Just because lawmakers want businesses to pay more for entry-level workers, doesn’t mean they are willing to do so themselves.
According to a new study by the Employment Policies Insitute (EPI), only four percent of the 210 lawmakers who pledged their allegiance to a bill raising the minimum wage pay their interns.
The Fair Minimum Wage Act would increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour. EPI found that 96 percent of its House and Senate supporters give their interns a minimum wage of zero.
“It’s an election year tactic. It’s an attempt to leverage people who are dissatisfied with the current state of the economy,” Saltsman told TheDCNF. “Instead of talking about Obamacare, we are talking about class warfare. I think Democrats are hoping they can use this to draw a contrast with Republicans and in close races around the country make them look like they are out of touch with the middle-class people.”
A number of studies have suggested that minimum wage increases harm the job prospects of lower-skilled workers and fail to deliver as an anti-poverty measure.
“I think this shows that it is really not about the workers… The fact that we keep talking about the minimum wage in the context of an election year means that it is a more cynical plan to put more Democrats in office,” Saltsman said. “Unfortunately, it is entry-level employees who are going to be fronting the tab.”
http://dailycaller.com/2014/01/26/report-minimum-wage-hike-backers-rarely-pay-interns/#ixzz2rbxzikiK
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