Democratic lawmakers visited a small business in Des Moines Saturday, pushing for an increase in the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour.
“From now own, we’re going to keep that minimum wage so someone who works hard all day is not going to be in poverty,” said U.S. Senator Tom Harkin.
Harkin was joined by Congressman Bruce Braley, State Senator Jack Hatch, and U.S. Secretary of Labor, Thomas Perez.
The group visited the RAYGUN shirt store in East Village.
RAYGUN owner Mike Draper prides himself on paying all workers above minimum wage, and even paying interns.
“When you look at the retail sector and consider that 30% of retail employees qualify for minimum wage, that’s when some of my tax money starts subsidizing other companies that don’t pay their employees a wage tied to the cost of living,” said Draper.
Currently, there are bills in the U.S. Senate to raise the federal minimum wage and Iowa Senate to raise the minimum wage in Iowa.
John Dean Heidenreich
It’s only going to make the poor even poorer and put more people out of work. The real issue is the non federal federal reserve which is a consortium of international banks(NOT an agency of the U S government) causing the devaluation of the dollar.
William Denison
Giving the poor more money is going to make them more poor?????? LOL thats rich🙂
AGAINST $10 minimum wage.
yes, prices will have to increase. Or, workers will need to be laid off.
If you tell a small business owner he has to increase his payroll costs by almost 30%, he has to figure out where that money comes from.
He could fire 30% of his staff. he could make them all part time so he doesn’t have to give them benefits. he could raise the cost of his goods and services. Or, do some combination of all three.
I have a college education and 25 years of experience in my chosen career. I’m not wealthy, but, I make a decent living for my family.
Now all of a sudden the 16 year old kid bagging my groceries gets a $3 an hour raise. (my raises, by the way, run 1-3% in the years that our company is able to give them, NEVER had a raise close to 30%). To compensate, the store raises their prices. The net worth of my salary just went down. The $ amount used to determine the poverty level will increase because services are now more expensive. So, some people who were making more than minimum wage before will now be under the poverty level, or at least much closer to it.
Not only does my net worth go down, but, the $10 that you are giving to all of the minimum wage workers also goes down because they are also paying more for gas, groceries, services etc.
What about the person who works in the nursing home? Maybe they started out as kitchen help for minimum wage. They have been there a while, worked hard, earned their raises and are now at $10.15. Minimum wage goes up to $10.10. The nursing home certainly isn’t going to give their experienced staff people that kind of raise. But now, after a number of years, that person is essentially making the same as the kid who just started with no experience and no training.
Sue
Agree with john. Libs are attempting to pad their nest for the mid term elections.
William Denison
What has the state GOP done for the people lately? LOL
Jim Proctor
Go ahead and try to make ends meet at $7.25 an hour. Minumun wage should be $15.00 an hour! Period.
minimum wage should not be $10.10
you shouldn’t be trying to make ends meet on minimum wage. Get an education and/or increase your skills. If that is not an option for you, get a second job.
DoctorOfEconomics
Jim,
I think your heart is in the right place, like many, who think that raising the minimum wage actually benefits the employee, however the data suggests otherwise. Minimum wage jobs were designed as a training ground for the unskilled, or at least they used to be. When you raise the minimum wage, and in-effect pay someone more than what the market says the contribution of that job is worth, it artificially raises the cost of doing business. That cost gets passed onto the consumer (the one whose wage you just raised) and as a result penalizes everyone else in the process as well. This means less money for capital investment, which has enormous negative ripple effects.
William Denison
Hey Doc if you don’t want to pay a few cents more for your Big Mac DONT BUY A BIG MAC!
Molson
William, you are proving why liberals are completely clueless with all your uneducated rants. Don’t buy the Big Mac? GREAT Idea, then they won’t make min. wage they will be unemployed because nobody is buying their product!! You sir are a freaking Genius. And I never had to try and live off min. wage because I have an education and don’t need to live off the intelligence and money of others, but I bet you do!!
Coffee Pot
What the Democrats won’t tell you is that your Obama care is going up $ 200 a month, your food stamps are going down $ 100 a month. Your earned income credit, might go out the window. Now lets talk about who keeps their job, or who gets to make up the work because someone got let go. Costs will go up at the stores to offset paying more wages, keep in mind if you have 20 people working is $ 2200.00 a week more to pay out. Then the $ 10 an hour boys want $ 13…. the $ 20 an hour boys want $ 25…. Catch the wave? Buys votes though. Seems like the Democrats buy votes but everybody pays lately. Gets em in there though.
Coffee Pot
OR $ 5500 a year. minus your $ 2000 tax credit, minus your $ 1200 food stamps, minus your heat assistance $ 400.00 minus $ 2400 a year for groceries, minus your $ 2400 for obamacare. Gong to tell me Harkin doesn’t know about all this? This total roughly is $ 8400 in handouts your going to quit recieving, meanwhile the employer is paying more in.
Democrats really on your side? Name something they did that really helped you. And you can put your hands on it.
William Denison
Coffee Pot,you should try decaf.
Coffee Pot
Lets have a look at what the Democratic party has done.
Tax on the rich, Nope. Won’t happen and they know it, just election crap.
Gays got their marriage. Yep
Health insurance? Yep but your title 19 is out of there Now you can pay some of it.
Border security? Nope, now you contend gettin a job or an illegal getting it instead.
More jobs? Nope
More national debt. Yep by trillions
More secure nation? They are about to dismantle the military
Foreign policy? Yep a total disaster, now everybody hates us more
I got it. Transparency. you all know where that is.
Gun control, Obama has helped sell more guns than WW2???
Honesty? Benghazi, fast and furious, irs, etc etc. guess thats a no.
Social security strenghtening, Nope
Gas prices? Worse
Arab nations and N korea nuclear capability? YEP no problem
Wind power, yes and your gonna help pay for it. 3 times what Natural gas is.
Shovel ready jobs. Ok we see them not
The list is long and distinguished isn’t it. Or has it been a joke?
William Denison
Someone needs a nappy nap….
William Denison
Republincan law makers have no choice but to the rise min wage. People are at that breaking point of rather being bums than being a slave.
hate dems
It is called a starter job not a career if you don’t like making minimum wage get a job that pays better. If you make the bottom runge of the ladder so much what happens to the middle rung it has to go up and so forth than we have inflatiion. That would just give more money to the liberals to blow on supporting their base like Obamacare.
William Denison
Why is it Republicans are so hateful? Its like they havn’t been l#$d in years.
AGAINST $10 minimum wage.
I am not a republican or a democrat. I am a conservative.
Minimum wage jobs were not designed to raise a family on. They are ‘starter jobs’. It’s a great place for high school students to learn some responsibility.
They are fine as second jobs. Maybe one spouse has a decent job, so, the other goes out and gets a job bagging groceries at the local grocery store to make a little extra for something special.
If you take a minimum wage job at a retail store, intending to raise your family on it, you need to work hard and get promotions and raises. If your skills are not increasing, why should your pay? If you are in a dead end job and raises or promotions are not an option, you need to leave.
If you cannot leave your dead end job for whatever reason (perhaps you have no skills and cannot or will not acquire them), get a second job. People did this ALL OF THE TIME!! In my parents generation, it was VERY COMMON for the breadwinner to work two jobs, generally a full time job and a weekend/evening job. It’s what you do
Even with an education and experience, if I want to continue to get a pay raise, I need to continue to increase my skills and the responsibilities I am willing to take on.
Much of our society has such a ridiculous entitlement mentality. If you want better pay, work harder, learn some skills. You can take a minimum wage job working for a construction company, work hard, learn something, get into an apprenticeship, and increase your worth.
Go into the Armed Forces. There are many wonderful educational opportunities there! Oh, but, you will be expected to work hard and actually better yourself. No one is going to do it for you. Nor should they!!!!
William Denison
We as a nation can only move forward as fast as our poor.
Right Wing Patriot
William – All you throw out are cliches and comments You have not stated one fact in support of raising the minimum wage and how it betters the economic situation of most people. Mindless drivel.
William Denison
Its really obvious how raising peoples pay betters their lives. If I have to explain that to you it is you who is truly mindless my friend. I love you
AGAINST $10 minimum wage.
No, William, it doesn’t. Increasing the wages for the unskilled will increase the cost for the rest of us. therefore, the over all cost of living goes up. so, now not only are the minimum wage earners not making enough to live on, neither are the people with skills/experience.
William Denison
what would our lord Jesus do for the poor?
Right Wing Patriot
I agree Jesus commands us to help the poor. For those who have much, much is expected. He is referrinbg to the individual, not through the heavy hand of government. Thats a big difference.
William Denison
twist it anyway you want brother it’s a free country
William Denison
” For those who have much, much is expected.” According to our Supreme Court and Mitt Romney corporations are people to. My Friend.
Coffee Pot
Obama theory, just tell them your helping, they’ll believe it.
The problem is, he’s right, they do believe it.
William Denison
When you look at President Obama you should be thankful to be able to see such a great man in your lifetime. I cant say enough good things about our President. I’m a independent voter.
AGAINST $10 minimum wage.
I can’t say any good things about our current president… ok…wait…..I guess he’s always well groomed. That’s a nice thing….can’t really come up with anything good about his policies. But, then again, I’m white, educated, employed, and a legal citizen of the United States
.
All he has done for me is raise my taxes, raise my cost of living and force my company to drop my family’s health insurance. (thereby raising my cost of health insurance). So, he HAS raised a lot of things in my life, just none of them positive!