skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Would Congress Really Eliminate Minimum Wage & Privatize Soc. Security?

play audio
Play

Thursday, October 28, 2010   

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Five of the Republican candidates for U.S. Senate this year, including John Raese in West Virginia and Rand Paul in Kentucky, have said they do not believe in the minimum wage and would like to privatize Social Security. How far would those ideas get in Congress?

According to Chris Plein, who teaches public administration at WVU, they are more of a mark of political philosophy than a serious policy position. He says Congress is not very likely to eliminate the minimum wage.

"This is such a deeply entrenched part of our marketplace, that those in Washington might not be willing to expend political capital on this particular issue."

The Bush administration tried to privatize Social Security, without success. Helen Hartnett teaches social welfare policy at WVU. She says people have been told a lot of scary things about Social Security, although she's not too worried.

"There is public support for something to change with Social Security, and I think a lot of it is fear-based. I personally, as somebody who will receive Social Security, I'm not concerned."

According to Plein, the system will have to adapt to an older population, which means fewer people contributing. But he says a crashing stock market also calls privatized investments into question.

"I think it's fair to say that no matter what one's political orientation might be, all of our faiths in the stock market has been shaken just a bit."

An estimated 15,000 West Virginians make minimum wage. The state also has a high number of elderly dependent on Social Security. Raese has said minimum wage laws are unconstitutional. When asked if he thinks Social Security is constitutional, he refused to answer.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021