I Shoulda Stayed In School

$13,700 an Hour:

Katrina vanden Heuvel Thu Apr 6, 11:25 PM ET

The Nation -- Last Sunday, the New York Times reported that--for the first time--a full-time worker earning minimum wage cannot afford a one-bedroom apartment anywhere in America at market rates. That means more and more people like Michelle Kennedy--a former Senate page and author of Without a Net: Middle Class and Homeless (with Kids) in America--are finding themselves homeless and living out of their cars.

At a town hall meeting in Ohio last Saturday, Representative Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a staunch advocate for social and economic rights--he and Bernie Sanders are the two best candidates running for Senate in 2006--railed against stagnant wages' contribution to economic hardship. 'It is unacceptable that someone can work full-time--and work hard--and not be able to lift their family out of poverty.' He blasted a system where a full-time worker making the minimum wage earns $10,500 annually, while 'last year the CEO of Wal-Mart earned $3,500 an hour. The CEO of Halliburton earned about $8,300 an hour. And the CEO of ExxonMobil earned about $13,700 an hour.
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Good lord! $13,700 an hour? I'm worth that much, at least!
Oh, sorry. I'm being selfish.

But tell me this. When was the last time a minimum wage earner could afford to buy a house? I honestly don't remember.
I'm guessing maybe the first week the minimum wage act went into place. And maybe it would have been a one-roomed shack in a public housing project. Definitely nothing big enough for a family.

Anyway, Katrina vanden Deamer, what the fuck? Do you honestly think raising the minimum wage to say, 200k a year is going to fix the economy? What other ideas you got?