Thursday, May 1, 2014

On The Minimum Wage Hike: Timing Is Everything

On the very day that the Senate Democrats are planning to make a show of voting for a $10.10 minimum wage,  it was reported that the economy in the first quarter only grew by one-tenth of one percent.  Just a tenth of a percent above dead stalled.
   
Yet, the Democrats feel obliged to further damage this already-fragile situation by hiking the minimum wage and, in so doing, force higher prices for a consumer base that has already seen its income decline for 5 straight years.
   
This, so 1/2 of one percent of our population or 1.6 million workers, can see their salary kicked up 41%. With this, the Democrats think they can stir up their political base as they approach the Fall elections.  And the economy be damned as they ignore how complicit the last minimum wage increase was in making this the worst recovery ever.
   
Now, ask yourself this. Are you going to get a 41% wage hike so you can afford the inflationary prices caused by this latest increase?  Are the working poor, those on welfare assistance, and those on fixed incomes going to benefit from it?  No.  This will only create further income inequality by weighing down those already at the bottom.

References:

April 30: $10.10 Wage Bill Set To Die In The Senate: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/204766-1010-wage-bill-set-to-die

April 30: US economy slowed to 0.1 percent growth rate in Q1: 
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20140430/us-economy-gdp-09b1567225.html

Median Income Falls For 5th Year, Inequality At Record High: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/median-income-falls-inequality_n_3941514.html

Characteristics of a minimum wage worker: http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2012.htm

No comments: