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California politicians demand grocery stores pay workers more; groceries close instead - the result is no one gets paid instead
American Thinker ^ | 02/05/2021 | Parker Beauregard

Posted on 02/05/2021 8:16:14 AM PST by SeekAndFind

Joe Biden continues to lie about the impact of mandatory higher wages. Mumbling to President Trump and the American people at the third presidential debate, he had said that "there is no evidence that when you raise the minimum wage, businesses go out of business. That is simply not true." He and his team have since reiterated this claim.

This is the same party that asserts that biological sex is a social construct, that the immutable race of a person should be the basis of his worth, and that climate change is an existential threat to the American people. Congratulations, Democrats: I no longer feel shock and outrage when you make stupid comments. I have simply come to expect it.

Still, I am a little worked up over Biden's comments on hourly wages. His position flies in the face of both basic economic theory and lived empirical realities. The chief policy officer at the swampy U.S. Chamber of Commerce even responded to the Biden lie by stating unequivocally that "there is no question that raising the minimum wage, especially to $15, will put some small businesses out of business and will cost a lot of low-wage workers their jobs." By their estimates, over one million Americans will not have a job if the policy goes into effect. This entire equity mindset is a disastrous combination of hubris, ignorance, and stupidity.

A maddening, heartbreaking, and corroborating story has therefore emerged from the Washington Post, which shared the brief history of the City of Long Beach's journey of manipulating the free market through government intervention. Ostensibly enacted to help hourly earners, the outcomes were predictably harmful toward the very same hourly earners they purport to serve.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: california; closures; groceries; minimumwage; moreoldnews
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Long Beach mayor Robert Garcia introduced his progressive legislation to the masses a few weeks back, tweeting on January 19 that "[t]omorrow, on the day we inaugurate our new President, I'll sign into law a $4 an hour hero pay increase to our hardworking grocery and supermarket workers.  They have been on the frontlines of this pandemic and deserve this support."

No one disagrees with the sentiment that our frontline workers, whether in a hospital, gas station, or grocery store, deserve more.  Our nation's teachers could certainly take a page out of their book.  We should all thank them for keeping this country and economy chugging.  However, this initiative is more about taking from grocery stores than it is giving to grocery store workers.  The political left hates business, hates capitalism, and understands neither.

The WaPo story followed this up a few weeks later when it reported that, as a direct result of the mayor's intervention, "two grocery stores in [Long Beach] will shutter in April in response to a local 'hero pay' measure requiring a $4-an-hour increase for grocery workers during the pandemic."

Kroger, the company that owns the two chains whose locations were being shuttered, commented on the damage being done to the community (through lack of food access and loss of jobs) by stating that "the irreparable harm that will come to employees and local citizens is a direct result of the City of Long Beach's attempt to pick winners and losers."

What did the mayor and city council think would happen? It feels like a waste of words to describe how the grocery store operated under market conditions that informed those who ran it at what price they could sell goods, pay their workers, pay other debt obligations, and make a profit.  Every business operates at a risk, and the risk-reward ratio was obviously closed to the point that it didn't make sense to put effort into a store with declining profits.  Is this so hard to understand?

1 posted on 02/05/2021 8:16:14 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

It’s not a bug. It’s a feature.

L


2 posted on 02/05/2021 8:16:52 AM PST by Lurker (Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is. )
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To: SeekAndFind

I still say, if you even have a job today, that is your
bonus. Many people don’t.

$4.00 an hour forced on employers?

People in government have lost contact with reality.


3 posted on 02/05/2021 8:20:28 AM PST by DoughtyOne (The Republican Party is dead. Long live the Founders Party.)
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To: SeekAndFind

In my (much) younger days I crunched numbers for a conglomerate that owned a large number of retail outlets.

We did huge spreadsheets with data on all the stores.

With one click we could rank them by profitability.

Stores that had negative cash flow had their data automatically highlighted in red.

Red meant “close the f&^%ing store—asap”.

We rinsed and repeated every three months.

It was so easy to understand even a monkey could figure it out...


4 posted on 02/05/2021 8:21:31 AM PST by cgbg (A kleptocracy--if they can keep it.)
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To: SeekAndFind

A good example of why the real minimum wage is $0


5 posted on 02/05/2021 8:24:07 AM PST by ConjunctionJunction
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To: cgbg

It was so easy to understand even a monkey could figure it out...


Yeah, OK, but what about a Caveman?


6 posted on 02/05/2021 8:26:56 AM PST by nesnah (Liberals - the petulant children of politics)
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To: SeekAndFind
California politicians demand grocery stores pay workers more; groceries close instead - the result is no one gets paid instead


7 posted on 02/05/2021 8:30:50 AM PST by Navy Patriot (Celebrate Decivilization)
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To: SeekAndFind

I would like to see the quisling politicians that voted for this be held civilly Liable for Depriving these people of their Rights under the Color of law


8 posted on 02/05/2021 8:34:55 AM PST by eyeamok
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To: cgbg

Stores that had negative cash flow had their data automatically highlighted in red.
Red meant “close the f&^%ing store—asap”.


And that’s why ‘certain neighborhoods’ don’t have lots of stores.


9 posted on 02/05/2021 8:44:59 AM PST by hanamizu
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To: SeekAndFind

One short term goal of the left is just that: to force businesses to go bankrupt. The longer term version of that goal is complete government takeover of all the means of production. (See the communist manifesto)


10 posted on 02/05/2021 9:19:24 AM PST by I want the USA back (The nation is in the grips of hysterical insanity, as usual.)
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To: I want the USA back

So what do you think will happen when there are no grocery stores in LA? The riots will be interesting to watch.


11 posted on 02/05/2021 9:24:58 AM PST by DownInFlames (Ga)
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To: SeekAndFind

They can work at solar panel factories.


12 posted on 02/05/2021 9:57:15 AM PST by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes.)
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To: DoughtyOne

Money is like electricity food water and gasoline. It just magically appears.


13 posted on 02/05/2021 10:00:29 AM PST by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes.)
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To: Organic Panic

Of course it does...

/s

But to a Communist wanna be, that lie will get you where you
want to go.


14 posted on 02/05/2021 10:10:10 AM PST by DoughtyOne (The Republican Party is dead. Long live the Founders Party.)
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Not to worry...jo and the ho will send them a few thousand monthly...or they can learn to code...


15 posted on 02/05/2021 10:11:44 AM PST by TnTnTn
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To: Organic Panic

It just magically appears.

Taking that a step further, I truly believe that not just with electric, people think as far as what they can see. Obviously some never visualize the producer of the electric or even how it gets to the wall plug. In a supermarket, I would bet there are some out there who have no clue that the food is not grown or packaged in the storeroom in back of the grocery store. They then elect dopes to Congress who in some cases could not find a job doing anything beyond pandering to them for votes. Islands sinking come to mind.


16 posted on 02/05/2021 10:30:56 AM PST by Mouton (The enemy of the people is the media.)
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To: SeekAndFind

He overplayed his hand. Of course, if you don’t move your car on street sweeper day, you get a $40 ticket.


17 posted on 02/05/2021 10:33:39 AM PST by Shark24 ( )
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To: Lurker

Typical example of leftist economic thinking !

I actually call there econmic understanding “A Scrooge McDuck Understanding of Econmics”.

Rememebr Uncle Scroog had a basement full of money, coins, gold, etc where when he felt like it could go down and roll around in. Leftists think that’s true of all the wealthy. They have their “stash” sitting around and all leftists have to do is force it out of the wealthy.


18 posted on 02/05/2021 10:35:27 AM PST by Reily
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To: SeekAndFind
A grocery store runs at about 3% profit.

Having to suddenly give a $4 an our pay raise to everyone would send you into negative territory.

Not to mention it would put the employees into a whole different tax bracket.

19 posted on 02/05/2021 10:43:25 AM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear (May their path be strewn with Legos, may they step on them with bare feet until they repent. )
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To: hanamizu

“SHORTAGE” is the word politicians want us to use...

The real word is SHOPLIFTING


20 posted on 02/06/2021 7:53:06 AM PST by ridesthemiles ( )
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