The Minimum Wage DebateIntroduction:The Clinton administration gave notice in 1993 that it intended to seek an increase in the federal minimum wage. Liberal politicians applauded the new president, agreeing that a raise was overdue and deserved. However, their conservative counterparts complained about the policy proposal, fearing that a minimum wage increase would further disrupt the economic recovery underway at the time. Both liberals and conservatives began to marshal their statistical forces to support long-standing claims regarding the positive and negative consequences of raising the minimum wage. Since then, political rhetoric has often dominated the minimum wage debate. (Mckenzie, 10, 1994) The minimum wage is a controversial issue because it is debated by a large and eclectic audience. The minimum wage is at the center of the economist's interests; he is looking for his connection to the job loss. Countries around the world, including all OECC members, maintain minimum wage laws. For this reason it is of obvious importance for policy makers. Because those who tend to earn the minimum wage disproportionately come from low-income and minority families, the minimum wage has also attracted the attention of social activists. The topic is perhaps more interesting to the average American. At some point in our lives, almost everyone has received minimum wage. For this reason it is a source of popular debate during dinner, in restaurants and in the typical American living room. The people of the United States should support raising the federal minimum wage because empirical evidence shows that it does not lead to job losses. Americans know that raising the minimum wage is one way to help make work pay. For many working Americans, an increase in the minimum wage will make the difference between living in poverty and not living in poverty. Additionally, a higher minimum wage, a floor that ensures workers receive fair treatment for their efforts, provides a foothold into the middle class for many more families who otherwise could not make a middle-class living. America in the 1990s is a country of growing inequality, where the rich are advancing while the working class falls behind. In this economic phenomenon, the middle class is disappearing. One of our main defenses to ensuring that members of the working class receive a fair wage is legislation that provides for it. While many minimum wage opponents cite labor supply and demand concerns regarding the legally mandated wage, we must look at the facts rather than mere theory.