hi_im_god |
10-29-2008 08:37 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by SCUDSBROTHER
The minimum wage is supposed to be the very least people can survive on. If you don't raise it to make up for the increased cost of living, then you're really reducing someone's salary. If you want to keep down the minimum wage, then you're really saying you want to reduce the real salary of the least paid workers. That's why most Republicans want to keep the minimum wage down. They want to form a 2 class society. That's exactly what keeping the minimum wage low does. They sell it as a way to provide more jobs. Yes, a lot of bad paying jobs. They sell it by saying a bad job is better than no job. Do it their way, and you will have just a 2 class society. Everything they preach (including wanting a static minimum wage) is a recipe for making a 2 class society. That's why the words increase and raised are used when really it's just an adjustment for an increased cost of living. Are they really giving people an actual raise in their standard of living? No. You're allowing them to keep up. Republicans want them to fall behind. They think they deserve to fall behind. That's what they are saying when they want to keep it static.
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there is a long standing (i.e. decades long) and broad consensus among economists that minimum wage laws hurt the very people they are supposed to help by distorting the labor market.
alternates like the earned income credit and general welfare accomplish what you think minimum wage is supposed to do without causing a loss of available jobs.
minimum wage doesn't just prevent employer's from buying labor at a market price. it stops people from selling their labor at a rate where they could get a job, learn a skill, and find better employment with their experience.
i mean, screw a living wage. if minimum wage actually works to an employee's benefit, why don't we just raise it to $250/hour and we can all be rich.
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