Raise the Wage raises questions

 

Raising the Minimum Wage looks inevitable, but what will happen as a result?

There’s this old adage about statistics that goes something li

829Strike Fast Food strike in Oakland

829Strike Fast Food strike in Oakland (Photo credit: Steve Rhodes)

ke “You can make statistics say anything you want.”  And sometimes, you can make them say completely opposite things, especially when it comes to politics, and especially pertaining to discussions about raising the minimum wage in the United States.

There’s a huge discussion in our country right now about raising the minimum wage.  Many groups, including organized labor are running campaigns  to pass such initiatives at the local, state and federal level.  President Obama just announced an Executive Order that raises the federal minimum wage for federal contractors to $10.10 an hour. It looks like a safe bet that similar changes will take place in other jurisdictions in the next couple of years.

The weird thing is nobody really seems able to credibly say what kind of impact these changes will have on our economy. Depending upon who you listen to, raising the minimum wage would either:

1) resurrect the middle class by spurring the economy to new heights; or 2) send us spiraling into the next Great Depression.

I’m confused, and so are the amateur and professional pundits on Twitter: (#RaisetheWage)

“I bet Dems will say #RaiseTheWage will only cost 100k & GOP will say it’ll cost 900k jobs.”

“Give 16.5 million a raise, lift 900,000 out of poverty and put $2 billion into the economy? It’s time to #RaiseTheWage.”

“Grasping at straw men: Desperate Harry Reid invokes Koch Brothers in #RaiseTheWage demand wp.me/p2Q0J0-xd

#RaiseTheWage wld elimin8 500,000 Jobs #LibLogic: Not as bad as #Obamacare that’s good4Us. blog.heritage.org/2014/02/18/min..”

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“If we #RaiseTheWage to a #LivingWage, we won’t have to subsidize the fast food industry anymore. (poster) pic.twitter.com/6c0nYdihr2

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