Mitt Romney And Kyrsten Sinema Team Up On Bipartisan Proposal To Increase Minimum Wage

[demmiblue]

Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) are in the process of crafting bipartisan legislation to increase the minimum wage, Romney confirmed to HuffPost on Wednesday.

“We’re negotiating a minimum wage proposal which we would ultimately take to our group of 20 and see how they would react to it and go from there,” Romney said, referring to a bipartisan group of 20 senators who are hoping to find ways to make the Senate function better.

The Utah senator declined to share more details about the proposal, including its timeline. A spokesperson for Sinema did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“I think it’s $11,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said when asked about the measure.

Democrats had hoped to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour across the board over the next four years through the American Rescue Plan — the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief measure — but hit a major roadblock in the Senate. Democrats pushed their first major piece of legislation through the chamber using a limited budgetary procedure that allowed them to pass it with only a simple majority and thus without the support of a single Republican. But the Senate’s parliamentarian, the body’s chief rules expert, said the minimum wage increase could not be included in a budget bill so it was cut from the legislation.

A $15 minimum wage doesn’t even have full support among Senate Democrats, including Sinema and Manchin. Manchin has repeatedly said he would favor something closer to $11 per hour phased in over two years. Other Democrats, such as Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, have expressed concerns about how a $15 minimum wage would affect the restaurant industry.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/minimum-wage-congress_n_60771d6fe4b001befb6fc904

[maxsolomon]

1. $11/hour $22,800/year

$1900/month.

Is that supposed to be a living wage?

[SoonerPride]

3. we have to take what we can get

and no, it is not a living wage in most of the country.

but it is what it is.

[3catwoman3]

9. Typo? 40 hours a week x 52 weeks is 2080 hours, so $11...

...an hour is only $22,800, not $28,800.

(I am queen of the typos, so this is not a criticism - )

[maxsolomon]

14. Yes, typo.

Fixing, thanks.

[msongs]

2. how much does shaheen take from the restaurant industry every year? nt

[W_HAMILTON]

4. If it can get passed and will be fully phased in within two years, I'd take that.

Knowing that we almost assuredly won't be able to raise the federal minimum wage otherwise for now, I will gladly accept such a proposal and then look to further increase it after 2022 when we could potentially have enough votes to eliminate the filibuster and pass a federal minimum wage increase with just 50 votes.

Having said that, I have no faith in getting enough Republicans to vote for such a proposal.

[True Dough]

5. Oh, that's rich (pardon the pun)

We have a call for a pittance more from the vulture capitalist and, oh yeah...

[AZSkiffyGeek]

10. Raising it by $4 an hour is a pittance?

Or just looking for a chance to post your cute, sexist picture bashing a Democrat?

[True Dough]

15. Considering that $16.54 was considered a living wage in the U.S. in 2020

then, yeah, $4 an hour more is a pittance!

And, in case you haven't noticed, Krysten Sinema and Joe Manchin both get a rough ride on this discussion forum quite regularly, and for good reason!

[AZSkiffyGeek]

16. I'm sure that leaving it at 7.25 will do a lot of good if they can't get 15

Of course I've already seen the people who were arguing for $15 last year say that it actually should be $25 so I know they're not actually arguing in good faith.

I do think it should be raised. I also think that Cost-of-Living should factor into it. I learned that when I moved from a big city to a small rural town and found myself doing the exact same job for 1/2 the pay, yet it didn't matter because the house I got for $80K would've cost me $400K in the city.

I'd also like to see some sort of legislation first, rather than people posting a hideous, sexist caricature of a Democrat who actually hasn't done a fucking thing to stop the minimum wage from being raised, and, in fact, seems to be working TO raise it.

[ColinC]

6. Negotiate with an inadequate party: get inadequate solutions

[Elwood P Dowd]

7. In 1968 when I was working my way through college, the minimum wage was $1.60.

That's mostly what I was stuck with because it was part-time jobs during the school year or construction type full-time jobs in the summer when out of school. Adjusted for inflation that would be $12.29 an hour today. Not only should it be increased to at least that level of pay, but the legislation should also have provisions to keep pace with inflation.

[Xavier Breath]

8. $11 an hour? I hope Romney's car garage operator will be thrilled

at Mittens' generosity.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

12. They're gonna get a nice raise if they're only making minimum...

Or should they refuse the 4K bump out of principal?

[Xavier Breath]

13. Well, by that logic, why not make it $9.50?

Still a nice raise. Hell, $8 would be a raise for many. The possibilities are limitless. Sorta.

[Voltaire2]

11. 11 is an insult.

[RussBLib]

17. They should take what they can get

But I doubt the sincerity of the GQP.