Yes, I agree. But it seems like the unadulterated version is whats working its way thru the GOP. Take minwages, which I have been pontificating on for years. GOP position is that it is some kind of exercise of horrible gov’t tyranny. All it is, is a floor on wages so you don’t have a bunch of economic dependents running around broke for the rest of us to take care of. Libertarians have epileptic fits over it. (And social security)
Conservatives, I submit have a more sensible approach. Not too high so you deter hiring people but not so low you leave people dependent on gov’t. It really isn’t that big a thing and is minimally intrusive. And if done right, it works. Lots of good benefits to society to people making enough money to survive.
But do a test. Ask a Republican “conservative” and I bet you get a “Libertarian” answer. (And some blatantly irrational suggestions.)Ask a Democrat “conservative” and I bet you get a lot more of the sensible answers.
That’s because the democrat conservatives haven’t been kidnapped, drugged, and brainwashed by the Libertarians.
parsy, who is typing during commercials
I think you give libertarians more credit than they deserve(did ya read the freakin article? :)) For myself I just mentioned the meat and potato disagreements, but yes there is a lot to disagree with. But that shouldnt preclude libertarians from being under the tent because you disagree with them on particular issues. They sure as hell aren’t compassionate conservatives(how do you think that will work next time around?). They will keep my traditional(not to be confused with social) cons on our toes. I invite that. They will give us dimension during any debate that might actually attract the independent voter. Just sayin.
A minimum wage simply distorts the market, giving employers an incentive to look for alternatives to using labor (or legal labor), and/or to pass the additional costs on to the consumers (as, you said, “for the rest of us to take care of”). There’s no magic money fairy, it comes from somewhere. A minimum wage is a lot like a labor union, any potential good for the union members comes at a cost to others.