Cruz sees the minimum wage as ‘bad policy’

MSNBC ^ | 4/19/16 | Steve Benen

[markomalley]

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have had some bitter arguments in recent months over the minimum wage, but the two aren’t that far apart. The Vermont senator supports an increase to $15 an hour, while the former Secretary of State support an increase to $12, though if Congress sent her a bill raising the minimum to $15, Clinton has said she’d gladly sign it.

 

For the two Democratic candidates, increasing the federal minimum wage from its current $7.25 is a no-brainer. The question isn’t whether to approve an increase, but rather, how much and how quickly.

 

And then there’s the other side of the aisle. Congressional Republicans continue to insist there will be no increase so long as the GOP is in the majority, and on the presidential campaign trail, Republican candidates continue to not only oppose an increase, but to oppose the very existence of the minimum wage. Politico reported the other day:

[markomalley]

What a crock.

[LMAO]

It may be bad policy but sadly it’s good politics

Such is the state of economic thinking in this country

[Jewbacca]

The minimum wage is bad policy.

It’s supply and demand.

You might as well try limiting the maximum velocity of a falling object by statute.

[Buckeye McFrog]

That’s the kind of statement that is:

- Intellectually defensible in academic debates on economics.

- Sure to lose you every election from now till the sun goes supernova.

[Yo-Yo]

Fine, then peg the minimum wage to the CPI and have it automatically readjust each year just as social security payments do now.

Takes all of the politics out of the process.

[LMAO]

That’s the kind of statement that is:

- Intellectually defensible in academic debates on economics.

- Sure to lose you every election from now till the sun goes supernova.

---

Makes you wonder if Jonathan Gruber had a point on his assessment of the American people

[LMAO]

I’ve talk to lots of people who are for the raising the minimum wage and they’ll acknowledge that it will cost jobs but they think it’s only fair

[tacticalogic]

Constitutionally indefensible.

[Bubba_Leroy]

The “minimum wage” is simply the government prohibiting people from working at jobs that are worth less than an arbitrarily set amount.

[Puppage]

I’ve talk to lots of people who are for the raising the minimum wage and they’ll acknowledge that it will cost jobs but they think it’s only fair

Yet, in Oregon where they raise the MW to 15ph,once the workers found they made more money they were upset that their govt check was less because they made more an their MW jobs.

So, they promptly asked for less hours.

[riverdawg]

“The “minimum wage” is simply the government prohibiting people from working at jobs that are worth less than an arbitrarily set amount.”

Or, to put it slightly differently, the minimum wage is simply a government policy prohibiting people from working who are worth less on any job than an arbitrarily set amount.

[Bubba_Leroy]

But they get welfare, food stamps and Obamaphones, so why work?

[Buckeye McFrog]

Apparently Ted was paying no attention to how the Dems turned Mitt into the economic bogeyman and then set him on fire in ‘12. If Ted is our nominee this one will come back to bite him......hard!

[taxcontrol]

I understand your statement but no, it wont take politics out of the process. You see, many union contracts are calculated based on the minimum wage. As such, unions and by association, Democrats have a vested interest in continuing to push for a higher minimum wage.

[The_Victor]

It is bad policy. The government has no business dictating a person’s worth in the job market.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

He just lost the black vote.

[bassmaner]

The only ‘fair’ minimum wage is $0.00 per hour.

[ChessExpert]

It’s not “raising the minimum wage.” It’s “outlawing low paying jobs.”

For Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, it’s not whether or not to kill jobs, it’s about how many jobs to kill.

[CodeToad]

Of course Cruz does; his sponsors need their H-1B Indians to be paid less than $15/hr.

Cruz supports 325,000 more H-1B foreign tech workers to come in while Americans are out of work.

[RayChuang88]

Cruz clearly sees what happens with a $15/hour minimum wage: less people will be hired and places like fast-food restaurants will increase automation, hiring less staff along the way. Indeed, McDonald's and the owners of other major fast-food outlets are seriously studying automating the process of buying food as much as possible.

In short, even the Left has forgotten one lesson of Karl Marx: the higher the wage you go, the more reliance on machines you get.