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Colorado will become the first state to reduce its minimum wage because of a falling cost of living.
Colorado's lowest-paid workers could make even less money next year. That's because the state has an adjustable minimum wage that may become the first in the nation to drop slightly along with the cost of living.
The governor of American Samoa is traveling to Washington, D.C., in hopes of putting the brakes on federally mandated minimum wage increases in the U.S. territory.
Thirty states have no minimum wage or one that is lower than the $7.25 federal minimum, which takes effect Friday and trumps state laws setting lower floors. Seven states have a minimum equal to the federal one.
A federal minimum wage increase that takes effect Friday could prolong the recession, some economists say, by forcing small businesses to lay off the same workers that the pay hike passed in better times was meant to help.
About 2 million Americans get a raise Thursday as the federal minimum wage rises 70 cents. The bad news: Higher gas and food prices are swallowing it up, and some small businesses will pass the cost of the wage hike to consumers.
A North Carolina waitress on Saturday lauded the Democratic-initiated increase in the minimum wage, saying in the party's weekly radio address that the extra money will have a ripple effect on millions of lives.
The nation's lowest-paid workers will soon find extra money in their pockets as the minimum wage rises 70 cents to $5.85 an hour on Tuesday, the first increase in a decade.
Fast-food waitress Fawn Townsend of Raleigh, N.C., knows exactly what she is going to do if her salary goes up with Tuesday's increase in the federal minimum wage: start saving for a car so she can find a second job to make ends meet.
America's lowest-paid workers won a $2.10 raise Thursday, with Congress approving the first increase in the federal minimum wage in almost a decade.
Increasing the minimum wage should be easy for a Congress controlled by Democrats, especially with President Bush's pledge of support.
House tax writers will consider small business tax cuts worth $1.3 billion over 10 years in hopes of freeing minimum wage legislation currently stuck in an impasse between the House and Senate.
Low-wage workers will have to wait to see an increase in the minimum wage, a Democratic priority now caught in a party dispute over business tax breaks.
Republicans are warning Democrats not to tamper with Senate-passed minimum wage legislation, saying the bill's mix of $8.3 billion in tax breaks and a $2.10 an hour wage hike offers the right economic and political balance.
Democrats' promise of a quick increase in the minimum wage ran aground Wednesday in the Senate, where lawmakers are insisting it include new tax breaks for restaurants and other businesses that rely on low-pay workers.
Tax breaks aimed at easing the burden of a minimum-wage increase on small businesses sailed through the Senate's tax-writing committee Wednesday.
House-passed legislation boosting the federal minimum wage moves to the Senate, where Democrats intend to add billions of dollars in tax breaks to make it easier for business to swallow.
Tackling a top priority, House Democrats pushed a $2.10 an hour increase in the federal minimum wage toward passage Wednesday, calling it only a partial restoration of purchasing power for America's lowest-paid workers.
Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to fast-track efforts to boost the federal minimum wage and could seek to bring a bill directly to the House floor in January.
Ethics reform, a higher minimum wage and more money for stem cell research are the top items on the Senate agenda next year, incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press.
It looks like full steam ahead for a significant boost to the federal minimum wage when Democrats assume control of Congress in January.
More than 650 economists, including five winners of the Nobel Prize for economics, called Wednesday for an increase in the minimum wage, saying the value of the last increase, in 1997, has been "fully eroded."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Tuesday to give California one of the highest minimum wages in the nation.
Both Democrats and Republicans insist they emerged as winners from last week's failed GOP effort to cut taxes on multimillion dollar estates and raise the minimum wage.
A bill combining an estate tax cut with a boost in the federal minimum wage, an election-year combination engineered by Republicans, may see another vote this fall.
The Impact of Minimum Wage Rates on Body Weight in the United StatesGrowing consumption of increasingly less expensive food, and especially "fast food", has been cited as a potential cause of increasing rate of obesity in the United States over the past several decades.
Unemployment Flim-FlamWhether Democrats conceived the idea of a minimum wage as an economic tool with which to buy the votes of those at the bottom rung of the economic ladder, or if the potential political benefits occurred to them as an afterthought, we may never know.
More than 300 apply for minimum wage jobs as Salvation Army bell ringersClaudia Hendershot spent nine years working for IBM, got laid off and made a career change into real estate appraising. Then real estate went bust.
Complaints are a good way to point out the flaws that are a part of any process, be it in government or business. But complaining can only go so far, and to solve the symptoms which drive those complaints, the nature of the problem must be identified and then reworked.
Federal Minimum Wage InfoWhat does it mean that the minimum wage is at its lowest real value in 50 years? As the basic income required to support a family has grown with inflation, the minimum wage has not kept pace with the rising costs of goods.
Generation SlothCollege students themselves lack work experience so they don't have a realistic understanding of what the work world requires of them. They major in "management" and imagine that, with this fabulous degree, they will possess the right to earn big bucks by bossing people around.
Low-Wage Workers Are Often Cheated, Study SaysLow-wage workers are routinely denied proper overtime pay and are often paid less than the minimum wage, according to a new study based on a survey of workers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Disgruntled Japanese Prepare to Votehe recession's latest victim in Japan may not be corporate earnings but the political careers of the ruling party in the country's parliament.
Family makes trek to find a job This is the story of a couple who lost their jobs in Florida due to the recession and the birth of a new baby. Unable to afford their home, they purchased a very old RV and hit the road in search of jobs in areas of the country where the unemployment rate was lowest.
President Reagan Rests in Peace ... But Will His Voo-Doo Economics Ever Die?There are things you can see in front of your face, and then there are things that conservative "free market" ideologues tell you.
"Maybe I'm crazy for going down this road": Beck claims Obama tanking economy to drive teenagers into ACORN, AmericorpsGlenn Beck in his newest slather declares President Obama a genius architect, he is ruining the economy so he can force teenagers and young people to join Ameri-corp, community service, ACORN, etc....
The down side of raised wages | Blogs |On July 24th the minimum wage goes up from $6.55 to $7.25 /hr. Small business owners say that will break them. What do you think?
Minimum wage is going upThe federal minimum wage will rise Friday 10.7 percent to $7.25, , the final step of three increases in as many years. For a full-time worker, the change increases typical monthly earnings $112 to $1,160.
Minimum-wage folly - Minimum-wage laws make the unskilled and less experienced more expensive to hire and more likely to stay unemployed in a down economy.AS IF the recession hasn't been rough enough on those near the bottom of the economic food chain, fresh bad news is on the way. Beginning July 24, the federal government will be making it more difficult for employers to hire low-skilled and unskilled American workers.
What is your worst job??? .. or please list your worst jobs (if there be more than one). 1. Cashier... 4 years of servitude
Increases in minimum wage boost consumer spendingThe recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included policies to help struggling families and create jobs. But an extremely effective and simple policy that achieves both of these goals is often overlooked: increases in the minimum wage.
Chavez cuts budget over oil priceVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez has unveiled a series of measures to offset falling oil revenues that account for about 50% of the national budget. He proposed to cut the 2009 budget by 6.7% and increase sales taxes.
SMITH: Republicans have nerve objecting to Obama's tax planWith President Barack Obama proposing to increase the top income tax rates for wealthy Americans, Republicans are engaging in an orgy of hyperbole.
Recently our leaders have been practically setting fear into our minds by saying that unemployment rates recently are alarming, and some even saying that our Country is in a "financial armageddon". First of all, that is not true. Our country is not in a financial armageddon.
Harlem's Man With the PlanDuring the Democratic primaries, Obama didn't talk about poverty as much as John Edwards did. And in the general election, it was John McCain, not Obama, who took a weeklong "poverty tour" of blighted cities like New Orleans and Youngstown, Ohio.
"Are You Saying We Can't Rise Above?"Andrew [Sullivan] links approvingly to another frivolous experiment that seeks to show that bootstrapping rhetoric isn't dead, and that if you are hard-working and smart, you can rise up and overcome, etc. etc., into the Toyota and flat screen television of your choice.
Just a couple of days ago, President Obama remarked about the shameful behavior of bankers who had taken at least $20 Billion dollars of bailout money as bonuses.
Stop the Congressional Pay Raise - Yes we Can!Congress should immediately move to suspend the pay raise and swear them off until the economy is in full recovery. Or until the unemployment rate is well below 5%. Or both.
The Anti-Stimulus Crowd: The Fear of SuccessAt least some Republicans are starting to muster an anti-stimulus drive, claiming that President-elect Obama's package will not help the economy. Their drive is centered on what they claim is a careful rereading of the history of the New Deal.
Poverty News Blog: An increase in the minimum wage in FloridaThe minimum wage in Florida has just increased to $7.21. The increase usually stirs a debate on whether it cuts low wage jobs rather than help those in the jobs. But, there is something else that we found interesting in this article from the Gainesville Sun.
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