I guess the question really comes down to whether we will have an economy that responds to market forces (commonly referred to as a market economy), or one managed by the government for the benefit of 'workers,'whoever we define them to be. On the one hand, we recognize that in no country where it has been tried has government managed an economy to the benefit of all. Further, most highly managed economies of the past have been failures. For two such examples, see the former Soviet Union and the British experiment of the 1950-1980 period. In Brittain, they even went so far as to tax income in excess of a certain amount at a rate higher than 100%, but I digress.
The redistribution of wealth seems to be a noble idea whose time has never come. Grandiose schemes have emerged, such as graduated income taxes, capital gains taxes, property taxes, ad infinitim. The premise seems to be that for some reason, it is a sin to have figured out how the system works and to have become a success. Therefore, we must penalize those who succeed and give their ill-gotten gains to the poor, who are virruous because they are the least successful. Such an idea is the minimum wage law.
Unfortunately, it meets head on with the law of unintended consequences. Raise the minimum wage and those businesses who depend upon cheap labor have increased costs and become less competetive. Some are forced to make economies, some of which economies involve the furloughing of the least productive workers. By estimates, raising the minimum wage would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. These would come from the working poor, those who can least afford to lose them, but take heart. This would mean that the liberals could pass another handout program to make the poor even more dependent upon government for their sustenence. What a nice way to get an entire class dependent upon you and consistantly voting for you.
It is interesting that those who push this the hardest, Kennedy and his ilk, are the richest. They have theirs in trusts that can't be touched and since they pass the laws, they will make darned sure that they can't be, so they stay rich and powerful. Those of us who work for a living and have become moderately successful will pay for the largess, not the rich and famous. They are wealthy enough to avail themselves of numerous tax dodges.
trkyhntr
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