Minimum wage hike turned back again; blacks more likely to feel the crunch of low wages.Congress demonstrated that it has no intention of raising the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour when the Senate struck down the minimum wage bill in August. Some economists say the move was to protect businesses, but they add that putting more money in the pockets of workers can only spur the economy. "A significant number of low-income people are poor not because they do not work, but because they do not earn enough money to feed their families," says Jessica Gordon Nembhard, assistant professor of African American Studies African American studies (also known as Black studies and/or Africana studies) is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of African Americans. at the University of Maryland University of Maryland can refer to:
people of colour, colour, color race - people who are believed to belong to the same genetic stock; "some biologists doubt that there are important , particularly black and Latino." Indeed, the Economic Policy Institute reports that while African Americans African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. make up 11% of the nation's workforce, they make up 17% of those who would be directly affected by a minimum wage increase. The minimum wage has not been raised since 1997, largely because of politics, says Margaret C. Simms, interim president and chief executive officer of The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies ("Joint Center"), headquartered in Washington, DC, is a national, nonprofit research and public policy institution or think tank. , and also a member of the BE Board of Economists. One of the arguments against raising the minimum wage is that business owners would suffer because of the resulting increase in labor costs. Simms says the Republican-controlled Congress is pro business and that "as long as these views dominate the Congress, it's going to be difficult to pass a minimum wage increase." In what critics call a sly maneuver, Rep. William M. Thomas (R-Calif.) inserted the legislation into a bill that would also aid the nation's wealthiest by cutting the estate tax, leading Senate Democrats to rally against it. The bill passed in the House of Representatives but was defeated 56-42 in the Senate. "The [GOP] used tactics to complicate com·pli·cate tr. & intr.v. com·pli·cat·ed, com·pli·cat·ing, com·pli·cates 1. To make or become complex or perplexing. 2. To twist or become twisted together. adj. 1. the issue, in an effort to deflect de·flect intr. & tr.v. de·flect·ed, de·flect·ing, de·flects To turn aside or cause to turn aside; bend or deviate. [Latin d responsibility," charged Gordon Nembhard. A minimum wage hike would not only benefit the poorest Americans; it would also trickle up to help middle-class African Americans. "Raising the bar at the bottom helps to increase wages above the minimum," notes Gordon Nembhard. |
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