Of course, when he says that, he means they are living too close to where we want to put up luxury housing and hotels and stuff. In order to keep the economic growth from crimping, though, we still need to pay them next to nothing to staff those hotels.
Yet, gasoline costs have risen; flood insurance rates rise, some at 15 percent per annum; gas and electric utility rates increase, sewerage and water rates increase, property taxes rise — yet the minimum wage rate in America, after taking inflation into account, is just about where it was in 1968. For 45 years real hourly minimum wages have either stagnated or declined. Had the federal minimum wage been adjusted upward at 4 percent per annum from its 1968 level of $1.60, it would be $9.34 per hour in 2013. Nonetheless, I am sure that there are some hardline business owners among us who may say that $7.25 per hour is sufficient. I am not one. Seventy-five thousand workers in the hospitality industry in New Orleans deserve better.But if the rent is too damn high in New Orleans, they'll just have to move out of the way. And then Pres will have more stuff to "revitalize."
Entrepreneurs should pay a “just” wage. Given the rise in fixed costs in America, the current federal minimum wage does not allow a person receiving that level of pay to “break even.” Shouldn’t workers break even too? A worker earning $7.25 per hour cannot afford to pay both rent and utilities on a decent home; and certainly, cannot afford to purchase a car and a home and upkeep both, or pay tuition at a public college or university.