Problem: Not enough “living wage” jobs. Politicians’ solution: throw money at it! Sadly, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour is not a solution. When the newbie receives $15, the person who hired in at the old minimum wage, finished their training so as to become a productive employee and was given a … say $3 an hour raise, will want $3 above the new minimum wage. After all, they earned the raise. Right? Likewise, those who have worked their way higher up the ladder will want their “premium” added to the new minimum wage, and on it goes through supervisory and management ranks.
The business owner, if they want to keep a cohesive workforce, will be forced to give everyone a $-plus an hour raise. This higher cost of doing business will force a price increase for the goods and/or services provided by the business. This will be true of all businesses, hence we will have runaway inflation. An example of this is the $4.50 I was charged for a bottle of water at SeaTac Airport last month.
Cause: Too many regulations (you know, the public official who says no, you can’t do that, or you will do this…) taxes and unreasonable labor rates create an environment that does not encourage business owners to go out on a limb and create jobs by expanding, or developing new products with the confidence they will receive a reasonable return on their investment. It is business entities that create living wage jobs, not the government or the tooth fairy. All of the stimulus programs promising to create shovel-ready jobs wound up benefitting investors like Warren Buffet and political cronies, at the taxpayers’ expense, while leaving the unemployed…well, unemployed. Solution: jobs are created by business with the mutual cooperation of government, business and labor. So, let’s make it happen.
Effect: Those working for a wage or salary will be able to secure raises that will offset the spiraling inflation that will follow the folly of raising the minimum wage so drastically. In the end everything will be a wash and the new $15 an hour will no longer be a living wage! We will be right back to where we find ourselves today, mired in job killing bureaucracy with people looking for jobs that pay a living wage. Oh, and the most devastating effect of raising the minimum wage to $15 will be the trauma it will surely impose on seniors or anyone who lives off a fixed income. They will have no way to deal with the increased cost of living. It is not reasonable to expect Social Security will be adjusted to accommodate senior citizens in the state of Washington, nor do I think the governor has it his budget either.
So, before we force those living on a fixed income to choose between food and heat, or medicine, or a roof over their heads, let’s engage the head before we put the mouth in motion. Those who have worked hard all of their lives deserve better.
Afraid to retire in Marysville,
James Thorsteinson
Marysville
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