Contrary to what seems to be the never-ending claims being made by the Barry "Almighty" White House, and the near endless stream idiotic Democrat propaganda on the subject, there have been numerous independent studies that have shown, and continue to do show, that an increase in the minimum wage would have little or no effect on those said to be living in poverty. And what the data does, in fact, suggest is that there is a detrimental effect on overall employment. According to the Southern Economic Journal, among the 28 states that increased their minimum wages from 2003 through 2007, doing so had no impact on poverty. When touting the merits of raising the minimum wage, Barry made the claim on Wednesday that some 600 economists agreed in a letter to Congress that a wage hike would not harm employment.
Well, knowing Barry as I think we all do, I’m quite sure that that number is much closer to 10 or 15 supposed economists than it is to 600. And if they, in any way, resemble the likes of Paul Krugman, then they’re far from being bona fide economists in the first place. And a 2007 study by the University of California, Irvine assessed studies for the last two decades regarding the impact of a minimum wage increase on employment. This study stated, "A sizable majority of the studies surveyed in this monograph give a relatively consistent (although not always statistically significant) indication of negative employment effects of minimum wages. In addition, among the papers we view as providing the most credible evidence, almost all point to negative employment effects, both for the United States as well as for many other countries."
Barry and his fellow socialist Democrats who we now see clamoring for the minimum wage to go from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour, have continued to make the claim that there would be absolutely no impact of any kind on employment. But as is usually the case whenever dealing with these folks, because of their willingness to distort the facts, and to outright lie in the effort to get what they want, one must look past the rhetoric. Michael Saltsman, research director at the Employment Policies Institute has said in speaking of raising the minimum wage, "It’s a shell game." Mr. Saltsman goes on to say, "Over 20 years, 85 percent of the best studies show job loss after the minimum wage goes up. There may be a couple of scientists who still think the world is flat. That doesn’t mean it’s a consensus."
And even when attempting to make its best economic case for a wage increase, some of the White House numbers seem less than impressive. Because according to the White House Council of Economic Advisers, if the minimum wage were increased for $10.10 for the entire country, just 26.3 percent of those helped would be parents. And again it’s Mr. Saltsman who states, "The big change will be for people living at home with their parents." And he adds, "This would possibly help teenagers and young adults in college. Primarily, the people put forward on this, single mothers or single fathers, make up just 10 percent." Married people with children make up 16.3 percent of the people who would benefit from the proposed minimum wage hike, according to the White House numbers, while 10 percent of single parents would benefit from the wage increase.
And so it was on Wednesday that Barry used that pen of his to sign an executive order raising the minimum wage to $10.10 for all federally funded employees of federal contractors. Barry said the measure is to lead by example in a push to get Congress to approve a wage hike for the entire country. So this is how Barry defines leading by example? No I don’t think so. Before signing the executive order, Barry chose to take the opportunity to spew more nonsensical drivel saying the minimum wage in real purchasing power is 20 percent lower today than under the Reagan administration, and with no inflation adjustment, workers are getting a $200 pay cut each year. "Raising the minimum wage is good for business, it’s good for workers and it’s good for the economy," Barry said. "If you work full-time, you should not live in poverty."
Look, you’d have to pretty naïve not to be able to recognize the fact that this entire minimum wage nonsense is about nothing more than politics. Because when we’re talking about the minimum wage, we’re not talking about what a cluster-f*ck Obamacare is, nor are we talking about any of the many scandals involving the current recipient of the Oval Office. The Democrats are fully aware that hiking the minimum accomplishes nothing more than to weaken an already weak jobs market. But that’s exactly what they’re trying to accomplish here. What better way to ‘force’ people onto the government dole than to further reduce their chances of being able to find a job? The nation’s workforce is already at the lowest point it’s been in the last 35 years, but apparently it’s still not low enough for Barry and the Democrats.
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