I urge readers to study this list of the ten patrons of house bill 1512 which would raise the minimum wage to $15.15 an hour, more than double the current $7.25.[read_more]These people are in desperate need of a basic college course in economics. Do they not understand that this would force thousands of people out of the work force? Do they not understand that businesses would quickly move to automate everything?
HB 1512 Minimum wage; increases to $15.15 per hour.
HOUSE PATRONS
Does Virginia really want to throw teenagers and young adults out of work? As chart below shows, the majority of those making minimum wage are under 24. Many of these are kids with their first job. How many businesses are going to hire an 18 year old if they have to pay him $15.15 an hour? Such a requirement would force more businesses to automate, and perhaps that’s not a bad thing, but it would be disastrous for current minimum wage earners.
Study the growing list of democrats in the House of Delegates who are supporting this crazy bill. My personal opinion, these representatives are too ignorant of basic economics to be making laws. They shouldn’t be representing anyone.
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Minimum wage jobs are the most likely to be replaced by automation. Forcing an increase in the minimum wage is the same as handing out pink slips to more and more minimum-wage workers until none are left except the one person at the company who’s responsible for turning out the lights and locking the door. Wait. They have computers that can already to do that. Oh well.
There are very big regional differences in disposable income and cost of living across Virginia. Paying somebody $30,000 per year to bus tables will raise the cost of meals in restaurants. In McLean or the fancier parts of Henrico County that might not matter much because the elasticity of demand for eating out is substantially affected by levels of disposable income (in my opinion). The same cannot be said for Southwest Virginia. In many parts of Southwest Virginia I would expect that doubling the cost of labor in restaurants would result in cost and price increases that would keep customers from going out to eat. A notable percentage of the affordable eateries would close or the owners would have to let the paid employees go and do the work themselves. This issue cannot be examined on a state wide basis. It must be studied on a regional basis. At the least, these ten supporters should allow counties and cities to make their own decisions.
Why don’t they raise it to $100 per hour? Because you can’t legislate value and you can’t legislate away the laws of economics. This will simply make capital and off shoring more attractive. Fast food operators have re-designed operations that can be accomplished with 2-3 people. This is current reality at anytime, they only have to implement it.
A minimum wage does nothing but tell those with little or no experience, they need not apply, because they take more from a business than they can deliver. These 10 geniuses need education.
The left views this issue as a win-win for them. If the bill passes, everyone that gets a raise and will be beholden to the Democrats for their raise and if they lose their job because of the wage increase they will be beholden to the Democrats for providing unemployment benefits. If the bill is defeated and nothing happens it is the Republican’s fault. This sounds like to me to be the perfect situation for Mr. Boehner to negotiate with himself, since he is so good at doing that.
HAVE THEY LOST THEIR MINDS?
Minds? What minds? This group has no minds!
My favorite sponsor: Del. Joe Morrissey. Let’s just say he has a history of not keeping the welfare of young people close to mind. (I could have said that in a much cruder but funnier way, and chose not to).
Don’t worry, Kathleen Murphy will support it!
Of course she will, she’s just that stupid.