Re: the Feb. 15 letter "Lift yourself to a higher wage."
I smile reading "letters to the editor" when I find one, written by a self styled "conservative" stating what "liberals" think, describing a view that "liberals" have never held.
In this letter, the writer shows ignorance of the history of the minimum wage. Hancock's "simple fact" that the minimum wage was never intended to be a living wage is untrue and unrelated to the facts of its inception. On the contrary, the idea of a minimum wage was always "one on which laborers could live" and dates from the early 1800's.
It did not become law in this country until 1938 when FDR, after contending with "conservatives" and the courts, established it. Now the federal minimum is $7.25/hr ($15,080/yr). Low income workers, a single parent with two children, for example, can't live on that amount. That is the actual reason we "radical" liberals want it increased. The letter writer proves some study is needed before writing a letter to the editor.
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Harry Peck, retired lawyer
Tubac
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
