Roger McKinney | On March 12, 2021

US Capitol Building

Why are Democrats such misers? Their proposal for an increase of the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour proves that the party doesn’t care about the poor. That translates to $30,000 per year before benefits, an amount a family of four could live on in southeastern Oklahoma if they supplemented it with hunting and fishing, but nowhere else. Do Democrats want to keep the poor just barely alive so they will always depend on the government for a handout?

If Democrats believed their own propaganda, they would raise the minimum wage to $100 per hour. That would mean an annual income of $200,000 per year and provide a comfortable living. Automatically, it would eliminate poverty.

By proposing a paltry $15 minimum wage, Democrats advertise that they don’t believe their own propaganda. They know that a minimum wage too high will cause more harm than good. So they hoisted their wet finger into the breeze to determine what amount would excite their gullible base but cause little harm to businesses and employment and chose $15.

What will happen if it’s passed? Google “minimum wage” and you will find dozens of economists citing hundreds of studies that prove increases in the wage have no impact on employment. But keep in mind that economics says that only a minimum above the market rate for entry level jobs will cause unemployment. So should we assume that increases in the minimum have no effect, or that the minimum is usually close to the market rate?

The latter is the correct answer in case any Democrats are reading. Politicians have always tried to keep the minimum wage close to the market rate so as to not cause unemployment. They let the rate lag behind the market rate for a few years so they can increase it and convince their base that they have accomplished a great feat for the poor, stuck it to greedy businessmen and Republicans, and changed the world. So vote for me again! The Democratic base is so gullible they buy this sorry song and dance routine every time.

Several cities jumped the gun on minimum wage, so we can get an idea of what the future holds by looking at their experiments. Those cities lost a lot of jobs. Currently, the average wage in the US is $15.17/hour for blacks, and $16.78 for whites, so the legislation will make entry-level jobs pay almost as much the national average. Will more experienced and better skilled workers continue to work for the same wage as that earned by entry-level workers?

Some businesses will be able to pass the costs onto customers in the form of higher prices, but how much will depend on how price sensitive customers are and how much labor contributes to the total cost of the product. Restaurants serve customers that are very sensitive to prices and labor makes up a large share of total costs, so the increase will endanger those jobs. Tesla customers are less price sensitive and the company probably hires fewer entry level workers than do restaurants, so the increase will not impact those jobs and will be nothing more than a tax on customers.

But we know Democrats can’t reason through the effects of a minimum wage increase. They think no farther than, “Wage increase, good!” What motivates them to support a minimum wage increase is the belief that it is the moral thing to do. After all, they are morally superior to everyone else. But is a minimum wage moral?

The Godly theologians at the University of Salamanca, Spain, wrestled with the demand for a minimum wage in the 16^th century and rejected it as immoral. They were the first economists, too. They understood that a minimum wage above the market rate would cause unemployment among the working poor and make them worse off. Also, they had determined that a just wage is one achieved through haggling in a relatively free market. If the market wage proved insufficient to live on, the family needed charity and that is the responsibility of the whole community, not just the employers.

“Progressives” resurrected the minimum wage in the early 20^th century as means to keep minorities from getting jobs and raising families. They had invented eugenics, which elevated white people to the superior race long before Hitler and attempted to prevent inferior races from breeding and polluting the gene pool. Modern socialists are the first group to ignore this history and declare minimum wages to be good for minorities and the poor.

Originally published on Townhall Finance.

Roger McKinney