The Minimum Wage Inconvenient Truth

MFR: This post was written before candidates were dropping out of the primaries like flies.

I believe all the democratic presidential candidates are pushing a federal minimum of $15.00 an hour.   This is perplexing to me.  States can determine their own minimum wage, yet no state currently has a minimum wage of $15.00 or higher.  Let’s look at Bernie.  The people of Vermont have been sending Bernie to represent them since 2007 yet their state minimum wage is only $10.96.  If the people of Vermont support Bernie and think that a $15.00 minimum is a good idea, why don’t they raise Vermont’s minimum wage?

The same goes for the other Senators and former Senators (Biden/Delaware - $9.25, Klobuchar/Minnesota - $10.00, Warren/Massachusetts - $12.75).

Mayor Pete’s Indiana has a minimum wage of only $7.25 per hour.  But you might say that he is only the Mayor of South Bend and doesn’t have any influence over the state’s minimum wage.  That may be true but local governments can set their own minimum wage.  That means that Mayor Pete could change the minimum wage in South Bend to $15.00 and companies operating in that city would be required to pay their employees $15.00 per hour regardless of the state or federal minimum wage.  Why hasn’t he?

How about Bloomberg and Steyer?  They can set a minimum wage for their employees that is higher than $15.00 per hour tomorrow if they really wanted to but I’m sure they won’t.

So, what is so bad about a federal minimum wage.  Well, in some states $15.00 an hour may not be enough while in other states $15.00 an hour may be too much.  It depends on the cost of living.

When the federal government sends someone on travel, they set per diam rates for each location base on the cost of living in that area.  (Per diam is the specific amount of money the government gives an individual per day to cover living expenses when traveling.)  Makes sense, right?  A hotel in San Diego, California, is a lot more expensive that a hotel in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Why, then, would the government set one minimum wage that every location must follow?  It doesn’t make sense, does it?  Especially when states and local governments can set their own minimum wages higher than that of the federal government.  

In fact, New York has three different minimum wage schedules within the state.  One for New York City, one for Long Island & Westchester, and one for the remainder of the state.  Why?  Because it makes sense.

So next time you hear Bernie shouting about a minimum wage tell him to raise his home state’s minimum wage and leave the rest the rest of us alone.