Liberal Minimum-Wage Nonsense Hurts the Poor

by Jacob G. Hornberger
Jan. 09, 2012

The liberals are at it again. They’re calling for another increase in the minimum wage in their purported attempt to help the poor. Two new minimum-wage articles have recently been posted on the liberal websites Counterpunch and Common Dreams. One is entitled “The Bogus Case Against the Minimum Wage Hike” by Dean Baker and John Schmitt and the other is “America’s Skimpy Minimum Wage” by Savatore Babones.

Before I get to the fundamental flaw in both articles, I can’t help but initially wonder whether these authors actually hate the poor.

Why do I say that?

Because all three of them are such pikers! They would like to see the minimum wage raised from the current $7.25 per hour to somewhere between $10 and $27 an hour.

Imagine that! I thought liberals loved the poor. Why stop at $10 or even $27? Why not a really large increase in the minimum wage, like, say, $100 per hour or even $1,000 per hour?

Let’s do it this way. Let’s figure out how much the members of Congress receive on an hourly basis and then let’s make that the minimum wage. Congressmen receive an annual salary of $174,000. That’s comes out to $3,346 per week. With a 40-hour work week, that means that the members of Congress are receiving $83.00 per hour.

Why not set the minimum wage at $83? Why should ordinary people get less than what the members of Congress get paid? Don’t liberals believe in equality? Do they think that the members of Congress are better than the rest of us?

Read More