*** I couldn't believe the minimum wage laws you have there..how can people be expected to survive on those amounts. ***

What's with this obsession of the US Al? Imagine how pissed you'd be if you actually lived here.

Regarding our minimum wage; you and your liberal friends are, again, barking up the wrong tree. Does anyone here actually know someone earning minimum wage? I doubt it. The amount referred to as a minimum allowable wage is virtually a meaningless number aimed at appeasing the conscience of people who, like you, equate it to directly impacting the survival of the poor.  Politicians (democrats) for years have been using the raising of the minimum wage as a mindless topic to seem more caring about those less fortunate. Minimum wage is directly linked to unemployment rates and inflation. When the minimum wage raises, inflation rises, unemployment rates rise, and democrats can be seen dancing 'round the campfire proclaiming their caring for the working class. The changing of the minimum wage is an absolute insult to hard working Americans who have earned wage increases on the merits of their hard work and professional development.

Let's say I start working at a modest size corporation as a janitor. By some very strange and unusual circumstances (very rare) that I start at the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. I work very hard at my job. My manager notices my hard work and dedication to the position. He offers me one dollar an hour raise and agrees to send me to a special course on decontamination and hazardous material cleanup, a skill that significantly improves my value to the organization and my own personal development. The cost to the company is considerable taking into account that I have only been working there for a couple of months, but they see promise in me and send me to school. I return from my training a few months later and I get a nice wage increase to $8.00 per hour. Ted Kennedy (my working class friend and hero) and his political buddies pass the raising of the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour. The next day the company, who has seen so much promise in me, spend money to develop my skills, and given me a respectable wage that I earned on the merits of my own work explains to me that they can no longer afford to keep me on staff, along with 5 other janitors. I am what you would consider in the lower wage earning bracket (i.e. poor) - how has this raising helped me? Raising minimum wages only undermines the efforts of those who have worked hard and struggled to succeed in their positions.