1. Minimum wage jobs are a stepping stone to better job. They are not meant for person to live on or to support a family. Unless you have another         source of income or low expenses, such as parents, retirement, roommates, etc, you should not accept a low wage position permanently.

2. Current minimum wage employees will be forced to do more work. In order to keep labor costs down, minimum wage employees will have to take on more responsibilities and job duties to make up the difference in man hours available.

3. Since more people are willing to work for the higher wage, the current minimum wage workers are more likely to be replaced by higher quality workers or automated systems, such as computer checkouts, and instead of earning higher wages, current workers will find themselves unemployed.

4. No wars have been fought over minimum wage. Wars have been fought over nuclear weapons, taxes, tariffs, land use, religion, slavery, etc., but not a single person has ever died fighting for minimum wage. If it is as important as those other things why does the USA do so much business with countries that don’t pay an equivalent minimum wage? Why are we not invading those countries so that we can institute minimum wage policies? Are the proponents of minimum wage ready to kill and be killed for minimum wage?

5. The minimum wage law currently has so many exceptions that it is practically useless today. Where are the protests outside of Goodwill? Or for prison labor which is essentially slavery?

1.    Family Farmhands – $0.00/hr
2.    Paper delivery persons – $0.00/hr
3.    Outside Sales and Real Estate Agents – $0.00/hr
4.    Mentally or physically disabled workers – $fixed/part produced
5.    Goodwill disabled workers – $0.22 – $1.57/hr
6.    Prisoners – $0.12 – $1.46/hr
7.    Golf Caddies – $10.50/18 holes
8.    Tipped Employees – $2.33/hr
9.    Camp Consoler – $210 / week
10.    Apprentice Training < 90 days – $4.25/hr
11.    Part Time Student – $6.16/hr

6. Minimum wage causes job loss and employment to move overseas. The most recent example is American Samoa, a US Territory subject to federal law, which had to incrementally increase its minimum wage starting in 2007. The unemployment went from 6% to 29%, and while average earnings went up by 27%, prices went up 34%, making life more difficult on the island. It got so bad that President Obama had to freeze the increases until 2015, leaving the minimum wage at $5.59/hr currently.

7. Minimum wage laws close the gap between the middle class and lower class at the expense of the middle class. There is only so much money available in a company for raises. If it all goes to minimum wage workers, it will not go to middle class workers. While raising prices may help cover some costs, middle class workers will lose buying power due to frozen wages and higher prices.

8. Minimum wage leads to price increases, but the price increase is not distributed fairly. A popular example is if a box of Mac & Cheese went up $0.01 to cover Walmart workers. But how much of this penny goes to the farmers, bakers, cheese makers, manufacturers, packagers, inspectors, marketers, and everyone else it took to make that Mac & Cheese? Why does the person that carries it from the back of the store to the shelf get all of price increase? Shouldn’t the price increase be distributed based on the work put into the Mac & Cheese?

9. Change it yourself. If you think the person taking your order at McDonalds doesn’t make enough, give them some extra money when you order. Or better yet, start a restaurant chain where everyone makes a living wage, so that no one has to take a minimum wage job. There is no reason to use the force of government to change something people could do on their own.

10. It’s your decision to work for less than minimum wage. The government should not be involved in voluntary transaction where both parties agree to a certain wage. Slavery is already illegal. Fraud is illegal. Workers who choose to work for less than $7.25 an hour cannot be exploited if that choice is made freely. If you don’t like minimum wage, don’t work for minimum wage, but stay out of other’s people business.

The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!