First of all, the headline on this item -- "Minimum wage increase in Indiana voted down" -- is a tad sloppy. A minimum wage increase for the whole country was voted down -- Indiana is perfectly free to raise its own minimum wage if our legislators are that stupid. Second, we learn here one of the ways Sen. Richard Lugar is not a conservative:
Indiana Senators Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh supported the amendment to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour.
Increases in the minimum wage not only do not do what it is said that they do, better the lot of the most economically disadvantage. They actually make things worse for many of them. If you follow all the links on this post, you'll learn more than you wanted to know about the economics of the minimum wage.
Comments
I'd expect this sort of nonsense from Bayh. But from Lugar? Well, yes, I've come to expect this sort of nonsense from him, too. Lugar is a nightmare for Indiana. Let's not forget that he also voted in favor of the Senate's amnesty bill--yes, the same bill that would allow up to 66 million new *legal* immigrants in the next 20 years.
This is the same Lugar who, according to Amanda Carpenter, of Human Events, "admits he has no idea how many new immigrants will be allowed into the country as a result of the Senate immigration bill he supported.
""No, and nor does anyone else,
There is a lot to consider with "fine tuning" the minimum wage....
If you keep it LOW....many folks won't take those jobs...and then those illegal immigrants will have their foot in THAT door, because THEY WILL work for that much (or litle).
If you raise it, although it does provide more $$$ for the consumer to place back INTO the economy, it might cause that same employee (consumer) to not be able to sustain the level of work now expected. Bosses will NOT pay $8 an hour for $6 an hour's worth of work...that simply doesn't fly with the competition out there.
Again...out of the job force.
With the stats, it's a whole other ballgame. The manipulative nature of them (in the *right* hands) alone speaks volumes, and not always includes the TRUTH held within them.
Example....unemployment shows 4.5%....OK. Then, a large number of these people run out of *benefits* due to reaching the limit allowed. They are now "off the books", and thereby show a DROP in unemployment. Is that truthful? Not to those still trying to find work...it says THEY can't get work, but all these *others* apparently CAN.
Talk about a self-esteem issue.
Even if they raised the minimum wage to $10 an hour...it would not be the boon to the masses the politicians *think* it would be...not with inflation being the way it currently is.
Better to LOWER the prices, instead of raising the pay.
When people can buy MORE with LESS...they usually WILL.
B.G.
The Federal Minimum wage should be repealed for a variety of reasons. The most important reason is setting a Federal Minimum wage is not the job of The Federal Government in the first place.
Per our Constitution any Minimum wage laws should originate with the fifty States.
We should repeal the Federal Minimum wage entirely and allow each of the fifty States to make their own Minimum wage if they feel they need one.
In a few years we would have a lot of economic data on what effect the various Minimum wages have had on each State's economy.
The Federal Government is involved in too many things that they should not be involved in.
Mike Sylvester
Chairman of The Libertarian Party of Allen County