minimum wage

Between Aug. 1 and Nov. 12, the House will have only been in session for eight days — translating to a $788 per hour wage for Speaker John A. Boehner.  

For an Ohio minimum-wage earner who wants to match the sum of that hourly paycheck, he or she will have to work 99 hours.  

In the third installment of The Purple Network’s “Opinion Duel,” Roll Call Editor-in-Chief Christina Bellantoni moderated a discussion with Charles C. W. Cooke , from National Review and The Nation ’s Zoë Carpenter over the politically charged topic of increasing the minimum wage.  

Carpenter contended that "even Republicans in the South" want the minimum wage raised to $10.10 an hour, but said that hike might not be enough. "There's a lot of momentum" for legislative action, Carpenter said. Cooke took issue with the idea that raising the minimum wage would "lift people out of poverty" saying that most who currently make minimum wage are not below the poverty line. "When you're looking at how to help people in need," Cooke said, minimum wage is "often not the best way to do it."  

Updated 11:15 a.m. | Senate Democrats are preparing a new push to refinance student loans and cut the costs of college as the latest plank in their election-year agenda — and are talking compromise on a minimum wage hike.  

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday morning on MSNBC that a new bill will be introduced by Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts regarding student loan refinancing.  

Updated 12:55 p.m. | GOP senators blocked a Democrat-led effort to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour on Wednesday — although Democrats said they planned to bring the issue up again and some in both parties called for a compromise.  

The Senate voted 54-42 to limit debate on taking up the proposal, falling short of the 60 votes needed.  

Sen. Susan Collins is fighting an uphill battle to get Democrats and Republicans to back a minimum wage compromise.  

Democratic leaders so far are sticking to the $10.10-an-hour wage they're proposing, while many Republicans, including more moderate lawmakers, say they are likely to filibuster the bill.  

The Senate debate on raising the federal minimum wage might slip until next week, in part because it's unclear how long it will take the chamber to finish work on an unemployment insurance extension .  

Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Tom Harkin has championed raising the minimum wage up to $10.10 an hour, along with an increase in tip wages. The Iowa Democrat told reporters on a conference call Monday that floor timing wasn't clear.  

In September, 15 Senate Democrats put pen to paper to urge President Barack Obama to issue an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal contract workers to $10.10. On Tuesday, they'll get exactly what they wanted from Obama — except for any recognition of their efforts.  

Of the 15 lawmakers on the letter, championed by Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., four senators are up for re-election in 2014: Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Brian Schatz of Hawaii.