As was expected, in New Jersey short-sighted emotion-based voters chose to not only raise the NJ minimum wage but more significantly amend their constitution to require an annual inflation adjusted increase. Reportedly 49,000 workers are directly affected, but proponents say over 400,000 will feel the impact as the higher minimum pushes up those now earning close to it.
When you have a cause that makes everyone feel good nobody asks about the consequences and that’s the larger problem. That’s always been the case, of course, but the Obama era has heightened the problem with consequences for decades to come. We are heading into scary territory in my opinion.
A recent Gallup poll reported that 69% of those surveyed would support a federal law that would raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour with automatic increases tied to the inflation rate with only 28% against it.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
Well, Mr. Quinn, perhaps helping hard working people earn incomes closer to a living wage will help them get off of welfare and off of SNAP. They will most certainly spend their increased take home pay because they have no choice. They need to eat to live. Perhaps that will help the economy overall and small businesses in particular? Everyone in their right mind knows that “trickle down” economics has never worked and never will. Perhaps it’s time to prove once again, to anyone paying attention, that “trickle up” economics does work and always has. Continue tax breaks to the most wealthy and they will continue to hide their incomes offshore and evade income taxes. Uplift our faltering middle class and that will uplift our entire economy. Tea Party racists are well on their way to handing Obama majorities in both the House and Senate after the 2014 elections, as proved by the elections this past Tuesday. Job-creating infrastructure improvement bills will then be passed, immigration reform will be enacted into law further reducing the deficit, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and affordable healthcare will be saved and our nation will flourish with full employment, strict gun control measures will be enacted and President Obama will present Hillary with a balanced budget. Lyan Paul Ryan, Canadian political terrorist Ted Cruz, plagiarist Rand Paul, Cuban Floridian chameleon Marco Rubio and the other idiot from Utah may not even rate footnotes in history. Much of Europe is going down to double and triple dip recessions after enacting austerity measures that Lyan Paul Ryan espouses. When will the American people realize that this guy is an economic idiot? I am really enjoying watching these racist ideologues go down in flames and they lit the matches.
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Wilson – Your compassion is commendable but your economic theory is questionable. Think about the economic incentives of the business owner. They aren’t just going to accept lower profits. These small business owners are only earning ~$50,000/year on average. If they have 10 workers with 5 part time workers (25 hours/week) earning minimum wage, this increase just cost him over $6,000 or more than 12% of his income. The obvious solution is that he is going to let one of those part timers go and tell everyone they are going to have to do more with less. You may not agree that is the right thing to do but, at the end of the day, business owners are motivated to maximize their own net income.
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Well, Rob, suppose that the thousands of workers now being paid a living wage buy more from the business owner, his sales and profits increase and he needs to hire another employee to keep pace with his newly flourishing business. Our history supports this scenario.
The Tea Party racists and their right wing Republican bedfellows are insisting upon creating the following circumstances:
1) Eliminate or, at the very least, block any increase in minimum wage levels
2) Slash welfare benefits and SNAP for these minimum wage people working two or three jobs and still struggling to survive
3) Refuse to support any gun control measures to prevent these starving citizens from buying assault rifles
Perhaps these “least among us” will go “hunting” for food in the affluent neighborhoods where the Tea Party racist congress members live?
The poor exist and let’s not attempt to assign blame for that fact in this posting. They are here among us and we must deal with this problem. Like it or not.
Can you now understand the shear idiocy of the far right congressional ideologues?
At the next Tea Party caucus: “All we did was cut their pay, take away their food and give them guns? What the Hell went wrong?”
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First, I’m not sure why you are ranting about racism and gun control, last I checked this was a post on the minimum wage. It is possible to have an opinion on the minimum wage without being a racist or NRA member… Second, if your theory were true, why don’t we just raise the minimum wage to $20 per hour? We would have an economic boom! Bottom line is that economic incentives are a lot more complicated than you make them out to be and you can’t legislate economic activity.
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While New Jersey voted to increase the minimum wage from $7.25/hr to $8.25/hr, the voters of the City of SeaTac, Washington are on their way in increasing the minimum wage from $9.19/hr (the State’s minimum) to $15.00/hr.
The City of SeaTac encompasses ten square miles surrounding SeaTac International Airport and is home to 26,000 residents. The minimum wage increase will affect around 6,000 workers in and around the airport.
If you fly into SeaTac and are hungry after a flight with a complimentary peanut – bring plenty of cash.
I last worked in SeaTac in 2009.
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