Is Raised Minimum Wage New 'Welfare' Entitlement?

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Remember the good old days (last month) when the minimum wage said you’ve begun rather than you’ve arrived?

I wish I were poor enough to receive food stamps and welfare so I could afford a new house and a Lexus, like some people I’ve seen. I’d prefer one silver in color, unlike my neighbor who drove a brand new beige LS 400 at the low income apartments I once resided in. Now, if you believe I’ve got things backwards after reading that last sentence, you’re right! However, for Democrats chaos and confusion is the new common sense.

Seattle’s new $15 per hour minimum wage is nothing but a covert scheme to bring a welfare entitlement mentality to white suburban America, and unfortunately for those of us on the right, it’s working. Minorities living in the ‘hood grow up with aspirations of being rich like everyone else. However, since the Democrat takeover under Lyndon B. Johnson of urban communities, our thirst for government entitlements has blurred our ability to discern what it takes to really become wealthy, and devise a financial plan. We like to “floss.” For those of you that are dark-skin challenged, that means my community likes purchasing stuff that gives us the appearance that we’re wealthy even if we’re broke as a joke. This is the greed that the media all too often fails to expose.

Thanks to the Heritage Foundation, here’s what we know about the minimum wage:

Less than three out of 100 or approximately 97 percent of workers receive the minimum wage. More than half of those that are being paid the minimum wage range in ages between 16 and 24, and they tend to work part time because they’re enrolled in school. Contrary to popular belief or propaganda, these jobs are usually occupied by entry level employee’s that live at home with their parents, and not by the so called “working poor.” In fact, the average family income of minimum-wage workers exceeds $53,000 per year, because more often than not they’re supplementing the incomes of the primary earner(s) at home. Just like anyone else that works hard at their jobs, minimum-wage workers can expect to get a raise and even a promotion within the first year of their job as they polish their skills and become more productive for their employer’s. Lastly, despite what you may hear, amongst minimum-wage workers very few single parents work full time hours–a proportion of just four percent of the total minimum-wage work force.

Here’s what the left pretends not to understand:

Increasing the minimum wage will never reduce poverty in America, simply because politicians can neither dictate nor predict the profits and losses or successes of small businesses across the country. In fact, if left up to the government, unemployment lines in America would grow exponentially. If Joe Schmoe’s Burger’s in Seattle grossed $200,000 a year and it cost him $100,000 annually to run the business, including employees, and another 30 percent-40 percent (this is just a guesstimate) in state, local, and federal taxes before he got to take any cash home for himself, he might be able to increase his employees’ pay to $15 per hour–up from $9.32. But that also means he would have to drastically cut the hours of his employees, or even worse, fire some of them just to survive. Profit doesn’t grow on trees! This is the fairytale Democrat’s continually push. Why?

The answer is as simple as it is devious: The Democrat party succeeds when more people remain or become impoverished or fail, and the Republican party succeeds when constituents remain or become financially independent-successful. Think about it.

Carl Jackson is a radio talk show host – his web site is www.carljacksonshow.com

Photo credit: The All-Nite Images (Creative Commons) “NYC Rally To Raise The Minimum Wage” by The All-Nite Images – Some rights reserved