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I think it's about perspective. a more privileged person can live without this change, they would be fine. But for others, going to college is not an option. Either because they don't have enough money, or they're just too busy with kids and keeping the house for them. Money should be livable. 1000$ a month is great for normal teens who just want some cash, but for people who work to live, 1000$ is not enough. People need to pay bills, hospital bills, food, water, shelter. It's not just "poor people", it everyone who is struggling, which is a lot more than you think.

I feel like its normal all its going to do is up the price to everything making no change besides the price to things

This can have many outcomes but personally, I think it will cause inflation and nothing will change other than the price of items

The idea of raising the minimum wage is a good idea however 15 dollars an hour is a good amount of money which is more likely to raise the cost of living bringing us back to square one.

I think the minimum wage should be raised. The minimum wage in many other countries makes so much more sense, as people can actually live off them. With how low ours is, people are struggling immensely.

I do not think raising the minimum wage is the right move because there are very many small businesses that will not be able to survive also, I believe that this will cause major inflation, making everything more expensive, so overall raising the minimum wage wouldn't be making things any better.

Inflation is making the prices of houses go up anyway regardless of the minimum wage, so we need to make the minimum wage compatible with modern prices. I don't know if I believe it should be 15$ but it should be more than it is now.

i don't think that raising the minimum wage to $15 is necessary, with the way the wage is set up now it give people an incentive to move up in life for a better job better pay. You may work at burger king for $9 an hour, that's not a lot so you want to do better and get a better job that pays 15 an hour but if you start out at 15 there is not really any incentive to move up in life when you can do better and achieve higher for your self and your family

I think it is a good idea to raise the minimum wage because it is pretty low but we should not raise it that much because It could be hard for the smaller businesses

I think raising the minimum wage would only cause a business to increase their prices on products to make up the amount of money they're paying employees so we would just have another problem to deal with.

I think that raising the minimum wage could be good but also bad. I personally think $15 would be too high and somewhere around $9-$11 would be a better option as it is a little low right now. Would raise costs of living but not by too much, and raising the minimum wage already could increase tax revenue. But from the article, it says they aim to increase to $9.25 then $15 by 2025, but I still believe by then it still is a pretty high number and prices of things will increase by a lot.

I think raising the minimum wage will only cost businesses to suffer especially small businesses because they aren't making a lot, to begin with, and businesses will have to raise their prices to make back the money they are losing.

I agree with both Thomas and Amirah we all had the same points and seem to have pretty much the same point of view on the subject.

I feel like if we raise the minimum wage people that worked for the pay they deserved will feel like they did all that for nothing and eventually all the workers will lose their work ethic and we will have worse products. On the other hand people that are already doing subpar work will be getting decent pay for terrible work. This just means there getting rewarded for doing a bad job. Just makes no sense.

I think that raising the minimum wage can be beneficial; for those who are working long days and not making enough to live without help from the government. If we raise the minimum wage, then those who are suffering will able to live a little better.

I think raising the minimum wage would just have a negative effect on smaller businesses and the economy in general. It would be pointless raising the minimum wage because of inflation. Some of you guys are saying the cost of living is currently too high so raising the wage would be a good thing for them. What some of y'all don't understand is that raising the minimum wage will also raise the cost of living.

Raising the minimum wage is a good idea. As the article says it would be over 5 years and there are many cities that have a $15 minimum wage and inflation isn't jacking up prices to an unbearable extent. No matter if the minimum wage was increased inflation will continue to rise and that will just put minimum wage workers in a worse situation with the same amount of money for more expensive food, water, clothes, etc.

It seems better because you have the chance to make more money, but in my opinion all this does is inflate everything else over time.

Raising the minimum wage will cause all businesses who have people working for under $15 an hour to raise their prices on their goods, this would make pretty much everything you buy more expensive like groceries, gas, and everyday necessities more expensive. Also across the US the minimum wage changes so for example Denver CO which is an expensive city to live in already had their minimum wage set at $14.77. There are also small rural towns in Iowa which are cheap to live in so there is no need to have a $15 minimum wage there.

It's not just important for the minimum wage to rise, it's a necessity. In fact, 15$ isn't enough! It's what was asked for years ago, and inflation has changed since then. Our minimum wage has, in fact, fallen over the years due to inflation. Prices won't raise by any significant margin. According to business insider (https://www.businessinsider.com/denmark-mcdonalds-pays-20-hourly-wages-2014-10), we could double the wages of employees, and give them benifits, and the prices of goods would be barely changed. Inflation will increase with or without an increase in the minimum wage, because it has increased in the past few years without one. An increase in the minimum wage would help people buy more. Finally, the idea that prices *have* to go up is bull. Nothing *has* to happen. McDonalds doesn't *have* to raise prices if wages were increased, because they would still make a massive profit, just not as absurd of one as they make now.

I believe if they raise the minimum wage they would need to increase every job as well,for example if you make above $15 and hour you would need to raise your wage as well. This would need to be done over the course of years however. We can't raise it all in such a small amount of time.

Brandon, according to your source, McDonald's "has warned that wage increases would force franchisees to raise menu prices." Also, I have read your article and have failed to find the spot where it says that after wages have been doubled and employees have been given extra benefits that prices of goods wouldn't change. It was comparing Denmark to the US when Denmark was one of the most expensive places to live in the world so it would also not be fair or accurate to compare them.

I think this will affect different groups differently. with people who never had money problem's not really being affected by this, and those who have will be greatly affected because of the change in income.

What I think is that it is good and I think it is bad in a way because if we raise the minimum wage to $15 and hour we would most likely have to raise the good paying jobs as well, and I want to think it is good because for the people who do only make minimum wage right now they would be able to afford more and be able to live better and not have to worry as much but then again, I think that would raise the prices to live and its would just be a big loop coming back to this.

We should increase minimum wave because those who have money problems or are in debt will be ebal to get back on their feet quicker and with less help.

It would seem useless to a lot of people, but I kinda see it as an opportunity for teens who are saving money for the future. With that additional money, a teen can save much more than they usually do. The minimum wage might not help people who are struggling to get by, but for teens, it would be a nice boost.

I think raising the minimum wage is a good idea because as of right now the minimum wage isn't a livable wage. The cost of living along with inflation has been rising consistently but the minimum wage hasn't changed in a very long time. So as of now, even the richest companies have no incentive to raise wages. Forcing them to raise their wages is really the only solution to cut into the massive wealth difference between the upperclass and the lower middle class.

i think we should raise minimum wage because even now its a lot more common for teens to be left on their own to buy things they need. some teens have more responsibilities than others and the current minimum wage does next to nothing in terms of help. i know tons of people in the same situation as me where they are struggling to buy things for their children while paying other bills because the highest paying job theyre able to get is still only $11 an hour. i just think minimum wage needs to be changed to reflect current situations in america.

The minimum wage isn't enough to live on right now, and with inflation being an economic factor the price of living with follow the phasing in of a $15 minimum wage. We don't need to keep on raising the minimum wage, but instead work on lowering the cost of living.

I think we should definitely raise the minimum wage. If we raise it students can put more into savings and prepare themselves for the world. If a student makes 15 dollars an hour, works 18 hours a week, and puts half of it away for 2 years they will have $12,312 dollars after taxes. This can cover everything a graduate needs to keep on their feet for a good half-year.

I think we should raise the minimum raise to $15 dollars because $7 dollars isn't enough to help others that have a big family in their house.

I say go for it, it's about time the minimum gets raised while employees actually work hard

YES! I think raising the minimum wage is a GREAT idea. Once some states do it, more tend to follow. I think raising the minimum wage will really benefit part time workers because many work part-time hours but only make enough to pay bills. This raise may allow many to not live paycheck-to-paycheck.

I think the minimum wage should be raised because the minimum wage we have now doesn't get you as far as it used to and people need more money to meet standards of living.

I think this is a wonderful idea. Raising the minimum wage will allow people that work part-time hours that have bills and needs that need to be met, will have money to support themselves and have a little extra support money instead of them wondering if their next paycheck is gonna cover everything.

I don't know if raising the minimum wage would be to good of an idea. Although yes most high schoolers and some adult would really enjoy it. But because that raises the businesses have to pay more, which means they will raise there prices, and we will be back in this situation of people wanting it raised. And we can't just raise it every year.

Raising the minimum wage to 9 or 10$ would be great if everything stayed the same. But according to our government that's not possible. Prices would go up and places would stop hiring. Even making 10$ an hour most likely still isn't enough for someone to live off of. Either way it's almost impossible for things to change for the better.

I agree that the minimum wage should be higher because it allows us to pay for things by ourselves and a lot of part-time workers are college students and they have a lot of bills that they have to pay for school so I think that would help them out a lot.

I don't think minimum wage should be raised because that would only make the prices of everything go up to. Including the price of living. I think that if people want to make more money they should work hard for it and get a better education.

I don't agree with raising the minimum wage at all. Once minimum wage gets raised nationally, prices will go up and workers will be layed off. The people who would still be at the store would have to have more hours as well since they wouldn't have as many people there often.

I think it should be raised, People are working to hard for too little money.

i like that the minimum wage is being brought up

I don't know if moving Minimum Wage up is a good idea because than the prices of everything will go up. But if they keep moving the Wage up and things stay the same price than thats a good idea.

If we increase the minimum wage then the cost of living will go up, taxes, and businesses will be able to increase their prices.

There's pros and cons to moving minimum wage up. The cost of living, taxes, and products will go up, because they have to pay people more to make the goods or provide the services. It's a tricky situation, but it really wont change much.

Probably not a good idea because then businesses would be able to increase the price on almost everything. But if everything stays the way it is and nothing but the minimum wage goes up it would be fine.

I think it is good because there are places that people get paid $7 something which is less then $9.

Increasing the minimum wage would just make companies fire people because they'd feel some workers aren't worth paying a few extra dollars. I'd love to be paid 9 dollars, but this is told to help reduce poverty, I think it'll just increase unemployment.

sounds good to me becuase i feel like im getting screwed with the minimum wage... i know they have the money to do that but that could lead to be less jobs becuse they dont want to spend more money.

I don't think your decision on this matter should be whether you want more money or not. Of course everyone would like to get paid more; you have to look on the effects it would create. If raising the amount should happen, I think it should be raised more gradually- not just jumping to $9 automatically.

Iowa needs to be $9.19 per hour

For more information on Obama's speech you can check USA Today http://goo.gl/oTNj9 If you look at this page, you may want to check out the "Presidential Approval Tracker" ... seems like a pattern to me.

obama is a good man, and is trying to be a hero for the middle and lower class. If it wasnt for the republicans blocking every move democrats try to make and making our nation more inefficient than a classroom filled with apes, maybe by now our economy would actually be fixed, but no people cant come together for more than a week for the good of a whole country.

The cartoon seems to imply that the "middle class" people have more to lose than they could gain/ can hold on to. While the wealthy are continuing to prosper significantly.

I believe this gap is closing and most likely will work because theres enough people that want to close the "gap" and there will nolonger be a huge money gap anymore

The "fuzzy math" section of the article is interesting because the statistics happen to be true. However, incorporating more ideals aligned with Socialistic ideology may not be the worst thing that could happen to this country.

I believe that if we try to fix the "gap" in our country, the "gap" will increasingly become farther apart...

"The richer are get richer" I believe that taxing the people who get higher income wont solve anything, I think that everyone should be equal. If the government starts taxing the wealthy then many middle class wont try as hard to get a higher income because of the higher taxes they will have to pay.

I think the middle class are more likely to break than make.

When has any of Obama's plans actually worked? I think the middle class is in big trouble.

If we try to fix the "gap" of our country then the "gap" will continue to grow, if everyone came together for everything we would live in a perfect world, it wouldn't be fair if we had higher taxes for the rich, because some of them have worked hard for their money and it's not fair to tax them because of that.

I also feel that the rich should be paying higher taxes, and the poor should get a little bit lower taxes

I strongly disagree with Obama that the wealthy should get taxed more. What happened to "fair, open and honest?" It's not fair to those who succeed in life to have to pay more taxes for someone who failed or dropped out of high school.

the tax situation is a good point but instead of paying said amount we should pay a certain percentage of our wage. so everyone no matter how much they make will put forth the same "share" of their wage and everyone will be happy. i mean seriously, does that multi-millionare really need any more money? heck ill be happy with just one million.

I disagree with obama i feel everyone should be taxed the same why should the wealthy be punished for how succesful they are

I think that Obama is trying his best to help out his country, but he needs to make more effective decisions.

I agree with broxton, if taxes were based on a percentage of the income of a person, it would be fare and easy, no one could complain because you're only paying according to what you earn and not according to what is expected.

I think the cartoons implying that Obama uses the middle-class and everything he's "going" to do for them as a bridge to stay president and win America over, when in fact he's making matters worse for the group he is supposedly "helping".

if you in the middle class lower class or higher class you have to pay you taxes and we should all be taxed equaly

I think that he is trying but he should make some diff. decision.

i have to agree with broxton it makes sence to have a precent of ur wages be taken out. so some one working a part time job is paying a little bit and a person like warren buffet is paying alot abit but the wealthy well always find a way to wigil there way out of paying. always hav always will.

I agree with Brock. I think there should be a percentage coming out of our income because it wouldn't be fair if we tax the rich more and the poor less just because they are more successful. Most people were raised differently and they have had more (or less) connections to get them to where they are now. It doesn't seem fair at all.

I agree with what is being said on most of these comments.I do not believe the rich should have to pay higher taxes because they worked hard to get were they are now and just because we have a gap in our income does not mean that they have to pay for it.

Our middle class is beginning to diminish because we are either rich or we are poor. In the role of gender, men have more opportunities to have more pay. Taxes are different based on pay, the more you make the more they take.

A flat tax percentage may seem to favor the wealthy, but it's the only fair way to do things. Everyone is supposed to be equal in this country.

I agree with Ziada. We are getting to the point were it's either the poor or the rich. The middle-class is starting to disappear.

The middle class is all but gone. We don't even see them any different than that of the lower class. we are rich or we are poor, never in the middle.everyone thinks that the other makes to much or not enough

I feel like Obama just talks about the stuff that people want to hear, yet he does nothing actually about the problems. Who cares if you can talk for almost an hour about a situation but don't do anything about it. Like many people said I don't believe people who are more successful should suffer to pay more taxes than people who do not have as much money because they did not prosper as much as someone who does work harder.

I Also agree with ziada ,This is getting out of hand , what will happen if we break ? were do us, our society in the middle class go ?

"A flat tax percentage may seem to favor the wealthy, but it's the only fair way to do things. Everyone is supposed to be equal in this country." I don"t think so, After all can you really say it's fair for someone with more means then responsibilities to pay a much lower overall percentage then someone with more responsibilities then means? I think that there is no way to make this kind of thing 100% fair but it is fairer to look at this kind of thing as percentages then as flat numbers.

The rich shouldnt have to pay more because of their success they took their opportunities and made the best of them. of course many might have had the same opportunities but just didnt take them. or some simply didnt have the opportunity at all. the middle class will have a few struggles here and there, but in the end i think everything will be alright.maybe.i hope.

This seems like a moment in American history where choices have to be made that everyone may not agree on. People are forced to use their money on others even if they don't want to. I hate the idea of being forced to use my money, but, the idea that people would rather the poor die and move out of the way is worse. No matter what, the choices are really difficult and can harm more than help. In the future we'll all look back on the results and hope they were for the better.

Wow this is crazy! I would quit!

Yeah it sounds crazy!

protesting is a legal rght given to any united states citizen as long as they do it legally

I agree partially with what the workers are striking for because Walmart is a crazy place every single day, especially around the holiday season. However, I do not think they need to demand better pay or more stable hours. Their average pay is 5 whole dollars above federal minimum wage, and there are plenty of people out there who work a different job with a lot more hours at irregular times for minimum wage and no benefits. Why should Walmart be any different? I feel as if they are striking for something they will not get.