Senate GOP Blocks Minimum Wage Hike For No Good Reason

By Fusion Staff  |  May 1, 2014 | 11:34am
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Wednesday Senate Republicans blocked opening debate on a Democratic Bill to begin raising the minimum wage. Along with pay equality and campaign finance reform, this is a key issue for the Dems’ midterm platform, and a major economic goal for the Obama Administration in 2014.

The minimum wage currently sits at $7.25 an hour, where it hasn’t budged since 2009 despite the fact that it lags substantially behind inflation. This issue plays directly into the problem of income inequality, as low wages have failed to make up for nearly doubled worker productivity since the 1970s.

So do Senate Republicans have a legitimate reason to oppose graduated increases in the minimum wage—or is this a petty political game?

President Obama spoke on the matter soon after the fateful filibuster, prompting “if your member of Congress doesn’t support raising the minimum wage, you’ve got to let them know they’re out of step, and that if they keep putting politics ahead of working Americans, you’ll put them out of office.”

He’s even pushing a social media campaign for raising the wage. “You can tweet at them — use hashtag #1010Means. Let them know how raising the minimum wage would help you, or your family, or somebody that you know.”

Andy is a graphics editor and cartoonist at Fusion.

 
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