Another poll finds 71% support for raising the minimum wage

Another poll has found massive support'71 percent support, to be exact'for raising the minimum wage to $9.00 from its current level of $7.25. Two weeks ago, 71 percent of people told Pew they supported the increase. This week, it's Gallup. And, once again, 50 percent of Republicans said they supported a $9.00 minimum wage.

Senior citizens would raise the minimum wage by 67 percent to 31 percent. Middle-income people earning between $24,000 and $59,999 would raise it by 68 percent to 31 percent. Among people earning less than $24,000'some of them doubtless earning the minimum wage themselves'87 percent say they would increase it. People earning $60,000 or more support the $9.00 minimum wage at lower rates but still by relatively strong majorities'59 percent for those between $60,000 and $89,999 and 62 percent for those earning more than $90,000.

While 71 percent is strikingly high support for a policy that the politicians of one party fiercely oppose, Gallup notes that it found even higher support for raising the minimum wage at several points between 1995 and 2005, and suggests that perhaps support is as low as 71 percent in part because the president's proposed increase of $1.75, from $7.25 to $9.00, is larger than past increases. That's an odd take, since what Gallup presents as three raises of 70 cents in 2007, 2008, and 2009 was passed in one piece of legislation in 2007, but it's also the case that at the time that legislation was passed, the minimum wage had not risen in a decade. Now, of course, the minimum wage has "only" been frozen since 2009.

The thing of it is, while a raise from $7.25 to $9.00 would be a wonderful thing, the minimum wage really should be higher than that. In fact, even Barack Obama circa 2008 said so, campaigning on a $9.50 minimum wage tied to inflation. And as we know with today's Republicans, you don't do better when you start out by compromising. The minimum wage should be more like $10.00, and in fact, there's a Democratic proposal in Congress to raise it to $10.10, close to its 1968 value. A minimum wage of $10.10, indexed to inflation, would be a huge poverty-reduction policy—and a policy that encouraged work by making work pay.

Tell Congress to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 and tie it to inflation.