Letter from Ted

Dear Citizens of America,

            On April 30^th of 2004 I proposed to Congress the idea of raising the minimum wage rate because of the effect it has on our country. Citizens of America fail to see that our countries economy isn’t flourishing as well as it could be, considering the amount of poverty we have in this country. According to the US Census Bureau, 35.9 million people live below the poverty line, that including 12.9 million children. Poverty is not tied to an absolute value of how much an individual or family can afford, but is tied to a relative level based on how much the average individual makes. Statistics show that most Americans will live below the poverty line for at least one year when they are in between the ages of 25 and 75.

Minimum wage from $5.15 to $7 over three years and would be the first raise in the minimum wage in seven years. Under the suggested bill, the minimum hourly wage would increase by $0.70 two months after the legislation is signed into law. One year later, it would increase again by $0.60, and in the third year the minimum wage would increase by $0.55, bringing the minimum wage to $7 an hour. Currently working at a job, which is 40 hours a week, that being 52 weeks in a year, when worked out the average worker would have earned only $10,700, within that year, which is still $5,000 below the poverty line for a family of three. One parent working 40 hours per week at current minimum wage earns only 40% of the estimated cost to raise two children. How can we live off of just that?

As senator, I proposed this bill hoping to get it passed, in order to create a higher living standard for those of poverty and those who are poor, but on October 19^th, 2004, my bill was voted against. This infers to me, how much do our politicians care about our people? Are we living in the same world? Or is it that because the politicians earn so much money off of American citizens tax dollars that the issues of whose suffering because of the laws congress set in place doesn't matter?

In 2005, I attempted to propose my bill again, but again it was rejected. In 2007, my comrade George Miller came up with the idea that the minimum wage rate conflicted with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which made the House have no choice, but to pass the bill. The act raises the federal minimum wage in 3 increments: to $5.85 per hour 60 days after enactment (2007-07-24), to $6.55 per hour 12 months after that (2008-07-24), and finally to $7.25 per hour 12 months after that (2009-07-24). One of the biggest aspects of the bill was that the republicans and president Bush wanted to add tax cuts of small businesses. The House and the Senate passed the minimum wage on May 24, 2007 as part of HR 2206, the supplemental aid of the Iraq War. As part of the deal, $4.8 billion worth of tax breaks are going to be given to small business over a 10-year period to offset the wage increase.

Minimum wage didn’t change for tipped employees, leaving it at $5.15 fro most places. Though this bill only suggests a MINIMUM wage, which they can choose to exceed or sustain, I still believe that this isn’t enough. My original idea was to have it increase, year by year, little by little, to make our society and its price of living more livable. The average person spends about $50 a day according to Us News, $50 multiplied by 365, the amount of days in a year, amounts to $18, 250, which is higher than the poverty line for a family of three people. Even with the raise in minimum wage, the fact still stands that Americans are still living well below the poverty level and most of these Americans have families to take care of and tend to, with the couple thousand dollars they earn a year.

Though, I helped lead the torch in an aspect of Americas economy progression, I don't feel I’ve done enough. We as a culture and people should continue to grow, the stronger we are as a country, the easier it is for us to flourish. This year, I plan to propose, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2010. With the citizens and not just politicians in mind, I am hoping to one day, lessen the percentage of people who are well below the poverty line, instead of watching it grow every year. Supporting our country, helps build our country.

Senator Edward Ted Kennedy

• http://tedkennedy.org/
• http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR00002:@@@L&summ2=m
• http://www.themiddleclass.org/bill/fair-minimum-wage-act-2007