[Penelope Dreadful]

You said, “Agreed. It is basically feeling good about one’s self by spending someone else’s money.”

How true! I bet the higher up at WalMart are laughing it up like crazy when they get the public to subsidize their employees for them! And McDonalds! And even BizBroker if he is paying some poor schlump minimum wages!

Oh, but WalMart for example, has it so good! Re: cent-va’s video, they increase their bottom line by underpaying their employees, and then increase their top line when those same people spend the food stamps at WalMart! I call that a two-fer!

[ChildOfThe60s]

I've seen instances where employers have to pay above minimum wage to get competent help. Is the increasing minimum wage causing a greater move to automation? Certainly. Anything that raises labor costs encourages innovation. But the other variable driving automation is the poor quality of our available labor force. Confer with an employer and discover how bad it really is.

Still, not relevant to the point.

We live in a constitutional republic. The Constitution is the ultimate law of the land, NOT the supreme court or any other branch. Where are you constitutionally justified in taking from me against my will and giving to someone else. That is just what mandated wages are. You are using the power of government to confiscate my earnings. But that's OK because you're not keeping it, you're giving it to someone else that you deem deserving.

Ultimately, in the final analysis, the government's power comes from the point of a gun.