Raise the minimum wage NOW!

There is a lot of talk about raising the minimum wage, and most of the talk is either how companies can't afford it and how it will start a round of inflation, or it needs to be raised to a living wage. When looking at a couple of facts, not conjecture, it's hard to see where either of the first two things would happen, and the last is definitely true.

Since job loss from the financial collapse of 2008/2009 bottomed out , 61% off all jobs gains have been minimum wage or just slightly higher. This means that it isn't just teenagers and first-time workers who are getting these jobs, but everyday Americans who were fired from middle-wage jobs that are taking these jobs. Now, I'm not suggesting that these jobs go for their current scales to $40,000 a year jobs, but that the salaries have to get to at least a living wage, maybe $10-11 an hour. Now, some might say that companies that have these jobs can't survive if salaries are raised that high. But in companies that pay these wages, retail and restaurant stores, wages are only 18% of expenses. So how would wage increases that made wages just 20 or 21% of expenses break a company? Most economists agree that companies could pass those costs to customers with little to no problems. One study says a McDonald's Meal Deal would go up by less than 70 cents, and most family-type restaurants would increase their meals less than a dollar. Retail costs to consumer, since most outlets do bigger business, would be increased no more than a Big Mac Meal. It's hard to see where inflation would run rampant, and several studies say the economy is so big, it would increase inflation by less than 1%.

When you look at facts and studies, it's easy to see that million of Americans need the minimum wage to increase, and it would have little effect on the economy. And there is even a few studies that show that when the minimum wage is raised, certain things like SNAP and money to the poor would actually be less needed, and it would help the deficit. So Congress, why aren't you looking at raising the minimum wage? It needs to be raised NOW!