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Manchin speaks
[REGISTER-HERALD] Although Sen. Joe Manchin had planned to discuss the Charleston-area chemical spill and his recent piece of legislation the Chemical Safety and Drinking Water Protection Act of 2014, he instead turned his focus on a hodgepodge of topics, including minimum wage, balancing the nation's budget and health-care issues. After being introduced by Beckley Mayor Bill O'Brien, Manchin began talking about the possible increase of the federal minimum wage in Beckley at the old courthouse in Judge Burnside's old courtroom. Like many states, West Virginia politicians are taking it upon themselves to try to increase the minimum wage. A bill raising the state's minimum pay rate of $7.25 an hour to $8.75 an hour by 2016 has passed the House and is awaiting Senate action. Yet be it state or federal, Manchin said any wage rate increase will not bring people out of poverty. A bill to increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour is being debated in Congress. On Tuesday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report that said such an increase would cause the loss of about 500,000 jobs but would boost earnings for about 16.5 million low-wage workers. In 1968, Manchin said the minimum wage was $1.60. Adjusting for inflation, he said the 2014 minimum wage should be around $10.10. Raising the minimum wage could well cause business owners to reduce staff or hire fewer people, so Manchin is urging business owners to step forward and be heard on the issue. On federal finances, Manchin said in 2001, the nation had a budget surplus, but just a little over a decade later, the U.S. is $17 trillion in debt. "The Democrats blame the Republicans and the Republicans blame the Democrats. We should be saying it's our problem, let's fix it. I think that's where we are now." He said this is the first time a bipartisan budget has been reached in 17 years, and although the two-year fix is a small one, "It's a step in the right direction in a toxic environment." Each administration has had its faults, Manchin said, as he mentioned former President George W. Bush's economic stimulus package, which cost $2 trillion. He said $800 billion of that stimulus money went to the government to keep needed services afloat, such as sewer, water and broadband services. That topic transitioned into a brief mention of the water crisis in Charleston, which he described as a "wake-up call." "People don't think we care at all about the environment, that we value jobs and business over the environment," he said. "But that's the exception, not the rule." Manchin said he hopes to resolve differences with the Environmental Protection Agency, especially to work together on clean coal efforts. Posted by: Fred 2014-02-22 |
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