The Conservative Case FOR a Higher Minimum Wage
UPDATE: November 2014 - The people have spoken on a favorite Democratic issue, that of raising the minimum wage, and the results are a resounding 'yes'. In multiple jurisdictions this fall, ballot proposals to raise the minimum wage were victorious, even in states that elected conservative U.S. Senators who regularly oppose such proposals.
For more details, see our article in the News Briefs ARCHIVE section entitled 2014: Minimum Wage and Pot Win Big.
UPDATE: May 2014 - It looks as if raising the minimum wage is gaining even more support. Recent reports indicate that former Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney and former Republican Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum both are in favor of a minimum wage increase.
December 2013 - There has been a growing push recently to try and raise the minimum wage across the country. If the November 2013 election results are any indication, the concept is starting to gain some traction:
- In New Jersey, voters approved by a 61%-39% margin a ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.25 and to include annual cost of living increases. They did this while re-electing Governor Chris Christie to a second term, even though Christie had vetoed a similar bill and was a vocal opponent of this ballot measure.
- In Seattle, voters agreed to increase some airport workers' wages from $9.19 to $15 an hour.
Typically, you find a larger percentage of liberals than conservatives being the advocates for a higher minimum wage. The progressives' rationale includes a) the economic argument that putting more money into the hands of people who will spend it will help grow the economy and b) the fairness position that working folks need to be paid a wage that they can live on.
Well, we're pleased to report that support may be getting even more broad-based on this issue. Recently, a millionaire businessman from California who publishes a libertarian magazine and who isn't a fan of social safety net programs also came out for a higher minimum wage. And he's using his own money to help fund a ballot initiative that would raise California's minimum wage to $12 by 2016. But unlike those conservatives who oppose minimum wage hikes, Ron Unz not only agrees that a higher minimum wage will help stimulate the economy, Unz uses another solid economic rationale to support his position.
Here's Unz's other argument: Workers whose wages are too low to support their families have to turn to social safety net programs like food stamps to feed their kids. Unz states that this means low wage companies like McDonalds or Wal-Mart are being subsidized by the taxpayer, who has to pick up the difference between those companies' low wages and the wage that people need to live on. In economic terms, making the taxpayer foot the bill for a living wage is known as socializing the cost of a low-wage environment.
Or as Unz likes to put it, his proposal would help eliminate another case of corporate welfare. By raising the minimum wage, those affected workers will need less or even no public assistance, thereby shifting the responsibility for providing a living wage from the taxpayer back to the employer.
If you would like to see more detail on Ron Unz and his thinking on this issue, check out Abby D. Phillip's ABC News article from November 28, 2013. We'll keep monitoring this story and see how it develops.
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