男女羞羞视频在线观看,国产精品黄色免费,麻豆91在线视频,美女被羞羞免费软件下载,国产的一级片,亚洲熟色妇,天天操夜夜摸,一区二区三区在线电影
您現在的位置: > 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,一點點;例如:a modicum of sleep<小睡>)

plod along :緩慢的前進


(來源:VOA  英語點津姍姍編輯


 

 
 

 

 

 
 

48小時內最熱門

     

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: 海门市| 界首市| 犍为县| 无棣县| 滁州市| 大关县| 沽源县| 临邑县| 湛江市| 饶平县| 鲜城| 遵义市| 张家界市| 黑河市| 钦州市| 宣武区| 漯河市| 乐安县| 五大连池市| 永济市| 通道| 昆明市| 清新县| 永安市| 原阳县| 萝北县| 英吉沙县| 大同市| 祁东县| 汽车| 新沂市| 清新县| 湄潭县| 宣化县| 张家口市| 墨脱县| 达尔| 万年县| 锦州市| 吉安县| 库车县| 永昌县| 丰宁| 金秀| 龙门县| 龙江县| 栾城县| 博兴县| 平山县| 四平市| 阳信县| 廉江市| 新宁县| 威远县| 安化县| 信宜市| 安多县| 项城市| 定结县| 东辽县| 郴州市| 白玉县| 罗城| 锡林浩特市| 白玉县| 敦煌市| 大洼县| 远安县| 巫山县| 饶阳县| 澄江县| 古蔺县| 阳春市| 四平市| 平舆县| 苏尼特右旗| 和龙市| 佳木斯市| 多伦县| 峡江县| 绥芬河市| 青阳县|