California's $20 Minimum Wage Costing Jobs [semi-satire]

Democrats' belief that raising the minimum wage for fast food employers would benefit them is being undermined by businesses closing down and/or laying off portions of their labor force. Loren Wright, owner of a Fosters Freeze franchise in Lemoore, said "my employees told me they'd rather have a job at the old wage than be laid off, but the new law doesn't give us that option. Gov. Newsom's restaurant does have that option."

Newsom hastened to point out that "I'm only one of the owners of the PlumpJack Cafe. The law exempted this kind of restaurant from the required minimum wage law because the workers' wages can be augmented by customer tips. The Cafe is Lake Tahoe's premier dining destination. We serve pan-roasted Norwegian salmon, prime New York strip steak, and fine wines. The fare is for connoisseurs of discriminating taste."

"An ancillary objective of the new law is decrease the consumption of low quality fast food," the Governor added. "Health experts roundly disapprove of the contribution to obesity made by purveyors of the low-priced, greasy and fat-loaded products sold in those kind of eating establishments. The more of them that go out of business, the healthier our population will become."

"As for the young people who lose their jobs as a result, I recommend they take out loans to go to college," Newsom advised. "They'll meet a higher class of people and have a good time while they're at it. When they graduate they can get government jobs and have their college debt canceled. Instead of grousing about being laid off, they should thank me and the Democrat majority in the legislature for helping spare them from a life of low-wage drudgery."

If you missed any of the other Semi-News/Semi-Satire posts you can find them at...

Command-and-control economic dictates have little relationship with demand and supply realities. America has had this kind of rigid control of prices in the past, most notably during the New Deal of the 1930’s, under FDR and the Democrat/Progressive Congress of the time. Everything, from shipping costs to prices of everyday staples like bread, butter and meat, had a government-assigned price and a strict quota of permissible production. Dairy farms could sell their milk only through certain areas, which tended to make food prices higher than they otherwise have been, and still milk got dumped when there was an excess amount produced. Commerce between regions of the US was highly regulated, and monthly updates on the “authorized” prices were issued under the “fair trade” laws.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the most pro-socialist President we had up to that time, even more so than Woodrow Wilson. Businessmen were SOBs not to be trusted with even the most minute of decision-making. He was also a great admirer of Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy, who “made the trains run on time”, a major accomplishment of that regime. This attitude was strongly held until about 1937, as Mussolini began foreign conquests in Africa, and striking up ties with Nazi Germany.

In 1937, Studebaker made a model called “Dictator”, but that was changed to “President” as a PR move, when “dictator” became a pejorative term.

With FDR, it was a difference without a distinction.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.