Huppke Thesis Statement

Rex Huppke, a writer for the Chicago tribune,writes about how raising the minimum wage may not be as positive to the society and economy as Americans are lead to believe. After interviewing many specialist and professors concerning this subject, he concludes that despite what other newspapers are saying raising the minimum wage could damage the economy. As an effect of what the media is saying this article was written to inform the public of the real cost of raising minimum wage.

There continues to be debates on whether or not minimum wage should be raised and the financial impact it has on an individual. Does it kill jobs? Who does it benefit the most? Many people can agree that minimum wage has changed dramatically in the past couple of years. In the book Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By In America by Barbara Ehrenreich, she states her views and opinions on the minimum wage based on self-experience. Ehrenreich took the challenge of secretly reporting life at minimum wage by settling into different areas in the country, working at low-paying service jobs like restaurant server, cleaning woman and Wal-Mart employee. Ehrenreich learned how difficult it was to live making a low wage.

Although many Americans are aware that our country suffers severely in the category of poverty, minimum wage is not factor that many turn to think as a fault. They claim to know about minimum wage; however, it is merely a blank claim because they have neither experienced the hardship under a cap of expenses nor does the issue affect them. In fact, this issue is detrimental to our country as we are slowly falling into unemployment and homelessness. In Barbara Ehrenreich’s book, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, she states that minimum wage had fallen back comparing to the living cost in the 1900s; however, this statement is still true today. Enrenreich is a reliable reporter who travels to three different cities with contrasting backgrounds. She tried to experience the life of a minimum wage worker in order to accurately report the inside scoop of a life that most Americans do not know to exist. As a supporter of her claim after realizing the way our country has been living, I too believe that minimum wage does not fulfill its purpose and should be raised, as it does not serve enough to cover even the essential expenses.

Whether an opinion piece is effective depends on the expertise of rhetorical strategy of an author. This can either make a written piece convincing or unconvincing to the target audience. A clear example of how rhetorical strategies make a piece more convincing is the comparison of David Laska’s, “Minimum Need for a Minimum Wage Increase”, and Shamus Khan’s, “The Promise of More: Why We Should Raise the Minimum Wage”. By using rhetorical analysis on both opinion pieces Laska clearly makes a better argument. He makes use of logos by including statistics, an expert’s research in the field of minimum wage, and historical data to attack Obama’s decision to raising the minimum wage. He includes pathos to

One of the main points of Holtz-Eakins article is that does the U.S. actually need to raise minimum wage? There are as many people that are working but we also have the same amount of people not working and if not more. According to recent American Action Forum research, 80 percent of minimum wage workers are not actually in poverty, increasing the federal minimum to $10, as some have proposed, wouldn't benefit 99 percent of the people in poverty (Holtz-Eakin). In saying this real problem is not raising the minimum wage it’s that people are too lazy to get up and go find a job. Eakin makes the statement “It wouldn’t target those hurt the worst: the unemployed and low-skilled, and in fact would build bigger barriers for those without a job (Holtz-Eakin). This is so relatable because if we did raise it a dollar menu would be nonsexist instead it would be $5.00

Intro: People of the middle class all know that the minimum wage of $7.25 is not sufficient to maintain a comfortable lifestyle. There is considerable evidence to show that the current generations comfortable lifestyles require a more luxurious price for standard living. The cost of living over the years has dramatically increased due to high consumer demands of products. As that being said, $7.25 is just not enough for a happy lifestyle, food, and the bills. There are many jobs that dislike or just can't afford paying high wages. Therefore, many employers hire less to save money. This causes a non-sufficient pay rate for comfortable living and high unemployment

When we think about minimum wage and what our belief on raising it is, most people think one of two things. People hold to the belief that a raise to the minimum wage good for the economy or it is bad for the economy. The authors of “the minimum wage debate” (Hassett & Strain, 2013) would attempt to have us look at the debate in another way. In their article they use a number of rhetorical techniques on us to try and have the reader examine why they are in favor of a raise in the minimum wage. Are we in favor of the minimum wage increase because we believe it will truly help the American people or do we believe in it because we are told to by the government?

In his 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage from its current level of $7.25 to $10.10 by 2016 (“Raise the Wage”). This proposal reignited public debate over the issue and drew yet another line in the sand between Democrats, who generally favor the President’s proposal, and Republicans, who generally favor keeping the minimum wage as is. Supporting each side’s arguments is a wide array of economists whose work is heavily drawn upon to further the current discourse. Republicans typically reference the work of neoclassical economists, who hold the belief that the minimum wage should remain at its current level, with some on the more extreme end even advocating for its removal

One of the biggest arguments against raising the minimum wage is that it ends up raising employer costs (ex. having to pay more for employees) and leaves less and less opportunities for teenaged workers and disadvantaged workers to find jobs. However, David Card and Alan Krueger, both of whom are heads of the

There has been many conversations about what the positive impacts can come to America 's lowest income workers as a result of an increase in the minimum wage, and there has also been equally as many discussions over the negative effects the increase can have on similar people. This paper’s purpose is to combine each viewpoint and objectively analyze the arguments for and against an increase in the minimum wage. I will first discuss the benefits for an increase, then the disadvantages, and in the last paragraph, I will

The topic on whether the minimum wage should be increased our untouched has been a hot topic in the media and political scene lately. Both the republicans and democrats have spent some big bucks lobbying their insights on the matter. There has been a lot of subjective and objective arguments that are reasonable on both the pros and cons of increasing our national minimum wage. To add to the drama associated with this topic, President Obama endorsed a bill proposing a nearly 40% rise from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour. The President has been campaigning around the country ever since his State of the Union address, pushing congress to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Many say this is too high due to the costs of enacting such an increase, and many say this is a little low due to the increased cost of living. After looking into both sides of this debate, I realize that overall it would be better for the well-being of our nation to increase the minimum wage due to the short term and long term costs that an increase of the minimum wage could lead to. In terms of helping out the lower class and poor citizens of the United States, increasing the minimum wage level is not the answer.

There has been many conversations about what the positive impacts can come to America 's lowest income workers as a result of an increase in the minimum wage, and there has also been equally as many discussions over the negative effects the increase can have on similar people. This paper’s purpose is to combine each viewpoint and objectively analyze the arguments for and against an increase in the minimum wage. I will first discuss the

The debate began with question of minimum wages given the whole day ‘Fight for $15’ protests that was occurring outside the Milwaukee Theater when the debate was held as well and across the country. Real estate mogul Donald Trump and retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson, both two leading frontrunners in the polls argued against increasing the minimum wage. “I hate to say it, but we have to leave it the way it is,” Trump began in answering the question asked by moderator Neil Cavato. “America is being beaten on every front, economically and military. Taxes are too high, wages are too high,” Trump added. Carson pointed out that raising the minimum wage increases joblessness. Florida Senator Marco Rubio weighed in on the discussion saying raising the wages makes "people more expensive than a machine.” Ohio Governor John Kasich had a different outlook pointing out his state approving a moderate increase of minimum

The idea of having a federal minimum wage is a good one. The idea is to protect low and unskilled workers from discrimination and allow all workers to earn a living wage. The recent debate on the floor, though, is whether or not to raise the minimum wage from the current $7.25 per hour up to $10.10 per hour. President Barack Obama made this proposal during his annual State of the Union Address on January 28, and following this there were many hot debates about it. The debates focused not only on the advantages and the disadvantages of increasing the minimum wage, but also the alternatives to increasing it.

The minimum wage has arguably become the most controversial topic regarding our economy today, as it influences one of the largest classes of people within the United States, the working class. Federally, the minimum wage has not been raised in eight years, so it has stayed at $7.25 per hour for all non-exempt workers (U.S. DoL). The opinions on this topic are typically split across a progressive-conservative line, with progressives being in favor of a raise from $7.25, and conservatives wanting to stay at the current rate. This can be seen when looking at the typical progressive stances from states and municipalities that raise the minimum wage for businesses operating within their jurisdiction, since the higher rate among all levels of