Minimum Wage in America - Revisited

In the beginning of the month I wrote diary over at Daily Kos titled Minimum wage in America. It was one of the most difficult and most frustrating diaries I have ever written. A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from a student attending Cal State Northridge, unfortunately I did not receive it until today as it got held up in my spam folder (I really need to check it more often).

The comment was so well written that I decided to share it here. I see a bright future as a writer for Judy BenDavid.

Mr. Mark E. Andersen,
In response to the article you have written posted for Daily Kos Labor entitled "Minimum wage in America," I would just like to take the time to let you know that I couldn't agree more. Though you are speaking of a bill proposed by the state of Wisconsin, your point is totally over encompassing and speaks to the country as a whole as it faces its unemployment crisis and stagnant economy. It really seems like common sense to me, and I find it discouraging to realize just how backwards legislature can diminish the lives of the common working man across this nation.

Your main point, that "the minimum wage needs to be pegged to a living wage and it needs to be regional," really drove home for me. It is enraging to think that, with all the ways we can calculate and budget our financial livelihoods based on cost of living for our city, that State officials would allow its citizens to sink below the poverty level due to something as simple as a refusal to raise minimum wage rates. How could it even be considered an option that one be paid a rate that guarantees a lack of survival? It seems more than obvious that in a city like Los Angeles where living costs are high, one would have to be paid more to survive than one would living in a city like Adams, Wisconsin.

The last thing I wanted to comment on was your point regarding creating jobs as a means to stimulate the economy, a major Republican point of argumentation. Having people working, though yes, they will be working (which is not the key point here), at a rate that ensures they will not make yearly ends meet will not stimulate the economy like raising minimum wage rates will. If minimum wage matched the regional living wage for ever working adult in this nation (as pegged to be appropriate for which part of the country they reside in), workers will have purchasing power once again. Thus, consumer demands can be met, products will sell, profits will roll in, and the economy can revive itself. It isn't rocket science.

Thank you for breaking it down to simply and eloquently.

- Judy BenDavid