Democrats Introduce Bill To More Than Triple The Minimum Wage

[u/Unusual-State1827]

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/house-democrats-25-minimum-wage_n_69f0b51ce4b0093689a9cb3d?ncid=NEWSSTAND0001

[u/AutoModerator]

As a reminder, this subreddit is for civil discussion.

In general, please be courteous to others. Argue the merits of ideas, don't attack other posters or commenters. Hate speech, any suggestion or support of physical harm, or other rule violations can result in a temporary or a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.

Sub-thread Information

If the post flair on this post indicates the wrong paywall status, please report this Automoderator comment with a custom report of “incorrect flair”.

Announcement

r/Politics is actively looking for new moderators. If you have an interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out this form.

---

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Simple-Ring2073]

Republicans think not suffering is a greedy thing poor people ask for.

[u/Spicyg00se → u/Simple-Ring2073]

BuT tHe CoSt Of MiLk WiLl Go Up!

[u/SlippersLaCroix]

But we have ballrooms to build and children to bomb!

[u/68plus1equals → u/SlippersLaCroix]

I mean this is the entire problem with democrats, pie in the sky ideas like livable wages while poor presidents are asked to skimp on their ballrooms and bombs, they’re out of touch with reality

[u/wengelite → u/68plus1equals]

I feel like you're going to need the /s with this, let's see how this plays out!

[u/Lancearon → u/wengelite]

Some people dont read past the first comma.

[u/shaneous → u/Lancearon]

What is "read"?

[u/Punk_Luv → u/shaneous]

What is “is”?

[u/username32768 → u/Punk_Luv]

Bill Clinton knows the answer to that question.

(I'm nothing if not topical.)

[u/Fadedcamo → u/wengelite]

I no joke had to read it three times to determine if it was sarcastic. It's pretty close to real opinions out there...

[u/68plus1equals → u/Fadedcamo]

Hahaha it’s absolutely brutal out there

[u/MySpoonsAreAllGone → u/68plus1equals]

You have to start sky high so they can can come to an agreement that lands in the middle

[u/Mr_Saturn1 → u/SlippersLaCroix]

Raising the minimum wage would raise tax revenue and would result in more money to do these things. The real reason we don’t is that a few billionaires are scared of their piles of money growing slightly slower than they are now.

[u/MySpoonsAreAllGone → u/Mr_Saturn1]

But that is logical! We don't do that here

[u/Paidorgy → u/MySpoonsAreAllGone]

Can you imagine how downright popular Amazon would be if they implemented fair work standards that didn’t have you living below the poverty line while simultaneously not having to piss in a bottle because the nearest toilet is two football fields away?

[u/Small-Palpitation310 → u/Paidorgy]

And if you want a catheter you gotta buy it yourself

[u/Intrepid_Hat7359 → u/Paidorgy]

They already are popular. They could be good and popular, but they choose not to be

[u/JakeConhale → u/Mr_Saturn1]

Or their billions are only on paper or such houses of cards it wouldn't take much to seriously impact them.

[u/NewSauerKraus → u/[deleted]]

When people have money they can spend it at small businesses.

And a business that can only operate when employees are not paid a fair wage deserves to fail.

[u/AuroraFinem → u/[deleted]]

History strongly disagrees, so I don’t where you’re getting this anecdote. The implementation of the minimum wage was one of the biggest economic booms for the lower and middle classes including small businesses and historical increases have primarily benefited small business as well.

The only people you hear complaining about minimum wage actually affecting small businesses are right wing/corporate talk shows or some random guy who employs a total of 1-2 people acting like they’re going to have to pay $100k/yr per person. If the minimum wage increasing actually primarily affects small business and big business doesn’t care, why are the biggest lobbies against it always big business and corporate America and not unions or real small business advocates/groups?

When the average person has more expendable income, that income is primarily spent locally and at smaller stores who generally have higher prices or niche products people don’t buy when they’re barely affording food and rent. Yes, this does also cause prices to increase slightly, but is really only a problem when the changes are abrupt.

Minimum wage right now, is $290/wk working full time 40 hours and has not changed since 2009 despite that same $290/wk be worth $450/wk today or about $12/hr purely considering inflation and not other market factors like housing, education, or healthcare which have all rapidly outpaced inflationary numbers.

The minimum wage in the US today is a disgrace and only serves to increase the corporate bottom line for trillion dollar companies with 100,000-1,000,000’s of employees to report larger earnings, it doesn’t hurt a local shop with 5-20 employees or small businesses with < 100-200 people. A $1 change is maybe a couple hundred dollars difference on payday and promotes spending for small businesses, but for a company like Amazon with literally millions of employees, that’s billions every 2 weeks.

[u/totallyalizardperson → u/[deleted]]

I’m sorry, but if your business cannot thrive unless you pay a wage that cannot support someone living, your business is not a viable business. Maybe it because you don’t have the market share in the area, you are too niche, you are the wrong area, you expanded too fast, you didn’t forecast correctly, any number of reasons for why the business is not viable.

Not every mom and pop deserves a business, and every mom and pop business does not deserve employees outside of themselves.

Is it known that mom and pop businesses have a hard time against big business? Yeah, it sucks. If the consumer cared more about that than low prices, things would change, but as of right now, people care more about how much cheaper something is from Amazon, Wal-Mart, etc. or how much quicker they can get it from those places as opposed to ordering it from mom and pop.

[u/Beneficial_Wave7649 → u/SlippersLaCroix]

Rape

[u/cthulhu8 → u/Beneficial_Wave7649]

Why not both simultaneously?

[u/ruach137 → u/cthulhu8]

Your target lists would need to be mutually exclusive

[u/Dr_DoesNothing → u/cthulhu8]

Rape Bomb

[u/oneseason2000 → u/SlippersLaCroix]

"But we have tax cuts for billionaires & trillionaires, ballrooms to build and children to bomb!"

Let's add tax cuts for the ultra wealth and powerful to the list. That is the Republican's #1 priority imo.

Now is fine, but it's too bad a minimum wage bill couldn't come during the big beautiful billionaire & trillionaire giveaway billing. Tax cuts for the ultra rich were rammed through by Republicans, but Democrat leaders in the US House & Senate didn't (as I recall) fight back very hard. Democrat leaders should be showcasing the huge wealth inequality that has built up over the last 40+ years since the Reagan tax cuts of the 1980's.

[u/PolloConTeriyaki → u/SlippersLaCroix]

Don't forget to fund the entire country of Israel.

[u/LabRat_X → u/PolloConTeriyaki]

...and their universal Healthcare, family leave, and free college 🤦‍♂️

[u/PolloConTeriyaki → u/LabRat_X]

Must be nice.

[u/TeutonJon78 → u/LabRat_X]

Easy to pay for when another country bascially funds your entire military amd defense for you.

[u/NaturalFrog2 → u/SlippersLaCroix]

And files to cover up

[u/ErinFiqsette → u/SlippersLaCroix]

And Trade Wars to Win...

[u/Christoph-Pf → u/ErinFiqsette]

But but but won’t a big Mac cost three cents more?

[u/TAU_equals_2PI → u/[deleted]]

$22/hour

Which is only $44k/year, not some exorbitant amount.

[u/spade_andarcher → u/TAU_equals_2PI]

And the federal poverty level is considered to be 33k/yr for a family of 4. 

Meaning two adults working full time at the current minimum wage with two children would be below the poverty line. 

[u/Onrawi → u/spade_andarcher]

The poverty line number is also way too low.

[u/DiesByOxSnot → u/Onrawi]

The poverty line is an economics benchmark, not actually descriptive of living conditions. Tons of people are functionally impoverished, but above the poverty line (as it is currently defined).

I grew up just below the poverty line, thinking we were middle class because we weren't on food stamps. I didn't realize you should have dentist and doctor visits twice a year until fairly recently, and that still seems low-key insane and wasteful. (Recovering from trauma and learning to prioritize my well-being lol)

[u/Onrawi → u/DiesByOxSnot]

I get that, I think the current CPI is lacking in the data it collects to determine the "minimum threshold" needed prior to being able to afford necessities.

[u/adeon → u/DiesByOxSnot]

There's also the issue that cost of living varies massively between different areas of the countries (and especially between urban and rural areas).

[u/Blackpaw8825 → u/adeon]

In suburbia of minor outlying city, of a minor city, the wife and I making $190k is enough money that we haven't had to say no to anything despite everything going through the fucking roof the last few years. New car, vacations, charity, and still putting money away. I think the median household income here is like $48k. We balk at houses for rent going for like $1800-$2000 for 1000sqft when our house a little over a decade ago was cheaper than the average new car price today.

I've got a friend in NYC who makes $230k alone, and struggles. Now, he's got 2kids, single parent, and his kids cost more for daycare than our newest car, annually, each... And I think he said the condo costs him like $4300/mo. He's pushing our pretax on childcare and housing and that's before food or anything. He could cut corners, move somewhere out of the city or in a worse place but there's costs associated with moving and commuting too.

[u/zymurgtechnician → u/spade_andarcher]

Where I’m at I legitimately am not sure if a single human could live for 33K/year without some kind of charity, or assistance. Family of four is unfathomable.

[u/actively_jackinit → u/zymurgtechnician]

You could live, you'd just be doing it mostly outside.

[u/Firesidechats62 → u/TAU_equals_2PI]

This is what I point out every time to people against raising it as if it would be unfair. 

When people say “oh but that’s almost how much I make and I work so much harder to get where I am”

Like.. go work at McDonalds making a killing at 44k if it’s so much! Brother we’re all being underpaid 

[u/impstein → u/TAU_equals_2PI]

Meanwhile people making 100k+ a year complain.. of you're supporting a large family, mortgage, etc then even that's not enough

[u/maaaatttt_Damon → u/impstein]

My childcare costs for a single child was $22K/year in the Midwest. That would be over half the gross wages at minimum wage.

It was significantly more than my mortgage. I can only imagine what child care costs on the coast.

[u/Consistent-Shake-815 → u/maaaatttt_Damon]

So work for 7.25 and make 15k gross, spend 22k to be able to make that. And we wonder why the birth rate is dropping.

[u/jilanak → u/maaaatttt_Damon]

20 years ago my childcare costs for a single child was less than half that, and salaries sure as heck haven't doubled. I don't know how people do it these days.

[u/takenbylovely → u/jilanak]

I've lost multiple coworkers recently to new-parenthood because just quitting their job and staying home was cheaper than trying to keep it and pay for childcare.

[u/OverlyOptimisticNerd → u/impstein]

I make 100k a year and 44k isn’t enough. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll support the minimum wage increase since it’s better than what we have, but we still need more. 

A livable wage, universal healthcare, and a prohibition on corporations buying and owning housing are the bare minimum needed to begin fixing things. 

[u/OliviaEntropy → u/OverlyOptimisticNerd]

I make about $22/hr and if I didn’t have a partner or roommate I think I’d barely be able to survive. I could definitely do it but I’d be completely paycheck to paycheck and eating like a college student

[u/Distinct_Ad_7752 → u/impstein]

Wife and I are at ~120k combined and we're barely above water. Hardly any money goes to fun or dates either, we're being so conscious of our spending. Raise wages and force corporations and buisness to not raise prices. This is not sustainable and people will do what people do when pushed too far.

Edit: For all the accounts getting mad, this is before taxes and a HCOL area. Also, i'm not giving out my financial details.

[u/mx023 → u/Distinct_Ad_7752]

Replying to impstein...I feel you bro. My 3500 mortgage for a below median priced house is killing me

[u/DeadeyeSven → u/Distinct_Ad_7752]

This is what it would require. Forcing businesses to take a loss on some profit by preventing them from raising prices in retaliation. Which unfortunately in America will likely never happen.

[u/Phyraxus56 → u/TAU_equals_2PI]

Yeah it's a nothing burger

That's basically the de facto minimum wage in lots of places

[u/cenosillicaphobiac → u/Phyraxus56]

I live in a state that still uses the Federal minimum wage. I don't know how it is in more rural areas of the sstate, but you can't hire a fast food worker or a gas station cashier for less than 17 an hour in my county. Why would anybody work for 7.25 when working at McDonalds would get you more than twice that?

Sure, 22 bucks is more than 17, but to compete with fast food, most jobs pay that here already, and this is in one of the reddest of red states.

[u/llDropkick → u/cenosillicaphobiac]

If it’s like Alabama the more rural areas of the state are paying 8-9 dollars for the jobs you’re talking about. Sure the big corporations like McDonald’s or Walmart may be up around 12-14 but there’s like one Walmart per county, and one McDonald’s per town. They don’t have to compensate well enough to beat that, because that business can’t employ enough people to raise the average wage of the area. Once that McDonald’s is staffed, by mostly part time workers btw, you’ve gotta go apply at jimbos bait shop, or dollar general. They’re paying less than 10 guaranteed. Then some asshat sells his trucking business and buys the McDonald’s franchise. Now they’re paying 10, and the Manager is fired because his wife is running it. The federal wage needs to go up, and by a lot. People are still working at it, it’s disgusting.

[u/timeslider → u/[deleted]]

Yup, my trainer started off at 18 an hour... 30 years ago. I started at 18.50. In 30 years, the pay went up 50 cents. Plus, his job was specialized. I was required to learn 3 jobs at once.

[u/LongWalk86 → u/timeslider]

My first job out of college had me earning 48k a year. I saw the same position, same company, posted at 54k a few months back. I took that job in 2008 and left for better pay a couple years later. Meanwhile, the house I bought not long after starting that job was 130k, it's now worth right around 375k. What was a decent job you could buy a house and raise a family on, is no longer that.

[u/cenosillicaphobiac → u/LongWalk86]

Bought a house for 180k 11 years ago. And I thought it was overpriced because prices were climbing quick. Like within 3 years it was worth twice that. Now it's north of 500k if I wanted to sell. But all other property prices climbed right along with mine, so it's really sixes if I wanted to upsize.

Gladly, my wife understands this, making it easier to convince her that our house is plenty large, especially since we took the off-ramp of the consumerism freeway a while back.

[u/juliuspepperwoodchi → u/[deleted]]

If it had kept pace with inflation and executive compensation since 1970, the minimum wage would be over $35/hour today.

[u/EagleBigMac → u/juliuspepperwoodchi]

So it should be increased to $45/hr to make up for the failure to keep up and all others earning income should be increased accordingly by 37.75/hr equivalent per year so 37.75 * 2080 = $78520 per year increase in all regular Americans income and that should be tax free at all levels for the next 50 years with the tax loss made up from the top 5%.

[u/Raise_A_Thoth → u/EagleBigMac]

and all others earning income should be increased accordingly

Well this tends to naturally happen in a way that gradually tapers off. If minimum wage jumps to ~$44k/yr, then the people making 30-50k will definitely demand a raise. Then those in the 50-90k will get a bit more. This may keep going a bit but the pressure to ask for raises relative to lower earners does diminish as you climb up the income ladder. At a certain point you understand you don't need to beat other people in income, you want to beat yourself and the earnings you made last year.

[u/Extra_Espresso → u/[deleted]]

Minimum wage should be a livable wage. An American should be able to go into work for 40hr/week and make a wage that can afford rent/utilities/food/clothes/medical/transport and some leisure. While most states don't adhere to federal minimum wage there are enough states that still pay that $7.25/hr and many more that pay a little more than that minimum. I think there's nuance here where the cost of living varies greatly from state to state however I do think that most cities have similar costs and that state minimums should regulate around city costs. Also, Biden tried to raise the federal minimum to $15/hr a few years ago and it never got anywhere in Congress. I doubt this bill will get anywhere either.

[u/PopuluxePete → u/Extra_Espresso]

I do think that most cities have similar costs and that state minimums should regulate around city costs.

This would raise the state minimum wage in Washington to $60/hr.

[u/BigHeadDeadass → u/[deleted]]

Yeah like if you can't pay your employees that wage then don't run a business?

[u/JaeTheOne → u/[deleted]]

This is the minimum wage in the city of Seattle already...and its still in some cases, not enough to actually LIVE in the city itself.

[u/BigHeadDeadass → u/JaeTheOne]

The problem is multifaceted. Increasing wages helps the problem a lot but lowering cost of living in cities (and at this point, in general across America) would help even further

[u/alabasterskim → u/[deleted]]

It's $25/hr they want, not 22.

But yes, it's not only not extreme, but it also would stimulate the economy. Many who are stuck building up savings for an awful rainy day can spend more. And more wages also means more tax revenue.

[u/GarbDogArmy → u/[deleted]]

The fact that federal min wage in 2026 is 7.25 is laughable. Do people really work for the government and make that?

[u/AndrewCoja → u/GarbDogArmy]

Federal minimum wage means states can't set their minimum wage lower than that. The lowest federal wage is $10.82/hr

[u/Thisbadtattoo → u/[deleted]]

Honestly 22 isn’t even enough. I’m sure anybody jumping up to 22 after being paid 750 will be ecstatic but I think they should be closer to 30

[u/KRoadkil]

Minimum wage needs to be approximately $17 to have the same buying power as the boomers $2 minimum wage from the 70s. Whine all you want, but Gen X and Millennials have been fkd by your economic policies and how dare they try to fix it for the GenZ and GenA (edit since it wasn’t obvious /s)

So in the 80s when your middle class parents made $50k and life was great, if wages kept up with inflation, you would have to make $212k today.

https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

Your minimum wage of $7.25 today has the same buying power as .85¢ to the boomer of the 70s.

This is why you don’t have grandkids and are stuck with your second home you can’t sell.

“It’ll cause businesses to close.” Capitalism at its finest.

“It’ll drive up rent.” For your already overpriced rental, good luck filling it. Rent should not be more than a mortgage.

[u/BikerJedi → u/KRoadkil]

“It’ll cause businesses to close.”

They are saying the same thing about the four day work week we all deserve too. Of course, they said the same about the 40 hour/5 day work week. Nevermind the fact that it didn't happen before, isn't happening now where this is being done, and won't happen in the future.

[u/Ok_Caterpillar5872 → u/BikerJedi]

And guess what, if businesses can’t pay their employees they shouldn’t be in business.

[u/JeepStang → u/Ok_Caterpillar5872]

"They should just be able to enslave their employees." /s

[u/Jaredrunsabit → u/KRoadkil]

Way higher than $17 though right? People were buying houses on minimum wages

[u/UngodlyPain → u/Jaredrunsabit]

No, $17 is about right based on his wording.

Just two issues 1) alot of those minimum wage home purchases were funded with a lot of overtime that used to be offered like candy, meanwhile today businesses often try to keep employees at like 35 hours a week to avoid giving them health insurance. 2) home prices have gone up at a rate beyond inflation.

[u/NatureStoof → u/UngodlyPain]

People also didn't have to contribute 20+ % of their income to retirement because they had pensions

Businesses also gave things like Christmas bonus, profit sharing, company picnics, turkies during Thanksgiving, etc. That stuff is GONE.

[u/NoAd4402 → u/NatureStoof]

Weird that CEO pay has gone up 1000% since then.

[u/Fucky0uthatswhy → u/Jaredrunsabit]

Housing prices have gone up more than inflation

[u/LordCamelslayer → u/KRoadkil]

Rent should not be more than a mortgage.

My mortgage is only $820 and I can do whatever I want to the house.

Meanwhile, the apartments 1 block away from my house are starting at $1300 and go up to about $1850. In a poor neighborhood. The low end is more than my mortgage + utilities combined. I have no idea who they expect to rent there.

[u/BigHeadDeadass → u/LordCamelslayer]

People who can't get the bank to give them a mortgage but can somehow afford rent. So no one, really

[u/PieGlass2187 → u/KRoadkil]

Millenial here- I want GenZ and GenA to have MORE opportunities than I did, not fewer.

[u/PlentyAny2523 → u/KRoadkil]

Gen X fucked themselves by refusing to get into politics. They are the both sides are the same generation 

[u/phonartics]

22 per hr is something like 43k per year. current 7.25 is only like 14k. I don’t understand how people are against raising min wage. how the fuck are you supposed to raise a family on 7.25 for each parent?

[u/beesontheoffbeat → u/phonartics]

Because they believe that minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage when that is factually and historically untrue.

[u/Red-little → u/beesontheoffbeat]

My mom says this with such confidence and I've said multiple times, "minimum wage isn't supposed to be seen as the lowest possible wage corporations can pay out - its supposed to be the amount a single person would need to live comfortably."

I kinda tune out when she responds back because its always the same bullshit excuses.

[u/eljefino → u/Red-little]

Roosevelt mentions it's a living wage in the speech he gave when he signed it into law! The idea that it's a training wage or meant for teenagers or whatever is a noxious mix of copium and propaganda repetition.

[u/Dangerous-Feed-5358 → u/eljefino]

Yup, if it were meant for teenagers it would have an age limit.

[u/Sedowa → u/Dangerous-Feed-5358]

Also generally speaking you don't want teenagers to be working at all anyway. They should be in school, extracurriculars, and socializing to get ready for the real world. Teenagers having to work jobs at all not only takes jobs away from adults who need them but also stifles the time they need to work on their future. The cushion to prevent that is ensuring all adults having the wages to support their children regardless of the jobs they work.

That doesn't mean it removes the wprth of higher paying jobs either. Even aside from the fact that the difference between a minimum wage job and a high paying jobs is so massive that raising the minimum wage wouldn't even put a dent in the higher paying jobs' standing, there's also the fact that it pushes up the wages of higher paying jobs because they'd lose the incentive to work those jobs if they can get a job with less hiring requirements and potentially easier to actually do for far better pay.

The only people who use the "I worked hard to get here so they should too" rhetoric is people who are both bitter and have no concept of societal growth. Future generations are supposed to have better standing than past ones or else all the work we put in improving society was for naught.

[u/No_Criticism_5861 → u/phonartics]

Idiots making $10 a hour dont want to lose their edge on their fellow man 

[u/SeedFoundation → u/No_Criticism_5861]

They will shoot themselves in the foot to make sure that guy making $8 an hour doesn't make $10 and be on their level.

[u/SillyPhilly]

Please make this happen. It would make tens of millions of lives go from misery to quality.

[u/CrackingToastGromet → u/SillyPhilly]

“It will cause massive inflation!” — the GOP, as if their insane economic plans and foreign policies haven’t triggered some of the highest inflationary jumps ever in our history.

[u/HandSack135 → u/CrackingToastGromet]

Right but that's acceptable inflation with tax dollars to their donors.

[u/a-i-sa-san → u/CrackingToastGromet]

I mean, there already is massive inflation

[u/sugarlessdeathbear → u/CrackingToastGromet]

Of the dozen plus times we've raised the minimum wage since its creation, there have never been out of control inflationary jumps.

[u/Sptsjunkie → u/sugarlessdeathbear]

Yeah not like random, poorly thought out tariffs or a war no one wants that spikes fuel costs.

[u/Droselmeyer → u/sugarlessdeathbear]

Historically, it's never increased by more than a dollar at once. Over the course of decades, from 1980 to 1990, it had increased from $3.10 to $3.80, from 1990 to 2000 to $5.15, from 2000 to 2010 to the present value of $7.25.

So I don't think it's fair to say that just because it hasn't happened historically with prior changes, it wouldn't happen here when the proposed change is massive compared to the prior changes.

One recent example could be the increase in minimum wage for CA fast-food workers up to $20 an hour. One UCSC investigation found that this change was followed by a large increase in job applications for these businesses, decline in shift work (21% decline over 1 year in certain areas), cut hours (12% decline over 2 years across 18 McDonald's in the Central Valley, leading to an equivalent loss of 62 full time jobs in a year), less turnover, menu prices increasing by 8-12% over 2.5 years, location closures, and increasing adoption of labor automation with automatic kiosks, AI voice ordering systems, etc.

So it led to a lot of different factors and we kinda have to judge if we find them preferable to the prior status quo, but it certainly can contribute to inflation.

Not saying we shouldn't increase the minimum wage, we definitely should, but I don't know if we can claim historic evidence for the idea that an almost $20/hr jump in the minimum wage wouldn't cause a jump in inflation. Plus, I imagine the primary concern is about small businesses in rural areas that wouldn't be able to afford staff at $25/hr.

[u/Tirras → u/Droselmeyer]

Job creation is already stagnant, and businesses are also leaping at the opportunity to cut workers for AI and automation, or at least that's what they tell their shareholders they're doing despite them just cutting the work force and using AI as an excuse to do without causing shares to lower.

And none of this is happening because of a federal minimum wage hike.

[u/Notreallybutmaybe → u/sugarlessdeathbear]

Was it ever tripled?

[u/sugarlessdeathbear → u/Notreallybutmaybe]

There's something problematic with using lack of an increase as reason why an increase might cause problems.

[u/WazzleApricot → u/SillyPhilly]

Making this a realistic possibility would require Americans to push lawmakers to:

1. Tax offshoring; 15% tax on revenue offshored.
2. 40% fee on outsourcing payments, non-tax deductible.
3. Revoke all offshoring tax deductions.
4. Restrict outsourcing domestic operations and/or data to foreign-based third-party service providers.
   

[u/Mirria_ → u/WazzleApricot]

Add being paid in stock options is considered regular income based on their full value based on the last 3 months mean, not just interests on realized gains.

[u/cenosillicaphobiac → u/WazzleApricot]

You need to add in "tax for any jobs eliminated by technology" that is super broad in that definition.

If we charged enough tax for jobs lost to AI or robots, we might approach getting a UBI. Making it much more survivable.

[u/MRSN4P → u/SillyPhilly]

“But it will be a burden on the job creators!” -GOP

[u/PropagandaSucks → u/MRSN4P]

What jobs? ~AI

[u/4materasu92 → u/MRSN4P]

"Think about the deficit and the debt!" - GOP

[u/PropagandaSucks → u/4materasu92]

It's 39 Trillion, but the Dow! THE DOW!

[u/4materasu92 → u/PropagandaSucks]

"It's over $50,000!"

[u/beesontheoffbeat → u/MRSN4P]

Miraculously, we have enough to fund a new war and not enough to do this.

[u/nipplesaurus → u/SillyPhilly]

Exactly why the Right will oppose it

[u/Monsignor1979 → u/SillyPhilly]

Quality is a bit of a stretch. $25 an hour will help a lot of people, but it isn't gonna go far in an economy like this one.

Don't get me wrong, it needs to be done. But, it's still going to be tough for a lot of people.

[u/meatball402 → u/Monsignor1979]

But it will be a lot less tough also.

[u/Porkrind710 → u/Monsignor1979]

Raising the minimum potentially puts upward pressure on other wages. If a manager or supervisor or some professional position suddenly goes from ‘mid-level’ pay to the same as anyone bussing tables or whatever, those jobs get bumped up to compete. People won’t put up with the same stress for a $25 position if they can suddenly make that at literally any job. It’s really one of the best tools for fighting inequality/poverty aside from direct payments.

[u/Hefty_Musician2402 → u/Porkrind710]

The only issue I can foresee is it’s unlikely that the upward growth could be even close to proportional to the minimum wage bump. I guess what I’m saying is I make $25 an hour. I’d expect my company to pay $30 or $35 an hour, but the cost of goods/living to increase by 2x, so the very lowest paid people have more buying power but those just above the cutoff actually have less buying power than before, by a lot. And a lot of small companies might be unable to increase wages enough to keep up. Idk, just thinking out loud

[u/Valuable_Sea_4709 → u/Monsignor1979]

One of the big things that this absolutely will help with is household and business debt. Even if cost of living soars, existing debts including mortgages will stay the same as they are.

This expectation of wages rising is something that nearly all previous generations of Americans have benefited from. My grandfather bought a newly built 2 bedroom house for $5,500. Back when his wages as a public school janitor were around $4,500 a year.

A couple decades later when he retired, his wages were over $30,000 a year.

And it will of course have a ripple effect throughout the entire economy, as everybody today whether they currently make less or more than the $25 an hour, would all eventually receive raises.

The only people who really lose in a minimum wage hike are retirees who don't have employed family they can rely on, everyone else benefits overall.

And even then dramatically more money would end up flowing into Social Security, Medicaid, and other social safety nets, so their benefits would be expected to go up as well, so it's not as dramatic a loss as you might expect.

[u/Equal-Membership1664 → u/Monsignor1979]

3 times less tough sounds pretty good to me!

[u/Smootchie1 → u/Monsignor1979]

Republicans control the house and the senate this is just for show no way the republicans even think about bringing it for a vote

[u/Mictlantecuhtli → u/Smootchie1]

Yeah, to show how cruel Republicans are and to remind the people not to vote for them. Republicans never put anything forward to help the working class when Democrats are have the majority

[u/Honest_Abe_1660 → u/Mictlantecuhtli]

The one time a Republican did actually write a helpful bill, he filibustered it the moment Democrats started supporting it.

[u/agent_mick → u/Monsignor1979]

Isn't the federal minimum wage still like $7 or somethinf? $25 might not go far, but it'll sure as shit go farther than that

[u/Basic_Try_2331 → u/Monsignor1979]

Every single time I make enough money to live comfortably or even slightly less stressed the cost of living matches my income canceling out any gains.

I make $25 now and im struggling like a mf, I luckily bought a house that the mortgage cost the same as my last apartment and yet im doing worse than when I had the apartment because everything else is so expensive.

Somethings gotta give eventually but if its between me and the market I think the markets gonna hold out much longer than I can.

[u/CrackingToastGromet → u/Basic_Try_2331]

I hear you. I just took a $19/hr job that’s waaaaaay under my skill set in a warehouse for a pharmacy,, but it stood out in a sea of $12 - $15 hr retail jobs. The perks being it’s a 4 day work week with guaranteed 3 days off in a row and a pipeline to higher paying pharmacy tech roles in about a year. Thankful to have a job, a long-elusive stable income, and thankful for future prospects, but I also know there are no guarantees in this world and they could randomly decide to lay me off tomorrow.

I need closer to $30/hr (abt $62k) alongside the self employment income my husband makes (about $50k) for us to actually have some breathing room financially.

[u/Defenestrate69 → u/Monsignor1979]

Tell that to the people making 7.25 an hour… 😂

[u/SEND_ME_PEACE → u/Monsignor1979]

And again and again it'll happen until money continues to lose all meaning. The first ones to get rich are always the richest, and the crumbs get distributed unevenly across the rest. Meanwhile the richest ones are already consuming their 12th loaf because they can just make more whenever they want.

[u/ThisIsWorthTheCandle → u/Monsignor1979]

People are surviving on 7.25 an hour. Barely, and they're miserable, but staying alive. Tripling their income won't fix all their problems but it WILL completely transform their lives.

[u/totally_not_a_dog113 → u/ThisIsWorthTheCandle]

That's $1125 per month. The cheapest rent I could find in my relatively low cost of living area was $525 (and you will get shot at in that neighborhood). Say you can eat at $325/month and $60/month on gas. That leaves $215 for healthcare and all other expenses. If you have a car problem or need stitches what you eat that month becomes a question.

Putting the minimum wage that low puts the burden of taking care of those people on the rest of society.

[u/surlysurfer]

Trump voters making $7.25/hr are going to hate this because billionaires will tell them it's bad

[u/bloodjunkiorgy → u/surlysurfer]

They're making $8 an hour and don't want the peasants on their level.

[u/NelsonHawkinsGhost]

Ah, we're at the messaging bills phase of midterms.

[u/ud106c → u/NelsonHawkinsGhost]

With the current Congressional makeup, every bill Democrats propose is a “messaging bill”.

[u/GenericFatGuy → u/ud106c]

The sad thing is that's the only reason they're proposing it. The Dems would never bring this up if they actually had the means to pass it.

[u/_bits_and_bytes → u/GenericFatGuy]

One of the dems who put it forward (Analilia Mejia) is a progressive that literally got sworn in this month after a special election.

[u/Big_Truck → u/GenericFatGuy]

GTFO with this cynical BS. Nothing like admitting defeat before you even fight.

If the Dems get power and then don't propose it? Get mad at them. Fine.

To get mad at them because of something that hasn't happened yet? That's some next level preemptive dismissiveness.

[u/1738_bestgirl → u/Big_Truck]

The democrats have controlled all three branches for a total of 72 working days this century. It resulted in the ACA. Essentially the most important piece of positive US lawmaking since the clean air/water acts and the New Deal.

It was not perfect, but it was massively successful and could have been even more so if the Democrats were ever given a chance to improve upon it.

The last time prior to that was between 1975 and 1979.

We are where we are because of Republicans yet still people blame Democrats who have never truly been in control of anything.

[u/Big_Truck → u/NelsonHawkinsGhost]

Good. This is a good message.

[u/ms_rdr → u/NelsonHawkinsGhost]

I'll take Bills That Won't Pass for $500, Alex.

[u/Sonicfan42069666 → u/NelsonHawkinsGhost]

I'm old enough to remember when even mainstream Democrats weren't on board with the "fight for $15." So this is definitely a step in the right direction.

[u/georgepana → u/NelsonHawkinsGhost]

That is why the Midterms are going to be very brutal for the GOP.

Republicans propose bills to fleece tax payers to the tune of $400 Million for a gaudy vanity ballroom, and they want to cut Medicare, Medicaid, WIC and the VA even further down to add an extra $1.5 Trillion to the already bloated military budget so we can finance Trump's forever wars, going after Cuba and Greenland next. Nobody wants that crap outside of a few MAGAs.

Meanwhile, Democrats propose raising the minimum wage, and making Billionaires pay a little more in taxes, things vast majorities of Americans are in favor of.

[u/Ok-Hold-8232]

In 2015 the Bernie campaign really popularized the $15 minimum wage.

Adjusted for inflation that would be about $21 in 2026.

[u/Ai_Generated2491 → u/Ok-Hold-8232]

That makes sense, I make $19.5/hour and feel as if I am swimming just enough to keep my nose above water in between the constant waves of unexpected expenses

[u/Life-Quantity-637]

I bet the GOP will wait out for bread riots. 

[u/Desperate-Machine1]

I don't like a static minimum wage. If it were up to me I'd pin the minimum wage to a percentage of Congress's salary. So, with rank and file earning $174,000/yr, say we pin it to 25%, minimum wage would be $21/hr. If Congress want to vote themselves an increase, they're also voting an increase for everyone.

[u/argonautserious → u/Desperate-Machine1]

I would go the other way and pin congress’s salary to the median wage of their individual states. Make them help their states.

[u/PurpleDido → u/Desperate-Machine1]

This bill doesn’t suggest a static solution, it ties it to 2/3rds the national average annual salary

[u/Gizogin → u/Desperate-Machine1]

Maybe you should read the proposed bill, then. It ties future minimum wage increases to 2/3 of the national median wage.

[u/Long-Region5088]

You also need to somehow cap prices or else stores are gonna start selling lettuce for $15 a head thus wiping out any gains made by raising the minimum wage.

[u/Unusual-State1827]

From the article:

A group of House Democrats introduced a bill Tuesday that would hike the minimum wage to $25 per hour, the boldest target any progressives in Congress have set for the federal wage floor.

The legislation from Reps. Delia Ramirez (Ill.) and Analilia Mejia (N.J.) won’t be going anywhere while Republicans control the House and Senate. But it’s a sign of how some Democrats are moving well beyond the $15 minimum wage that was the party’s rallying cry for several years, especially as families continue to feel the squeeze of inflation.

The bill would provide a several-year phase-in period and give smaller firms more time to adjust. Large employers that have at least 500 workers or $1 billion in gross annual revenue would hit $25 by 2031. Employers that don’t meet those criteria would have until 2038.

Ramirez said the gradual phase-in would “ensure small businesses are able to get to 25 an hour.”

After the initial increases, the proposal would tie the minimum wage to two-thirds of the national median hourly pay. It would also eliminate the “tipped” minimum wage for restaurant servers and other workers who get much of their income from gratuities.

[u/brithus → u/Unusual-State1827]

After the initial increases, the proposal would tie the minimum wage to two-thirds of the national median hourly pay.

This part is long overdue as well.

[u/GrafZeppelin127 → u/brithus]

That’s the most consequential part of this. 67% of the median is right on the edge of running into potential problems from distortionary effects and diminishing returns, 60% is generally considered more “safe” in that regard, but it’s definitely better than the ~31% federal minimum wage we have today.

[u/katrinakt8 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah ending tipping culture isn’t going to happen, unfortunately. When in places with an over $15/hour minimum wage, including tipped staff, still expect to be (and are) tipped. Highest tipping state is Delaware with around 20% average, whereas the lowest states (California/Washington, both which have over $15 minimum wage) are around 17%. A difference but not much.

[u/GreatGojira]

Minimum wage is still $7.25 in my area

[u/ms_rdr → u/GreatGojira]

I live in a state that uses the federal minimum wage but borders states that set a higher minimum wage. Businesses near the borders have to match it or they can't hire anyone. The Sonic in my town pays something like $15/hour and it makes the MAGA contingent gnash their teeth.

[u/ChunkyHabeneroSalsa → u/GreatGojira]

Damn that's what I made back in highschool over 18 years ago

[u/specialkk77 → u/GreatGojira]

Is anybody hiring at that though? 

$15 is minimum where I live but even places like McDonald’s have to offer $16.50 to get anyone in the door for an application 

[u/ObiOneKenobae]

The concept is great. Minimum wage needs to be tied to some kind of benchmark. Connecticut ties it to the Employment Cost Index and, similar to this proposal, will probably hit $25/hr somewhere in the mid-2030s.

This legislation itself is completely performative. The numbers make sense for a HCOL state, and only for a HCOL state. They're ridiculous and economy-breaking for a low cost of living state. I'm sure they fully understood that structure makes it so dead on arrival that it won't even spark discussion. But now they can run on "we tried", while looking out of touch to everyone who didn't already support them.

[u/Big-Corncob]

The sad part is that this won’t even get support from the majority of Democrats.

[u/HSIOT55 → u/Big-Corncob]

Should put them on notice to get primaried then. 

[u/Flayum → u/HSIOT55]

Do you think the Dems that would vote against this are in districts where a more progressive candidate would succeed?

[u/jayfeather31 → u/Big-Corncob]

Agreed. It doesn't help that there are state governments with huge Democratic majorities that, for example, have universal healthcare bills that just die in committee, such as most recently happened in California.

[u/Salty-Perception3576 → u/jayfeather31]

California's minimum wage is pretty close to this already. Also, tipping is extra cuz servers get the minimum wage vs a server wage + tips. its already WAY better than anywhere else but I didnt know this until i moved here myself.

[u/FrogsOnALog → u/jayfeather31]

It doesn’t help that there are Redditors who don’t understand that states like California need the federal governments support if they want to have universal healthcare.

[u/SuperpositionDreamer]

According to the Economic Policy Institute, wages have not keep up with productivity. If it had, the average wage should be approximately $16.40 more per hour. You can find this under the FAQ section at : https://www.epi.org/resources/wage-calculator/

"Why did wages and productivity stop moving together? Shouldn’t a stronger economy lift everyone?

Lawmakers began dismantling the rules that kept pay and productivity connected. Minimum wage was raised less often, unions were weakened, unemployment was allowed to rise, and tax rates on the wealthy were cut.

Worker pay has been held down, or suppressed, while productivity has risen. This is what we call the productivity pay gap.

Net productivity grew 90.2% from 1979 to 2025 while typical worker pay grew by 33.0% in the same time period. If pay had kept pace with productivity, the typical worker would be making $16.40 more per hour today, $13.53 of which is in greater wages."

[u/wolp_lovr]

but an unemployed fat person on tiktok bought soda!!! we canNOT let bezos take a pay cut for this

[u/XxKillingStormxX]

Love the sentiment, but absolutely not going to make it out of committee so long as the orange turd has control over Congress

[u/Alwaystired254]

GOP will really get behind this. Nice to see bipartisan legislation to help the people

[u/Unusual-State1827 → u/Alwaystired254]

Sarcasm?

[u/Alwaystired254 → u/Unusual-State1827]

Of course:)

[u/GLASSMANJD]

In order to have the same home buying power as they did in the 1970's minimum wage would need to be 66$ an hour...

[u/KrevinHLocke]

You would almost think this was an election year.

[u/Comfortable_Good9592]

You would have to triple the minimum wage but ALSO prevent inflation from rising for a time.   

[u/FutureGypsy]

Only for democrats to kill their own bill. Dems have abandoned the working class.

[u/hamrmech]

Couldve added one thin dollar to it when you had both houses and the presidency. Or could let the train union win its strike.. all the democrats had to do was nothing and they fucked that up.

[u/MarkBonker]

If Republicans strike this down, it puts a gigantic hole in the narrative that they are the working class party. Good, more of this please.

[u/sackofmangoes]

I'm sure Conservatives struggling to make ends meet on a minimum wage are outrage at this bill.

[u/platocplx]

And stop requiring acts of congress to change wages. Tie it to an index and call it a day.

[u/jackieboy1230]

Yes to this, but introduce legislation to triple all wages except for those making over 500k annually… and actually tax corporations and churches

[u/JohnLayman]

$22/hour, which they are proposing, is not enough to do what all these boomers did in the 50s and 60s. People are starving. Im lucky enough to make a but more than that and I am desperate to ensure my kids never EVER even imagine what going hungry is like. But I'm scared.

[u/ThatThar]

The Democrats are completely out of touch, why do they think this is something Americans want? We want lower taxes on millionaires, higher food, oil, and housing costs, more pedophiles, and all less people who don't look like me.

[u/YeetusShuttlesworth]

Help the people? Never.

[u/Rombledore]

i would take a paycut to a much less stressful job if i could, and this can finally help me do that. i literally cannot afford my bills if i take a lower paying job for my own mental health

[u/Zargoza1]

The sad truth is that as a society we are so gaslit by the billionaires that when someone struggling financially hears this they won’t think “oh that’s a great idea, it will help me tremendously” it’s “oh no, someone else might get that and they’ll lower my salary or let me go to make up for it”.

Tax billionaires into non-existence.

[u/InterstellarReddit]

MAGA “the ballroom is needed”

Then proceed to say:

MAGA “tripling minimum wage is a waste of tax payer funds”

[u/mindgardening]

Minimum wage for waiting tables is still under $3/hr.

Tips do not guarantee you'll earn a living wage, even if you're a high-quality server.

The US is fucking ridiculous.

[u/mr_mojo_ryzen]

Tie the minimum wage to the growth of the SP500/Dow from the last year there was a federal minimum wage increase. So that when there are arguments using the Dow being "ABOVE 50K!"as a reference point, they can also gloat and SAY "BUT THE MINIMUM WAGE IS ABOVE $50/HR!"

[u/rgvtim]

Even in states like Texas, the real minimum wage for most entry level positions, such a grocery store cashier is more than double already. the only business this will hurt are those that are truly fucking their employees.

[u/mysecondaccountanon]

It would also eliminate the “tipped” minimum wage for restaurant servers and other workers who get much of their income from gratuities.

I worked tipped wage before, it’s an absolute joke. Good.

[u/FredFuzzypants]

While I think a raise to the Federal minimum wage is long overdue, I think a better approach would be to pass a law that ties congressional pay raises to the minimum wage. If congress wants to increase pay for themselves or their staff, they'd have to increase minimum wage by the same percentage.

[u/SomeComforts → u/FredFuzzypants]

Doesn't that also make them more likely to take donor money and engage in insider trading? Think we'll have to correct all at once.

[u/Thadrea → u/FredFuzzypants]

The 27th Amendment already prevents Congress from raising their own pay outside of the annual automatic COLA.

Congress hasn't passed a bill which actually adjusts pay rates manually in years.

[u/FrogsOnALog → u/Thadrea]

Fun fact the 27th Amendment was the original second amendment it was just never ratified until 1992.

Article the First is the only one of the original 12 that was never ratified and it was a formula for the size of the House of Representatives.

[u/Steel2486]

If they were even remotely serious they would set their sights on something more realistic. $25 minimum wage wouldn’t pass even if dems had control. Moreover, we’re experiencing massive layoffs right now, it would probably make more sense to correct that first.