The Politics of Minimum Wage Essay -- Political Science Research Paper

The federally mandated minimum wage has been a divisive political issue in American politics since it first came into effect in 1938 under the Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR advocated for the minimum wage with the argument that â€Å"all but the hopelessly reactionary will agree that to conserve our primary resources of manpower, government must have some control over maximum hours, minimum wages, the evil of child labor, and the exploitation of unorganized labor† (Greene 2013). This idea led to the passage of the first minimum wage law in American history, twenty five cents an hour (Greene 2013). Prior to the passage of this law, several state minimum wage laws had been struck down as an unconstitutional prohibition of workers’ rights to set the price for their own labor. However, in 1941, the Supreme Court case U.S v Darby Lumber Co upheld the federal minimum wage, overturning the precedent it had set for state level minimum wages. The Court dismissed the ar gument that Darby Lumber did not engage in interstate commerce based on the commerce clause and stated that Congress had the constitutional right to regulate interstate commerce, along with intrastate commerce that directly affected interstate commerce (U.S v Darby Lumber Co.1941). Justice Stone, writing for the majority stated that Congress â€Å"May chose the means reasonably adapted to the attainment of the permitted end (the minimum wage) even though they involve the control of intrastate activities. Such legislation has often been sustained with respect to powers other than the commerce power granted to the national government, when the means chosen, although not themselves within the granted power, were nevertheless deemed appropriate aids to the accomplishment of some... ...mieson, Dave. â€Å"Obama State of the Union Address: President Calls for raising the Minimum Wage,† Huffington Post. 13 February 2013. Armstrong, Ari â€Å"Minimum Wage Laws: Economically Harmful Because Immoral,† The Objective Standard. 7 March 2013. â€Å"Tipped Workers: Information† Raisetheminimumwage.com. U.S Department of Labor, â€Å"Bureau of Labor Unemployment Statistics: October 2013,† DOL.gov. U.S Department of Labor, â€Å"Minimum Wage by State,† DOL.gov. Worstall, Tim, â€Å"The Absurdity of a $15 Minimum Wage,† Forbes. 1 September 2013. Hanauer, Nick. â€Å"The Capitalist Case for a $15 minimum wage† Bloomberg News. 19 June 2013. Dreier, Peter. â€Å"Raising the Minimum Wage is good for Business (but the corporate lobby doesn’t think so,† Huffington Post. 23 February 2013. Internal Revenue Service, â€Å"EITC 2012.† Other source authors are directly stated in text. The Politics of Minimum Wage Essay -- Political Science Research Paper The federally mandated minimum wage has been a divisive political issue in American politics since it first came into effect in 1938 under the Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR advocated for the minimum wage with the argument that â€Å"all but the hopelessly reactionary will agree that to conserve our primary resources of manpower, government must have some control over maximum hours, minimum wages, the evil of child labor, and the exploitation of unorganized labor† (Greene 2013). This idea led to the passage of the first minimum wage law in American history, twenty five cents an hour (Greene 2013). Prior to the passage of this law, several state minimum wage laws had been struck down as an unconstitutional prohibition of workers’ rights to set the price for their own labor. However, in 1941, the Supreme Court case U.S v Darby Lumber Co upheld the federal minimum wage, overturning the precedent it had set for state level minimum wages. The Court dismissed the ar gument that Darby Lumber did not engage in interstate commerce based on the commerce clause and stated that Congress had the constitutional right to regulate interstate commerce, along with intrastate commerce that directly affected interstate commerce (U.S v Darby Lumber Co.1941). Justice Stone, writing for the majority stated that Congress â€Å"May chose the means reasonably adapted to the attainment of the permitted end (the minimum wage) even though they involve the control of intrastate activities. Such legislation has often been sustained with respect to powers other than the commerce power granted to the national government, when the means chosen, although not themselves within the granted power, were nevertheless deemed appropriate aids to the accomplishment of some... ...mieson, Dave. â€Å"Obama State of the Union Address: President Calls for raising the Minimum Wage,† Huffington Post. 13 February 2013. Armstrong, Ari â€Å"Minimum Wage Laws: Economically Harmful Because Immoral,† The Objective Standard. 7 March 2013. â€Å"Tipped Workers: Information† Raisetheminimumwage.com. U.S Department of Labor, â€Å"Bureau of Labor Unemployment Statistics: October 2013,† DOL.gov. U.S Department of Labor, â€Å"Minimum Wage by State,† DOL.gov. Worstall, Tim, â€Å"The Absurdity of a $15 Minimum Wage,† Forbes. 1 September 2013. Hanauer, Nick. â€Å"The Capitalist Case for a $15 minimum wage† Bloomberg News. 19 June 2013. Dreier, Peter. â€Å"Raising the Minimum Wage is good for Business (but the corporate lobby doesn’t think so,† Huffington Post. 23 February 2013. Internal Revenue Service, â€Å"EITC 2012.† Other source authors are directly stated in text.