Originally Posted by sgtdmski

You see I have no problem with state government's that raise the minimum wage. The problem is when the federal government does so. How can you tell me that the 535 members of Congress know what is best for Alaska, Missouri, Kansas, or Texas. They can't know. That is why there are state governments. The minimum wage in Alaska is $7.15, this was decide on by the people who best know what the economic situation in Alaska and how to manage the system.

Quoting a site whose goal is a living wage presents problems. They place the numbers in context to support their aim. Many of the supporters are unions, unions artificially inflate wages. Their goal is to get the most for their consituents. While the numbers cited on the page are interesting, they are not revealing enough. For instance while they claim that 61% of the people earning minimum wage are over the age of 29, they do not state if this is the only income these individuals are receiving. For instance, consider an individual who is working fulltime at a good paying job, who decides to pick up a second job so that they can have extra money, pay off bills, or save for a major purchase, are these individuals hurt by receiving the minimum wage, no they are not, they took the job to make extra money in the first place.

The research also ignores historical trends, that show that when the minimum wage is increased, the workers that are affected most are those who have lower skills. Business do not wish hire individuals who they will have to pay more than their job skills are worth, thus instead, business will hire those who have job skills looking for additional jobs, placing a hardship on those who are trying to get a foot in the door.

The idea of equality of results is a noble one, however, it is also a fool's errand. Regardless of how much you may try, no two people will ever be exactly equal. There is no way to guarantee who will succeed and who will fail. The market is driven by people, what people are willing to pay for any given service or product, when you make the cost more than what people are willing to pay, then you see a decline in growth leading to an overall economic decline. All one has to do is look at the current housing market. Sale prices increased as the demand for home increased because of the lower interest rates. When interest rates increased the demand decreased and suddenly houses on the market were priced higher than what people were willing to pay. Currently we are seeing the market correct itself, housing costs are decling, and as they continue to decline we will see sales increase, because the market has finally balanced itself.

The same holds true for wages and prices. Don't believe me, then check the data available, everytime the minimum wage has increased a certain percentage, so has the cost of a gallon of milk, an almost identical percentage. That alone should tell the story.

dmk