Double the Minimum Wage NOW to $15/Hour. Apply It to Tip-Earning Wage and Commission Earners, Too.

@Budwick

IMMEDIATE increase to $15/hr.

Then tie it to judicial salaries, Congressional salaries, CPI index... something with a guarantee it can only go up, not down.

@beckyromero 78 per hour, 6 weeks vacation, paid lunch.

Right now

@Budwick Fun fact: The [i]minimum[/i] wage in Geneva, Switzerland is equivalent to approximately $57,000 a year. Not far off!

@SW-User Then min wage here should be $157.00 per hour!

@SW-User That horrific example of socialism is why their Big Macs are a whole dollar higher. Swiss Communists!!!!

@Budwick The Swiss have a sensible minimum wage, practical and affordable universal healthcare system, a sane retirement system, etc. And they manage to get there with a 25% immigrant population and none of the general Amerifat stupidity.

Yet burgers still think US is the best country to live in. This is general myopia, poor education, and lack of travel.

@QuixoticSoul My cousin lives in Switzerland, and believe me they need that minimum wage; it is [i]fantastically[/i] expensive to live there. I still would though, particularly as they have a true representative democracy including citizens assemblies and frequent referendums. People are happier there because they know their opinions matter.

@SW-User [quote] People are happier there because they know their opinions matter.[/quote]

Now, in America only one side is allowed an opinion.
Switzerland is looking better.

@Budwick Don't miss the inauguration bud?!

@Harriet03 Hey - what are YOU doing here?

@beckyromero do you believe that senators and congressional representatives are way overpaid. On the side as a Royals fan professional athletes are way way way overpaid. Mcdonald's is an entry level job where young people learn how to work. It is not meant to support a family. I was a teamster. If you pay the kid at McDonald's $15 per hour then my wages as skilled labor would have to go to $54 per hour plus benefits which would total over $125 per hour. And would need to make that to afford the $12 quarter pounder. So although raising the minimum wage at first sounds good it just drives the cost sky high. It is a vicious circle.

@Baremine

1. I don't believe Members of Congress are overpaid
2. Professional athletes are entitled to the salaries they receive since owners are willing to pay them those high salaries. Would you decline such a salary?
3. I dispute your contention that fast food workers are "entry level" jobs. What they are are jobs ... period. And ANY job should be required to meet minimum wage requirements.
4. Whether you get a wage increase would be determined whether your employer can pay it. Perhaps you are OVERPAID at 54/hr now and you would NOT get that $125/hr. But perhaps $65-70. The market will determine that.

@beckyromero my simple answer is to look at Walmart, CVS, Home Depot, etc. Self checkouts put people out of work. Mcdonald's, Sam's Club you order your food on a kiosh (?). More minimum wage jobs lost. What I am trying to say is the higher the minimum wage the more automation and the less unskilled jobs are available. Means more unskilled unemployed more people on welfare higher taxes more crime.
On the other side I am in favor of teaching people skills, trades not so much college degrees as most of them have a hard time finding a job that requires a degree.
My son started working at a car dealership when he turned 16. We learned how to wash cars etc. Three years later they ask if he was interested in being a tech. They trained him. 25 years latter he is a senior master tech makes good money and has never worked for anyone else. That is how the American dream works.

@Baremine [quote]25 years latter he is a senior master tech makes good money ...[/quote]

You're talking about the economy of 25 years ago. Hard work without a college degree is far less likely to get you up the rungs on the ladder than two or three decades ago.

[quote]On the other side I am in favor of teaching people skills, trades not so much college degrees as most of them have a hard time finding a job that requires a degree.[/quote]

YOU going to PAY FOR THAT? Because they can't afford apprenticeships and the necessary licensing or college on the current minimum wage.

@beckyromero you and I agree that there needs to be programs that help people get the skills they need to make good money. Ford not only trained my son but paid him while he learned. There have been 6 others that dealership has sponsored as well. Minimum wage jobs is where you learn to work. That is not a career.

@Baremine

You failed to describe how you are going to pay for all the skill-teaching and trades you proposed. You said Ford trained your son. That was during the Clinton administration.

And how did your son, and at what age, support himself while he was being "trained"?

I think you fail to realize that for many people a minimum wage job (or something barely about it) is all that is available to them - and they aren't even full time jobs so they often need to rely on 2-3 such jobs to survive.

Not everyone is as fortunate as you son or me.

Even $15/hr isn't sufficient to survive on in higher costs areas of the country.

George W. Bush was the last president to sign legislation raising the minimum wage.