Why are Republicans so scared of just raising the minimum wage?

Question

The Republicans will only raise the Minimum Wage IF they get to cut the estate tax. Whereas they have no problem raising their own wages.

Answer 1

There would be significant inflation if the minimum wage would be raised.

Why? Because business owners may not be able to pay their employee's wages and will therefore have to raise the prices of their goods. Hence, inflation.

Answer 2

Granted they shouldn't have given themselves a raise. However, you don't "just give" someone a raise. In all reality, Congress should not have any say over pay rates in this country. Every time Congress raises the minimum wage, they are telling other people how to run their businesses. Every time the minimum wage is raised, EVERYONE else makes less money except for the less than 3% of the population who actually earns minimum wage. Think about it, raise minimum wage and prices go up. People who were making $7.50 BEFORE the raise are still only making $7.50 (there isn't anything in the law that says all wages have to be raised $2 and hour or anything) and thus have LESS money to purchase their everyday items.

Raising the minimum wage is a good thing for LESS THAN 3% OF THE POPULATION. The rest of us SUFFER for it.

Answer 3

Minimum wage means that employers can't hire people for a wage lower than that set by the state. The time it becomes a problem is when employers can't hire as many employees as they want, because it's just not worth it to them to pay people minimum wage, and there are people who would be willing to work for beneath minimum wage. So, in short, Minimum Wage is only a problem when its actually fulfilling its purpose; forcing people to not work for really small amounts of money.

Still, the real issue is the cost of that compared to the benefit. In Michigan, Minimum wage is, what, 5.15 an hour. But even the local McDonalds pay people more than that, which means that it's virtually meaningless to have it. If you raised the minimum wage but didn't raise it to the price that McDonalds is currently paying around here, it wouldn't make much difference. If you raised the minimum wage to above what McDonalds is paying, McDonalds would stop hiring so many people, because the marginal productivity that correlates to profit of another worker falls because costs rise (it makes companies substitute more capital for labor).

A lot of what determines how minimum wage should be used is based on the amount of jobs compared to the number of people to employ them. If there are a lot more jobs than those seeking employment, a higher minimum wage is useful: it makes companies less willing to hire people, so they only hire as many people as the economy wants them to hire. However, in a circumstance where there a lot less jobs than potential seekers, having a minimum wage means that companies hire less people altogether: those that get hired are working for a greater amount than they otherwise would be willing to work for (or, alternatively, those who would be willing to work for less aren't, because their standard of living is deemed to be too low, giving them an "unfair advantage in the market of getting hired"), and companies are paying more than they want to, reducing effeciency.

Mostly, the minimum wage should be at a level below what the local Mcdonalds is currently paying, but not by much; that way you prevent situations where the desperate have an unfair advantage (though if you think the desperate deserve that advantage, minimum wage doesn't even work then!), but you still don't restrict businesses from hiring the number of people they want.

It's all very basic economics. I could draw some supply and demand graphs for labor, where the "supply" is the employees, and the "demand" is the employers. If you put a minimum wage, then you essentially place a minimum price level, a horizantle line through the graph. If the line is above where Supply and Demand intersect, you're not operating at social effeciency. If the line is below where supply and demand intersect, the minimum wage is pointless. Probably the biggest problem with minimum wage is that it applies equally to all professions, despite that certain jobs have different supplies and demands. A different minimum wage could be set for certain professions/occupations and the like, but to do such would A.) require a lot of micromanaging and B.) be discrimination, which wouldn't hold up well in politics.

Sorry for the rant.

Answer 4

So.... who gets paid minimum wage? Do you know anybody? People working at McDonalds don't even get paid minimum wage where I live! People don't get paid minimum wage because people won't stand for it (there are enough similar jobs that offer more than minimum wage) and their time is worth more than that.

So why not raise the minimum wage? Lets say we raise the minimum wage up to what people at McDonalds are getting around here - $7.50/hr. Do you think the people working at McDonalds will be content working for minimum wage? They were getting $2 over minimum wage before and now they're just making minimum? How long will it be before a $2/hr wage increase will ripple through country? All of a sudden, items will start to cost more, because the labor necessary to make the item now costs more, and everyone will be in the same boat as they were before - nobody was helped.

Answer 5

Number one, the Republicans are not scared of just raising the minimum wage, they want to lower the taxes on stupid Estate tax
which should of been repealed years ago. On the minimum wage
every time they raise the stupid wage, every one else has to get in the act and raise their prices like for restaurants, stores, fuel
and everything else so where does raising the minimum wage Help????

Answer 6

If Americans were not so greedy they would not need to raise the min wage. We need car payments, house payments, satallite tv, cable, food prepared for us in a box, ect..... Has anyone looked at other countries lately. We are fat, greedy and sick. We have closets practically exploding with things. What happened to one car per family and having a garden? Give me a break.

Plus, why should there be laws about wages anyhow? Why don't we have the right to have a business and pay the wages we want to? If an employee doesn't like it aren't they free to either go get another job or start their own business? The government should not be involved.

Answer 7

You cannot raise the minimum wage, It is always going to be the same...Zero. By raising the artificial minimum wage set by government you would be doing more harm than good.

The minimum wage is designed for people who have no work experience to enter the work force, Not to live off of. The great majority of people earning minimum wage come from households earning over $40.000 a year total. Most are teenagers and only earn this much for less than a year.

If an employer wants to hire 3 people to do a simple job, When the wage is increased artificially the employer will most likely decide that he/she only needs 2 workers. Making it harder for people to find a job, Even if they are willing to earn less.

So the more you raise the minimum wage, The more people will be earning it($0.00).

Answer 8

Republicans, generally, are not "scared" of raising minimum wage. However, most are against raising the minimum wage because they have some understanding of economics. Republicans know that minimum wage causes inflation and unemployment, harms rather than helps the poorest workers, and slows economic growth.

Answer 9

Okay, raise the minimum wage to what? Last I heard seven fifty an hour?
Please! Tell the absolute truth. Do YOU PERSONALLY know anyone making the minimum wage? No? I thought so.

Imposing hiring standards (and that is what the minimum wage is...make no mistake about it...) is a grave mistake, especially at seven something an hour.
Minimum wages kill jobs and chances for advancement. It kills the ability to hire part-time. Seriously, do you think that workers are so stupid that they would dig ditches for $3.25?
It just goes to show how ignorant you are about how the system really works.
I know this, though: don't ever come to my store because I will never hire you. Ever.

Answer 10

The minimum wage was voted down my democrats too. If you raise the minimum wage, the prices need to go up to cover it (the owner of the business is not going to bear the brunt of this), If the owner of the company can't afford this and can't raise their prices, they lay you off, so you get nothing. See? You need to find a job that pays more than minimum. At a 4.7%unemployment rate that should be pretty easy. That rate is the lowest in the nations history.