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If you work 40 hours a week and make minimum wage, you earn $206. Before taxes are taken out. Wait a minute; that can't be right! Two hundred and six dollars? Some people have cell phone bills that high, for Pete's sake! Forget about your high-speed Internet, cable television, health clubs and regular haircuts. What about basic amenities such as heat, electricity, shopping for food, paying the rent and credit card bills? I mean, everybody has credit cards, don't they? We're not even talking about kids yet. Do you know how much kids eat? I mean, even when they're not really hungry? Seems to me, if you make $206 a week, you simply can't make it all by yourself on that kind of money. Can you? Clearly, it's been a long time since many of us had to live on minimum wage. But maybe it's time to consider the reality. The current battle in Madison between Republicans and Democrats is centered on raising the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.50, which seems like a paltry sum for those of us who can't comprehend living our lives on that little money. Which is the main problem for most in relating to this issue. If you can't imagine living a minimum-wage life, you have no clue what it takes. [more]

Maximum benefit: Oregon minimum wage hike offers real help [more