Minimum wage increase

[68Charger]

the real minimum wage is $0.. but at least you don't have to show up for work

Socialists/communists want everybody to get equal pay... that would be their utopia, where everybody everybody gets paid the same, or even where there is no money.. everybody just does what they do for everybody else.

To that end, you either raise the minimum wage, or lower the maximum that people can make (thru multiple means, heavy taxation would be one)
of course this just reduces everybody to the lowest common denominator.... and creates inflation because giving people more money for the same work de-values the currency.
It also de-values education... since the gap between what you make as a high-school dropout and a college graduate has been closed partially.

[Ronin13]

Raising the minimum wage is stupid. Minimum wage in and of itself is stupid and violates employers rights to pay commensurate to worth of labor. It's silly to raise it to some arbitrary number when the last estimate I could find shows only 2.9% of the working population (that's reported income) earns minimum wage. Minimum wage was never meant to support a family, it was meant for entry level/unskilled labor. In reality, if you're earning minimum wage you shouldn't be for long, and if you are after a long period of time you either A) are not a good worker, or B) need to find a new job.

[Circuits]

Actually, yes. They pay income taxes, and it's not always recoverd at tax time.

Most minimum wage workers are eligible for no withholding (other than FICA/SSI), so do not necessarily "pay" any income tax. Those who do have withholding may not file for their refunds, though, which effectively results in them being taxed, I guess.

Don't forget illegals and scammers collecting benefits but still working "under the table" - no taxes or withholding on the illegal income, and little or none taken out of the fraudulently-claimed benefits.

Really, anyone working for minimum wage is a chump, because working regularly above the table at even minimum wage makes one no longer eligible for many FSA "benefits".

[bryjcom]

Raising the minimum wage is stupid. Minimum wage in and of itself is stupid and violates employers rights to pay commensurate to worth of labor. It's silly to raise it to some arbitrary number when the last estimate I could find shows only 2.9% of the working population (that's reported income) earns minimum wage. Minimum wage was never meant to support a family, it was meant for entry level/unskilled labor. In reality, if you're earning minimum wage you shouldn't be for long, and if you are after a long period of time you either A) are not a good worker, or B) need to find a new job.

It also violates the workers right to accept lower pay. There are people that have little or no marketable skills that are unable to get a job due to them literally not being worth $10+ and hour. Now they're stuck with out a job to learn marketable skills because they are literally forbidden to work for less than mandated pay.

Minimum wage jobs are for entry level work forces that NEED the opportunity to learn new skills. But try explaining that to a progressive....

[BladesNBarrels]

It also violates the workers right to accept lower pay. There are people that have little or no marketable skills that are unable to get a job due to them literally not being worth $10+ and hour. Now they're stuck with out a job to learn marketable skills because they are literally forbidden to work for less than mandated pay.

Minimum wage jobs are for entry level work forces that NEED the opportunity to learn new skills. But try explaining that to a progressive....

Ah yes, that is why the "intern" was invented.
Slave labor with no pay and can be asked to do anything.

[bryjcom]

Ah yes, that is why the "intern" was invented.
Slave labor with no pay and can be asked to do anything.

As long as consent is involved....

[Gman]

Ah yes, that is why the "intern" was invented.
Slave labor with no pay and can be asked to do anything.

Interns at the evil corporation where I work are paid and they get put up in long-stay hotels when they're from another part of the country.

[Ronin13]

Let's not mince words, minimum wage really means "If I could pay you less, I would."

[MrPrena]

Current labor rate @big box stores and fast food places are $1 to 2 bucks more than new minimum wage. CO minimum wage can be adjusted down when there is low price indicies or low inflation numbers. I think CO had to lower minimum wage about ~3 years back?

[roberth]

Let's not mince words, minimum wage really means "If I could pay you less, I would."

Because most of the people who get raises from increases in minimum wage aren't worth minimum wage.

I think a reasonably intelligent person with a good work ethic ought to be able to outpace minimum wage fairly quickly.