Oh, here we go with the minimum wage stuff again. And more proof that the $15/hour initiative really isn’t the end of the road. Frankly, Republicans should ask in response to these Democratic minimum wage proposals why can’t it be $40/hour or $100/hour? We all know that the $15/hour goal is a ruse and for Montigue Magruder, who is running for Virginia House of Delegates, he wants a $26.80 minimum wage (via Brandon Morse):
He also wants to jack up the minimum wage to $26.80, a height that even Bernie Sanders hadn’t the stones to suggest to his followers. Magruder was recently shown on video at a campaign rally promoting his proposed skyrocketing of the minimum wage to cheers from the crowd.
“And I want everybody to take the time, after you leave here, take the time to research on all your candidates, wherever you live. Wherever you live, you got to find out who’s running for office and who’s running in your area. Who’s supporting raising the minimum wage,” said Magruder. “I, for example, support raising the minimum wage to 26 dollars and 80 cents per hour. Because we all know this ladies and gentleman, 15 dollars an hour is just a start, it’s not enough, especially here in Richmond.”
On his site, Magruder points out on his official site that such an increase could hurt small businesses, and thus wishes only to apply this minimum wage law to businesses making more than $2 million in profit.
Oh, yeah—that’s a nice caveat. We’ve seen this in Seattle, New York, and in Maryland—proposals to hike the minimum wage are good for filling political war chests, but terrible public policy. It hurts workers; it cuts their hours, and adds more overhead costs to businesses. In Seattle, even USA Today cited the University of Washington study that pretty much said it screwed over city workers, naming the three things above as detrimental factors of the phased in minimum wage hike that was passed in 2014. The paper’s position was quite clear on this stuff: tread carefully because look at what it’s done in Seattle. In New York, 1,000 restaurants decided to close their doors after Albany caught the minimum wage fever. That’s fewer job opportunities for low-skill workers. In Maryland, Montgomery County risks losing 47,000 jobs by 2022 if they decide to hike the minimum wage.
So, yeah—I’m sure a wage that nears $30/hour will do wonders for the economy—golly.
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