So what is happening today? There is no state in the union where someone working 40 hours per week (full-time) at minimum wage can afford a two-bedroom apartment at market rate. Not one. People who work at minimum wage typically have to work more than one job, often logging 60 or more hours of work per week, just to get by. All the adults in the family are now expected to work; the days of the single wage-earner/breadwinner seem forgotten. And forget about vacations or time off.

People working minimum wage are the least likely to have health insurance and the least likely to have any retirement plan. A report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research showed that, in 2011, a worker would need to work an entire full-time job for a year, minus a single hour, just to pay for a family health insurance policy for that year (http://utsd.us/15ioTd1). That worker’s entire earnings (less one hour’s wage) in exchange for a family health insurance policy, with only that extra hour’s pay to spend on everything else — food, housing, gas, etc.

If the minimum wage is supposed to be a way of demonstrating that “we don’t need unions,” then it is failing — spectacularly.

Laurie Hall


The ultimate truth

So Pope Benedict has retired due to frail health and the “burdens” of the office. Wouldn’t you also move on if you were carrying the burden of guilt he must be feeling for obfuscating the truth about the hundreds of priests who sexually abused thousands of helpless children?

As Cardinal Ratzinger, he was instrumental in hiding or transferring predatory priests and other Catholic staff to protect the good name of the church.

To see the truth behind his pivotal role in the devious workings of the Catholic hierarchy, go to YouTube and type, “Mea Maxima Culpa.” This film exposes the horror of child sex abusers. The film director, Alex Gibney, shows you why such a burden of guilt would drive anyone into retirement.

Unfortunately, the ultimate truth will follow the pope to his grave.

Warren Dunn


Fight and defeat climate change

The president got it right in his state of the union speech: climate change must be taken seriously and immediate steps must be taken to defuse the problem.

As numerous U-T San Diego articles about weather anomalies have demonstrated, we are at a turning point: either we get in sync with nature’s systems, or we may sink. Climate change is foremost among the challenges that we must solve.

If we support solar and wind power, we cannot only wean ourselves from our deadly fossil fuel addiction, but also we can make the United States more energy-independent, safe and prosperous. Another key component in this process is the implementation of a revenue-neutral carbon tax to provide a price signal for changing our energy-use behavior.

Let’s be visionary, bold and courageous, as Americans have always been, and reduce our carbon emissions dramatically now while creating a beautiful green America. The “Greatest Generation” isn’t gone, it’s reincarnating now and doing what is necessary to face up to the challenges of human caused climate change.


