The High Cost of Living

If you need any more proof about how far away from Christian values this country has gone, you need only compare two stories from the last two weeks.

First, there's the news from yesterday. The Congress has once again failed to pass a bill to raise the minimum wage, setting the stage for September first being the end of 9 years since it was last raised. According to one site I found, this means that in constant dollars (purchasing power), the wage is now at the lowest rate it has been since 1950, and has fallen in purchasing power by between 15 and 20 percent since it was last raised and around 45% from it's high around 1968.

Nine years our poorest people have been without a raise in pay, while some expenses (such as medical care) have grown entirely out of pace with inflation. And keep in mind, these aren't the people who are sitting at home on their fat duffs collecting welfare checks and letting the world hand deliver them a piece of the pie. These are people who are trying to work to support themselves, but finding that task ever more difficult. There was a great episode of a TV series called "30 Days" which I've mentioned before that showed just how hard it was for a childless couple to live on two minimum wage incomes for just a month, to say nothing of month after month, year after year.

Now, contrast that with nine days ago, when that same Congress voted itself an almost 2% cost of living raise, increasing their salaries by $3300 to $168,500. Clearly, most of us would consider this to be a large income. To put it into perspective, Congress voted themselves a pay raise that is almost 1/3 of the total yearly income of someone working 40/week for minimum wage. This is the seventh straight year that Congress has given itself a cost of living raise. Seven years while the poorest of the poor got nothing.

Starting this year, Congress members earn $168,500 per year. Minimum wage earners earn less than $11,000.

In July of 1999, Congress members earned $136,700 per year. Minimum wage earners earned less than $11,000.

In 1989, Congress members earned $89,500 per year. Minimum wage earners earned less than $7,000.

This means that in the last 7 years, Congressional salaries have risen by 23.3%, minimum wage has risen by 0% (actual change in the consumer price index was around 17.3%).

In the ten years before that, Congressional salaries rose by 52.8%, while the minimum wage rose by 53.8% (actual change in the consumer price index was around 35%).

I think those numbers are probably all you need to know about "Compassionate Conservatism".

Liam.