Minimum Wage Reveals Warped Leftist Values
By Edward Hudgins

April 5, 2016 -- When Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law requiring all employers to pay workers at least $15 per hour, he unbelievably acknowledged that “Economically, minimum wages may not make sense.” This statement reveals the depravity of leftist ideology and highlights the need for friends of freedom to fight those who would rob us of our liberty on moral grounds.

Minimum wages create economic harm

Economists have long pointed out the serious adverse effects of raising the minimum wage. Just recently Andy Puzder, the CEO of the Carl’s Jr. hamburger chain said, "With government driving up the cost of labor, it's driving down the number of jobs," and "You're going to see automation not just in airports and grocery stores, but in restaurants." He added that "If you're making labor more expensive, and automation less expensive—this is not rocket science."

Rapidly advancing technologies are stepping in to take advantage of government stupidity. We can expect in the future that burger-flippers will not be low-paid or even not-too-poorly paid teenagers in after-school jobs. They will be machines.

Minimum wages not only cause businesses to cut back on the number of workers or worker hours and perhaps go to robots. It deprives young people of the opportunity to learn the personal workplace habits they will need to get better-paying jobs in the future. And the vast majority of minimum wage workers are not single heads of families. They are students, part-time workers, and the like.

The moral ugliness of egalitarianism

So if the economic damage of minimum wage hikes is clear, what could compel Gov. Brown to sign the bill and for leftists from Bernie to Hillary to make $15 per hour a policy promise?

Brown explained that “Morally and socially and politically, [minimum wages] make every sense because it binds the community together and makes sure that parents can take care of their kids.” Of course, Brown’s claim about helping parents care for kids is made false by his admission that such laws make no economic sense—unless he means that parents who are unemployed ... (Continue reading here.)