三级aa视频在线观看-三级国产-三级国产精品一区二区-三级国产三级在线-三级国产在线

您現(xiàn)在的位置: > Language Tips > Audio & Video > Normal Speed News  
 





 
Congress debates minimum wage hike
[ 2006-07-20 10:47 ]

U.S. law has guaranteed most workers a minimum wage since the 1930s. The last increase in the wage was in 1997. Now Democrats in the U.S. Congress say it's time for another raise.

Minimum wage workers in America: food service, hotel workers,and sales clerks all earn at least the federal minimum wage of $5.15 per hour, a figure set in 1997. But Democrats in Congress are arguing that figure has not kept up with the times.

Jared Bernstein is a senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute. "The role that it plays is that it provides a modicum of wage support for our lowest wage workers, many of whom are the most disadvantaged workers in our society. And if you look at who earns the minimum wage, you are going to find that it is disproportionately minorities."

Economic Policy Institute statistics predict a minimum wage increase would affect about 15 million people in a workforce of 150 million. Only a few million workers actually depend on minimum wage jobs as their sole source of income.

William Niskanen is chairman of the CATO institute, a policy center in Washington D.C. He is opposed to raising the minimum wage. He says it's bad economic policy. "It increases the price of hiring low skilled labor. That leads employers to do two things. One is to hire less low skilled labor. A second is that it leads them to economize on non-wage compensation and working conditions."

Twenty states in the U.S. have set their minimum wage above the average $5.15 per hour mark. Jared Bernstein argues that figure is not a livable wage in today's economy. "The economy looks great from 40,000 feet, but on the ground, you have got some problems. We have quite strong growth in gross domestic product, which is a measure of economic growth. Productivity growth has been really quite stellar. But the wages and incomes of folks on the bottom half of the scale have been plodding along and in many years and quarters have been falling behind inflation."

Bernstein does not believe raising the minimum wage will result in job losses. He argues that jobs were added after the last increase in 1997. "We have just never found these job loss effects. It is just an argument that completely lacks evidence."

William Niskanen says improving the educational opportunities for low income families is a better way to fight poverty than raising the minimum wage.

"The United States spends way more for public schooling than any nation in the world. And we place 15th, 20th in international tests in reading and mathematics. We have compared to the rest of the world a very poorly performing public school system."

Democrats are using the issue to rally their base for the upcoming midterm congressional elections. Recently they threatened to block a congressional pay hike if Republicans would not relent on the issue. They say congressional salaries have raisen almost $32,000 a year since the last increase in the minimum wage.

Vocabulary:          

modicum :a small,token amount(少量,一點(diǎn)點(diǎn);例如:a modicum of sleep<小睡>)

plod along :緩慢的前進(jìn)


(來源:VOA  英語點(diǎn)津姍姍編輯


 

 
 

 

 

 
 

48小時(shí)內(nèi)最熱門

     

本頻道最新推薦

     
  Immediate pay increase urged for U.S. teachers
  Space shuttle Discovery lands safely in Florida
  Do-it-yourself: Growing carrots
  EU fines Microsoft again
  G8 summit adopts sweeping action Plan






主站蜘蛛池模板: 成人黄色免费观看 | 中文字幕日韩一区二区三区不卡 | 国产免费拍拍视频在线观看网站 | 黄色网络在线观看 | 人体大胆做受免费视频 | 中文字幕成人网 | 国产精品欧美一区二区在线看 | 国产欧美在线亚洲一区刘亦菲 | 日本一级片网站 | www.久久99| 亚洲网站在线观看 | 在线你懂的 | www.国产嫩草在线观看 | 欧美一级高清免费a | 国产91在线|亚洲 | 亚洲欧美另类色图 | 国产高清japanese国产在线观看 | 99免费精品视频 | 精品国产麻豆 | 九九热亚洲精品综合视频 | 亚洲视频国产精品 | 免费看欧美一级a毛片 | 国产超薄肉色丝袜的免费网站 | 久久男人 | 精品入口麻豆 | 国产精品1区2区3区在线播放 | 亚洲步兵一区二区三区 | 国产成人免费午夜性视频 | a级黄色片免费看 | 亚洲午夜网 | 国产成人精品男人的天堂538 | 一级毛片免费完整视频 | 国产中文字幕在线视频 | 午夜视频久久久久一区 | 国产在线精品观看一区 | 爱福利一区二区 | 国产美女福利视频 | 中国一级特黄大片毛片 | 91国内在线国内在线播放 | 国内精品91久久久久 | www.色婷婷.com |