The other day I wrote US Senator Jim Talent (R-Missouri) asking that he support a raise in the minimum wage. My letter was part of a campaign supported by the United Church of Christ. The senator was kind enough to e-mail me back this afternoon with his answer to my request:
…. the government mandated minimum wage is either irrelevant or harmful to poor people.
Missouri’s senator could learn something from Oregon where the increase in the minimum wage was proven to help people moving from welfare to work by raising their income.
The minimum wage was last increased in 1997. That’s a long time for people to go without a raise.
