Minimum wage, maximum stimulus

Ethan Strimling, All Towns

Here in Maine, we’re experiencing a very tough winter. Across the state, thousands of people are unable to heat their homes because of increases in fuel costs (it’s gotten so bad that a number of landlords are simply not buying heating oil for their tenants, because the expense is now so great they fear they’d be bankrupted and lose their properties while their tenants would be evicted).

But fuel’s not the only thing that is more expensive these days. The Labor Department reports that core inflation—the rise in cost of consumer goods other than food and fuel—is almost as high as the general inflation rate. As we slip further into recession and remain mired in a housing crisis, it’s clear that the people with the lowest incomes are going to get stuck bearing the greatest burden for our slowing economy.

Everything is more expensive for consumers these days, and it’s going to get worse at least until our economy improves.

This week, my bill to raise the minimum wage here in Maine to $8.40 and have it indexed thereafter will go into a work session in front of the Labor Committee, the Committee I Chair. Hopefully we’ll be able to provide relief for families here before the situation deteriorates any more. But the problem isn’t just in Maine, and it’s going to take a national effort to get us through this crisis and prevent more from arising in the future.

Paradoxically, the best way to get our economy growing again would be to get more money into the hands of those getting hit hardest by the economic downturn. Americans who make less spend a higher proportion of their income at the market, re-injecting that income back into the economy and promoting economic stimulation. If we want to speed up the economy, we should seek to do so in a way that helps those at the bottom, because that provides the fastest relief to everybody. “Trickle-down” is no substitute for “speed up” when it comes to economic stimulus.

We in America now have the greatest income disparity between rich and poor since the Great Depression. Our tax policy is nothing short of insane: we provide irresponsible tax giveaways to the richest and shift the burden onto the working and middle-class families. Those who need our help don’t get it, and those who need nothing get everything.

If we are to correct this economic insanity, we need to begin by recognizing the value of our workforce.

Our Democratic Congress managed to raise the minimum wage for the first time in a decade last year. During that decade, costs for basic goods skyrocketed, and without any increase in the minimum wage our workers saw their purchasing power disappear. People went from poor to impoverished because of our inaction.

In Congress, I’ll not only support a higher minimum wage for America’s workers, but also nationally indexing that wage to the inflationary rate. Indexing our federal minimum wage will ensure that the inaction and indifference of Washington won’t hurt our working families like this again.

Moreover, I’ll support legislation that won’t let Congress raise its own pay without raising the minimum wage by the same proportion.

As I prepare to leave the Maine Senate and continue this fight for fair wages in Washington, I hope I can count on you to keep the pressure up on your representatives and candidates. Working together, we can send a message to the power-brokers of Washington that they need to stop taking America’s workforce for granted, or else we’ll replace them with leaders who will.

-Ethan

(Cross-posted at TurnMaineBlue and DailyKos)