Economy Policy Institute says that all wage increases over the past 15 years — yes, that’s right, all — have gone to the nation’s wealthiest 10 percent, and that 95 percent of the income gains from 2009 to 2012 went to the richest 1 percent.
Maybe all that’s left are crumbs, but that may be enough to raise the minimum wage to something near acceptable. Employers should go for the $10.10 called for by the president or they will undoubtedly face more pressure along the lines of the striking fast-food workers’ push for a $15-an-hour wage. And even that is not unreasonable.
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