Cave fatuos!

Hello Sunjock13,
You have hit upon the real reason some in government push for higher minimum wages. Increased tax revenue! Anyone that believes that those rich politicians truly care about the peons for anything other than their votes or their increased revenue from taxes is kidding themselves. Of course they are also economic illiterates and short sighted since jobs and thus taxes will ultimately be lost. The votes however will remain even from the ignorant that lose their jobs, but don't connect the dots.
Respectfully,
O.A.

the free market be damned.

One additional perspective to this Minimum Wage issue... It is my personal and immovable conviction that if the minimum wage was changed to $15 tomorrow. the employee would experience an immediate sense of improvement. Over the the next 180 days as companies increased prices to cover a potential 60% increase in labor, automate their minimum wage jobs (electric dishwashers don't call in sick, file WC claims, generate exorbitant payroll taxes, and can work over 8 hours without triggering OT), eliminate nice but not necessary positions, and adapt to their new reality... any benefits that the increase may have provided will be absorbed through increased market prices and lost jobs. This will negate the perceive benefit to the minimum wage employee. I suggest that this "raise" may in fact diminish the standard of living through higher expenses and less employment available to this segment.

BUT... There is a winner. Government at ALL levels will have a perpetual windfall. The employee actually retaining employment will pay higher SS taxes, income taxes, Unemployment taxes, and sales taxes. Additionally, for the working poor segment... they will not qualify for "benefits" previously available (another windfall to Gov't until adjustments are slowly made)

So there is a harebrained (politician) logic to to the minimum wage increase and it is a windfall of more tax revenue per employee, initially lower benefit payments to "previously" working poor, and much higher tax revenue from the business segment through payroll, income, and sales taxes. Additionally government can now base Unemployment, Disability, and a plethora of social benefits on a $31,000. annual "minimum wage" earning. They project they will control more capital and have much more revenue at their disposal. They will never consider the down side of permanent elimination of jobs, the elimination of the "training grounds" where we learned skills, discipline and values through minimum wage jobs. These jobs were not intended to support a family, be a career path to Vice President of Clean Dishes, but the did provide us a place for gaining important values for future endeavors and ambitions, This arbitrary "adjustment" will also continue our competitive decline domestically and internationally through inflated labor costs.

Sorry to sound so cynical, but in this case, I do think they have thought it through and it is a crumb to the unions (who get a huge bump in dues) but, more importantly, will result in the largest federal, state, and local tax increase in our history... and they don't even need to debate!

Kiddies, next bedtime story will be "The Influence of Increased Union Dues Receipts on Political Contributions and the Resulting Super Majorities"!

Who is John Galt?

This is an adaptation of Cloward and Piven that shall reap huge "gimmie my pay raise support."
The sheeple of this day would even accept the progressive elite's sought end--a destructive change of government propagandized as a socialist utopia.

1) Devaluing the dollar: they're doing that now without trying (aside from QE 1,2,3, 4 pending.)
2) you assume they're smart enough to think of that.

Default on the debt? Liberal thinking, who gets hurt? China? Who cares! Japan and Wall Street? Serves them right! They see no downside for their constituents. Only the 1% really get hurt. Food Stamps, Obama phones, Obamacare all unaffected. All good!

I think you may be right. Vast majority not smart enough, but gullible enough to be manipulated.

MMT folks got that covered... you could tear up the intergovernmental obligations and nobody would notice.

The best path to a $15 minimum wage is a healthy market that creates the demand for labor. Oklahoma City has an unemployment figure of 3.3%, and the minimum wage passed $10/hr months ago. Help wanted ads are everywhere, and many employers are already offering starting wages of $15/hr. None of this is by government edict.

I don't think they care if the dollar is devalued because we will be paying china for decades to come probably just the interest and never the principal.
Also, they do not care one bit about those asking for the increase nor those who would be paying it if it were to happen.

As for being economic illiterates that is as true a statement as can be made about them, unless of course you give them money.

A minimum wage is pure socialism. That is their mantra. They have no idea about economics (or care). So I ask, if you set the minimum wage at $15./hr. what do those already earning that wage do. Either demand more money (because they have better skills which is why they got the $15) or go and take the jobs from the lesser skilled folks who demanded a wage above their skill level. And on it goes.

I think they just hate anyone who actually works for a living and wants to drive them from the "workplace."

Those pushing for this are not that smart about economics. It may happen, but I can't attribute this to a plan, just zealotry.

Oddly enough, China is not even close to being our biggest debtor. While it is true that a devalued currency would effectively put the screws to China who holds roughly 8% of our sovereign debt, it will REALLY hammer our biggest debt holder. Do you know who our biggest debt hold by far is? The United States government, holding a whopping 40% of our national debt. So that begs the question, "How do we get out of this one?".

I never think that the destroyers of our country are blinded ideologues. That is their cover. They always have a purpose, which I think is destruction. Devaluation of our dollar through massive inflation is destructive. It is already underway.

LA just announced $15/hr min. Yes, Obama and his group want the $ devalued as far as possible. Their desire is and always has been to weaken the US in all areas, as far as possible. They actually hate the US as we see it and only accept what the US would be as a socialist state.