A major plank in the Democrat agenda for the United States calls for a raise in the minimum wage. Never mind that the government has no business telling anyone how much they have to pay a worker. Another part of the Democrat agenda is that of taking from one to give to another through the various social programs ranging from rent subsidies to food stamps, all of which are available to certain ones because the government says they are poor and are deserving of help even though such help doesn’t help anyone become independent of the government.  

The various social programs are part of a redistribution of income scheme targeting groups that politicians pander to for votes. The people who are deemed rich pay the bill because the Democrats not only want to control who gets what, but they also want to control how much income a person can keep. In other words, they want to control the amount of property one can own and when the arbitrary amount is reached then heavy taxation is the answer. The ideology that drives it says that it is unfair for one to have more than another, and thus to create fairness social programs are used to make all things fair.

Not everyone is eligible for the social welfare help but the working poor, as the Democrats like to say, can enroll in some programs but are limited to the type of program they can use. And for those who aren’t eligible or fully eligible, a scheme to make everyone eligible for help (said to be at no cost to the general taxpaying public) is the minimum wage. It is slick and it is sly and one of the most insidious redistribution schemes yet devised. It takes from one and gives to another when the one receiving has done nothing to deserve a raise by doing more or doing a better job for his or her employer. In addition to those directly affected by the minimum increase, higher paid workers also receive an increase to maintain the separation of wage levels for classes of workers. If the wages of the higher paid employees aren’t raised, eventually the lower skilled workers would make more than the skilled workers.

Businesses which must pay the wage increase have to find the extra money to pay the higher wage. They may have to raise prices, cut back services, lay off workers, or not hire new employees. Whichever one is chosen or in whatever combination, the minimum wage is nothing more than a government scam and scheme that forces redistribution of assets from one to another. The real beneficiary of the scheme is the government because the workers have to pay more income and Social Security taxes. Labor unions also benefit since they can raise worker dues and demand higher wages for the rank and file because the minimum wage is greater.  

When the prices are raised the customer has to pay more so the business can stay afloat and pay more to the workers. Insurance rates increase in many cases for businesses and states collect more sales tax on the higher prices. Who gets gouged by the scam? Of course, it is the taxpaying customers who always foot the bill for the big government plans of “we are going to help you.”

The liberal Democrats accuse those who don’t want to raise the wage of being against the little person, when in reality it is they who are causing the disparity they whine about. The wage does nothing toward raising marginal workers up the ladder and offers no incentive to them to do better when someone else will raise the wages with no extra effort needed from the workers.

A raise in the minimum wage sounds good and the Democrats blow about how much it will help everyone.  In Sorting It Out, the minimum wage helps no one and is nothing more than another redistribution scheme used to maintain their power and further their big government agenda.

© 07-14-2006 DEC