To the Point
Minimum Wage and Low-Wage Jobs in the New Economy
President Obama has called for a federal minimum wage hike from $7.25 to $10 an hour. Would that help rectify income inequality? What are its chances on Capitol Hill?
By Warren Olney • • 51m ListenWith holiday shopping under way, evidence of a frustrated workforce continues, with fast food workers striking again today. And President Obama has called for a federal minimum wage hike from $7.25 to $10 an hour. Would that help rectify income inequality? What are its chances on Capitol Hill and around the country? Also, radioactive material stolen near Mexico City has been recovered, but the thieves are likely doomed; and former New York Police Commissioner William Bratton gets his old job back with a promise of kinder, gentler policing.
Banner image: New York City rally to raise the minimum wage. Photo: All-Nite Images
In this episode
3 storiesStolen Cobalt-60 Recovered, Thieves Likely Doomed
For two days, police in Mexico searched frantically for a stolen truck loaded with the radioactive materials used to manufacture so-called "dirty bombs." There were fears that it could fall into the wrong hands. Now, the truck's been discovered, and the story has changed. Tracy Wilkinson is Mexico City Bureau Chief for the Los Angeles Times .
Read the story8 minIncome Inequality, Economic Anxiety and the Minimum Wage
Fast food workers are back on the streets in 100 cities today. Walmart saw strikes on Black Friday. Yesterday, in a speech about the economy, President Obama said "the defining challenge of our time" is the decline of upward mobility, and called for a hike in the minimum wage.
Read the story34 minWilliam Bratton Returns to New York
New York's Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio ran on a campaign highly critical of Michael Bloomberg's "stop and frisk" policy of policing. Now de Blasio's picked William Bratton to return as police commissioner, the man who initiated the city's "Broken Windows" strategy two decades ago.
Read the story9 min
