It's definately a good idea to see if you can have your pay bumped up. After all, if you are given the responsibility of being a lead or manager with extra responsibility, it seems reasonable to be given a little more pay for a little more responsibility.
Here are my questions:
1. When you say you are the lead, is this officially recognized in your title? Sometimes companies will rely on employees to take a lead, but don't always give the title and extra pay along with it. Sometimes it is blatant, and other times an honest oversight. If you don't have the "official" title that goes along with the responsibilities, you need to request an official promotion, along with a bump in pay. If they refuse, but expect you to still be responsible for lead duties, it probably is the time to start looking for something new.
2. Does this new person have more experience than you and a degree? I wasn't really sure of that. I agree if you are a manager or a lead, you should have at least a little more than your subordinates. However, sometimes employers look at what experience a new person is bringing to the table, and overlook the experience they already have there when determining what to pay new hires.
A lot of larger corporations nowadays have set titles and pay scale that corresponds with a person's duties. That helps avoid these kinds of issues.
Good luck..by the way...I have said it before, and will probably say it again: www.indeed.com is a great site to search multiple job postings on job boards, corporate and other sites.
PS...Minister: A lot of CEOs are worth the money they get. Let's not judge all of them based on some of the bad apples. A CEO is a meaningful position in most companies, and the decisions they make can save or end the jobs of the rank and file worker. That's a lot of responsibility.