Another Liberal Who Just Doesn't Get Economics

Seattle mayor Mike McGinn (D) came out as an avid supporter of the $15 per hour minimum wage idea.

These liberals should abstain from commenting on financial matters - none of them understand them. They can't. Science tells us liberals think primarily with the right (creative) side of the brain, while conservatives think primarily with the left (analytical) side. Liberals are very bad at understanding concepts such as economics, or anything that requires thinking or planning ahead.

And Mayor McGinn is just another liberal intent on proving that out.

A $15/hour minimum wage would completely destroy our economy, even though on the surface it sounds like it would be a boost. But, as liberals can never figure out, nothing is as it appears.

If the minimum wage is increased, people who provide products and services must increase their prices in order to pay the higher wages. A $3.00 loaf of bread becomes a $4.00 loaf of bread. A $15.00 meal at a restaurant becomes a $22.00 meal, to pay the higher wage of the waitstaff. Everything you buy will be more expensive. And what do you do when everything gets more expensive? You have to either cut back, which reduces consumption, which in turn reduces production resulting in layoffs which hurts the economy, or you have to ask for a raise to cover the increased cost of living, in which case the producers must again raise their prices and the cycle keeps churning upward. Either way, it harms the economy.

If there had never been a minimum wage law and we had allowed free markets to determine prices, values and wages, everything would be so much cheaper these days, and the economy would soar.

But you say, "But hey, Bill, wouldn't that keep those in menial jobs in poverty?"

My answer - they are in poverty, anyway. And they will stay there until THEY do something to push forward. Poverty is not caused by a lack of money. It is caused by a way of life; a lack of education; a lack of effort; a lack of determination. Being broke is a temporary condition. Being poor is a lifestyle choice. Yes, a choice. Don't feed me the bogus argument that uneducated people in ghettos don't have a choice. They do. They can put one foot in front of the other until they are out of the ghetto. They can seek grants for adult education, and spend time in the library learning, instead of wasting time on the couch watching dumbass reality shows. Just because they don't, or won't does not mean they can't.

In 1990, I was destitute and homeless. And it was determination, education and effort that put me into the upper middle class. It was not welfare, minimum wage or any form of "social justice".

The low wage jobs are necessary in a sound economy. It is a place where people can begin their own climb. That's why they call them "entry level" jobs. It affords anyone, even idiots, an opportunity to get ahead, provided they work at it.

What happens with a $15/hour minimum wage? For one thing, those people will stop trying to get ahead - the minimum wage has done that for them. Until the after effects come. Then, $15/hour will be no different from $7/hour is today, because economies level out. The reality - you can earn $7.00 an hour in a world where it costs $20,000 to live, or you can earn $15.00 an hour in a world that costs $40,000 to live. There is no difference. None.

Why do you think liberals have to keep raising the minimum wage? If it was doing what liberals believe it should do, then there should be no need to keep jacking it up.

Mayor McGinn, WAKE UP! You do not have a clue, so unless you are willing to think things through to the unintended consequences, perhaps you should just stay out of the conversation. You can be quiet and be thought a fool, or open your mouth and prove it.