Replies

I sent the following to Farah -- be interesting to see if I get a reply.

Carolyn

One more point re minimum wage -- take the # of people who are on minimum wage times the dollar amount of the proposed increase. Then multiply that answer by 2080, which is the number of working hours in a year. Take that answer and multiply by 15.3%. That is the increased amount that the government can expect to take in for FICA and Medicare.

You may be surprised how large it is. I figured it out once -- but don't have my almanac handy that gives me the number of workers on minimum wage.

You see, an increase in MW doesn't really help the employee, because prices will go up correspondingly and things will level out again. But it really helps government by putting more money into their coffers.

Also, when the minimum wage is raised, other employees usually get an increase because it's "not fair" that the new people make close to what the current employees are making. So across the board, the only beneficiary of the minimum wage increase is government.

I would be interested in hearing your take on this.

"So across the board, the only beneficiary of the minimum wage increase is government."

Aside from government, the only other group that benefits are union workers who already have secure jobs. By increasing the cost of labor, they seal out potential competition who are willing to work for less. Those who the libs supposedly want to help (low skilled, unexperienced workers) are the ones who don't get hired because of bad legislation like this. Employers only hire skilled workers...the overall labor force decreases, and the result is the same with every supply/demand situation. Fewer workers = greater pay for those lucky enough to keep their jobs. Those who DON'T get jobs they would otherwise have are the invisible victims of this legislation.

"You see, an increase in MW doesn't really help the employee, because prices will go up correspondingly and things will level out again. But it really helps government by putting more money into their coffers."

I had a guy with a PHD in Economics explain it to me with the best analogy to date dealing with the futility of raising the minimum wage to help those on minimum wage.

"Raising the Minimum Wage so as to bring prosperity to those receiving minimum wage is akin to attempting to raise the water on just one side of the bathtub."