Raise the Minimum Wage!

I got into another real life debate about minimum wage again that left me exasperated.  What people don't seem to understand is that the entire economy benefits if people have more money in their pockets, it's just that no business owner wants to be the only person paying more than everyone else.

For example, let's say you own a convenience store with just a few other employees you pay minimum wage.  If you have one guy on the shift at a time you don't have any incentive to double your labor cost to $15 an hour because none of your competitors are paying that.  However, if everyone starts paying that all your customers have more money in their pocket, so your sales go up which will more than make up for the additional labor cost.  It's pretty simple.

Will their be inflation?  Yes, more money in people's pockets means they can pay more.  But the inflation won't be universal, it will mostly impact companies that employ primarily low wage employees, but has very little effect on things like rent and electricity bills.   Even the inflation that occurs will be offset by the additional money circulating in the economy.

That 99 cent double cheeseburger may get bumped up to $1.10 or ever $1.25, but the people at the low end of the spectrum will still be way better off and that will translate to everyone participating in the economy.  Poor people don't save money.  All of those additional wages will translate into what is effectively bonus economic stimulus that will pay dividends all the way up the chain as the money is immediately reinvested locally.

What's the real reason that republicans oppose minimum wage hikes?  I have no idea.  Layoffs are often cited as a reason to avoid minimum wage hikes, but the reality is that companies that employ primarily minimum wage or low wage employees (companies like McDonald's and Walmart) are the same companies that most directly benefit from the increased liquidity enjoyed by their customers.

The real reason seems to be that it is bad because people think it is bad regardless of the actual reality.  Cutting costs and squeezing labor down to the bare minimum has become so ingrained in american business culture that any suggestion that we should pay more for something we have been paying less for is met with incredulity and outrage.  It's all about short term gain at any cost, so regardless of the truth of the assertion that a minimum wage increase would benefit the economy, those who represent the interests of business refuse to even discuss it as an option - even if it might assist with solving some of the other problems they hate so much.

Too Little, Too Late.

Check it out at Daily KOS

If only the cartoon pictured to the left wasn't a parody.  While I commend Senator Portman's support for basic human rights, I find it sad that it took him being personally impacted by the issue at hand before he chose to undergo this evolution.  It's a problem of so many in our government because they are so thoroughly insulated from their constituents and the real world in general.

So what's the answer?  I don't know, but if I had to start trying to fix the problems I'd start with term limits for congress.  The average length of service for a member of congress is about 13 years.  For a significant number of them it effectively becomes a lifetime position.  Think about what you were doing thirteen years ago.  Who did you hang out with?  Do you still work in the same place?  How different is your life now?  

Pictured: Average Political Lobbyist

We're shaped by our social circles.  No matter how hard you may try to remain true to principle, your beliefs will gradually shift to resemble that held by your friends and acquaintances  even if it is just to be more sympathetic towards them.  Things should evolve, but thanks to the culture of Washington, after a few years spent among the oligarchy those evolutions rarely prove to be in line with the bulk of the country they are supposed to be representing.  And then there's the special interests.

The job of the lobbyist is to insulate congressmen from their constituents and to substitute their own goals and beliefs for those they represent.  They do it inch by inch.  A little extra for their next campaign in return for a little help making introductions , a little rider added to a bill, or a little give on a vote.  Pretty soon an inch becomes a mile and that senator isn't representing the people he elected any more, he's representing the people who are paying for his next campaign.

What does this have to do with Portman?  It's just another part of the problem.  It took the issue having a face, in this case the face of his son, before he realized just what the real world implications of his stance against gay marriage.  The same thing crops up in the relationship triangle between congressman, constituent, and lobbyist.  

If you contact your congressman you are at best a voice on the other end of the phone, or a few lines of text his secretary reads, or one of 300,000 names on a petition.  While he might care   on some level about you as a voter, how does that compare to how he feels about Bob from Monsanto who took him to lunch yesterday.  The same guy who helped him meet people and find his footing as a freshman, never forgets his kid's birthday?  To the hypothetical congressman Bob has a face, you don't, Bob is a person, an individual, while you are at best a 2 dimensional bit player that he knows he should care about on an intellectual level, but on an emotional level he wouldn't shed a tear for you if you got hit by a bus.  

So in short, run the special interests out of Washington and send congress home after their terms are done.  Make sure they know that when the job is finished they have to go back to being a regular citizen again, won't have a cushy lobbyist position to slide into, and will have to live with the changes (or lack of changes) they make as a private citizen when it is over.