[South40]

[fortheDeclaration]

Only Liberals who live in their own make believe world think you can just raise wages!

[NYRepublican72]

Very smart of Masterpark to show that stupid government policies have consequences. Businesses are forced to pass through expenses to the consumer.

[jonrick46]

The Marxists are calling the shots in Seattle and the entire state of Washington. This Seattle minimum wage increase was not even by a vote of the people. The Seattle City Council bullied their way through without a vote.

[pallis]

The people making their $15 and hour have to pay those extra charges too. That’s the way government tampering with the economy always works. Inflation gets em’ on the backside.

[Smokin' Joe]

Walmart in Williston North Dakota is paying $17/hr to start. Ft/PT, either way.

The problem is, rent in the town is off the charts (oil boom) at $2400/month + utilities for a 2 bedroom apt. (or more).

None of this stuff occurs in a vacuum. For people who allegedly get the concept about a butterfly flapping its wings in one place causing a storm hundreds of miles away, they sure don't get how arbitrarily tampering with the equilibrium in an economy ripples through all sectors.

[ArcadeQuarters]

Doesn’t every business have a magic bag that contains an infinite amount of money? Why don’t they take it from there? Why would the price go up for customers?

[Alberta's Child]

Employees earning the new wage say they have lost benefits such as 401k, paid holidays, paid vacation, free food, free parking and overtime hours.

That's probably one of the REAL reasons why governments adopted these high minimum wages in the first place. They've incentivized businesses to eliminate benefits like the ones listed here -- most of which are either non-taxable or are taxed in ways that can't be effectively enforced -- in lieu with a higher base wage that is subject to all of the usual income and payroll taxes.

[sphinx]

I am glad to see this. IMHO, businesses should try to find ways to itemize the costs of taxation on every price tag and receipt.

[olezip]

Last week I blogged about SeaTac employers who have responded to the new $15 minimum wage law by reducing or eliminating the benefits workers receive. Employees earning the new wage say they have lost benefits such as 401k, paid holidays, paid vacation, free food, free parking and overtime hours. As one SeaTac worker put it, “It sounds good, but it’s not good.”

The pencil neck liberals and leftists who imposed the wage failed to help businesses prosper by reducing the tax and regulation burdens. Instead they stupidly assume that the businesses can simply pay more out of their obscene profits.

The politicians who impose increased wages should be required to pass Economics 101, instead of helping the poor get poorer. But, of course, the leftists are excused because they have "good intentions."

[Count of Monte Fisto]

I can understand a state mandated minimum wage if the goal was to prevent the country from becoming a Third world cesspit where people make 10 cents a day. I can also understand raising the minimum wage to keep up with inflation and the cost of living.

The better solution would be to send people who are willing to work for 10 cents a day out of the country instead of good paying jobs and to stop printing money like it was going out of style.