Minimum Wage

1
Minimum Wage

• Federal and State standards
• Currently
• Federal 5.15/hr
• Massachusetts 6.75/hr
• Last time raised 1997

2
Raising Min. Wage

• For
• Helps low-skilled laborers support families and
  selves

• Against
• Will hurt the economy by
• forcing small businesses to close
• companies to lay off workers
• prices to increase for consumers

3
Election 2006
Twenty-two states plus the District of Columbia
have minimum wages above the federal rate,
covering 58 of the nations labor force.
(Economic Policy Institute 2006)
4
The Debate Rages On

• On Tuesday, voters in six other states are
  considering raising the minimum wage, all of
  which would index minimum wage to inflation as do
  Oregon, Washington, Florida and, beginning in
  2007, Vermont.

• If Democrats succeed in retaking one or both
  houses of Congress next week, a top priority will
  be increasing the minimum wage for the first time
  since 1997.

Economic research is also controversial Over 650
economists, recently signed a statement stating
that federal and state minimum wage increases
can significantly improve the lives of
low-income workers and their families, without
the adverse effects that critics have claimed
(EPI 2006). National Center for Policy Analysis
claim that increases of 10 in the minimum wage
may reduce demand hours worked at the minimum
wage by around 1 or 2 depending on
circumstances.
5
Universal Health CareAn unhealthy indecisiveness

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has ranked
  the U.S. health care system 37th in the world for
  quality and 55th for fairness and the United
  States is the only industrialized country that
  does not have universal health care.
• Currently, health care is provided by private
  companies or Medicare. HMO Health Maintenance
  Org, PPO Preferred Provider Org.
• Case study California recently sent a bill
  through State Senate and House for single-payer
  universal health care but Governator Ah-nold
  vetoed it, calling it socialized medicine

6
Arguments- Pro and Con

• YES! UHC rocks!
• Ensuring the health of all citizens benefits a
  nation economically
• Provides coverage to all citizens regardless of
  ability to pay
• Health care increasingly unaffordable for
  businesses and individuals
• Universal health care would provide for
  uninsured adults who may forgo treatment needed
  for chronic health conditions.

• NO! Nix on UHC!
• Government-mandated health care would lower
  quality of service
• Must be funded with higher taxes and/or
  spending cuts in other areas
• A long, painful transition will have to take
  place involving lost insurance industry jobs,
  business closures, and new patient record
  creation.
• Like social security, any government benefit
  eventually is taken as a "right" by the public,
  meaning that it's politically near impossible to
  remove or curtail it later on when costs get out
  of control.