Mitt Romney: Raise the Minumum Wage automatically with inflation

[rambone]

I don't think Willard has the foggiest idea about what that would do to the economy. It would be an economic death spiral.



Romney's minimum wage proposal sparks conservative backlash

Mitt Romney's position on the minimum wage has some on the right sounding the alarm about his candidacy--and it could expose a dangerous fault line between Romney and some of the Republican Party's most reliable backers.

Romney said last week that he supports regular increases in the minimum wage to keep pace with inflation, a position he took as a candidate for president in 2008. Six years before that, as a candidate for Massachusetts governor, Romney supported linking automatic increases in the state's minimum wage to inflation. "I haven't changed my thoughts on that," he told reporters.

Indexing the minimum wage to inflation is a goal of many labor-backed groups and liberal Democrats, who say it would help millions of working people. In recent years, Republicans, backed by their allies in the business community, have opposed such efforts, arguing that raising the minimum wage would reduce employment. Some on the right have come out against the very concept of a minimum wage.

Romney's comments have caused concern among conservatives inside and outside the party.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-oGn6-dypE[/ame]

 

[ZombieApocolypse]

Trying to "save face" with his dont worry about the poor type comment(s)?

 

[J_Wales]

romney.... nothing but yet another statist pig.

Buzz off... our republic has had enough of jackasses like you.

 

[ZS84]

I don't think Willard has the foggiest idea about what that would do to the economy. It would be an economic death spiral.

I may be wrong here but I think we are already headed that way. Wouldn't this just make it worse? Who ever thought this was a good idea?

 

[buckstopshere]

He's a conservative. He said it like 26 times in a speech this week. This is what the new conservatives do......dumb stuff.

 

[LEaSH]

Romney's handlers are utterly clueless or ineffective.

 

[Hiker1911]

In theory, it looks like an excellent idea.

In reality, Congress wouldn't pass a bill that ties, or increases minimum wage with inflation. Should they? Yes. Will they? No!

Is that kind of campaign 'idea' - the kind of stuff that gets people hopeful, and helps candidates at the polls? Yes.

 

[LEaSH]

I think his campaign managers have fallen into an old LBJ trick.

All the conservative talk show guys have been busting on Newt for riding Mitt's big money image. So rather than ignore it, the Mitt campaign guys feel they should pander to the low income voters. So just as buckstopshere stated, Mitt is saying dumbstuff.

Don't worry, you'll hear plenty more dumb ideas as we go along. It will be from both parties and it will be depressing that they actually will have believers.

 

[rambone]

I may be wrong here but I think we are already headed that way. Wouldn't this just make it worse? Who ever thought this was a good idea?

It would be making a bad situation worse, like gas on a fire.

Spend, spend, spend
Print copious amounts of money
Inflation
Romney raises Minimum Wage
Prices rise
Companies fail, bailouts
Spend, spend, spend

Repeat

 

[rambone]

Minimum wage would be $10 if this was followed since the 1960s

Mitt Romney: Minimum Wage Should Rise With Inflation

The federal minimum wage remains $7.25 per hour, translating to a salary of about $15,000 for a full-time worker. If it had kept pace with inflation since its high in the late-1960s, it would now be more than $10 an hour, according to the National Employment Law Project (NELP).

 

[rambone]

Romney is wrong on minimum wage

raising the minimum wage rarely (if ever) helps those actually making the minimum wage, and will definitely not help raise standards of living or decrease unemployment. The minimum wage is an intervention into the economy that outlaws employment at wages lower than the prescribed/legal minimum. For those workers whose marginal product of labor is less than the new legal minimum, a minimum wage hike is unfortunate indeed, as their work at the new wage would constitute a net loss for their employer, who would have no choice but to fire such a worker.

 

[dross]

I don't see why this is so bad. What's wrong with people having enough money to live on?

 

[sepe]

I don't see why this is so bad. What's wrong with people having enough money to live on?

Depending who you're talking to, it could cause cost-push inflation. Indexing the minimum wage to the inflation rate can cause either job loss or higher prices (depending on how the business wants to deal with the increased labor cost).

Not saying I agree with that or not but that is one side of the argument.

 

[dross]

Red herring. The problem with the minimum wage isn't so much that it drives up prices - it may or may not directly. (Though it will always do so indirectly since union wages are officially or unofficially indexed to the minimum wage.)

One of the main problems with the minimum wage is that it either doesn't achieve what it's supposed to because the market minimum wage is higher - like it is in my town - or when the market minimum wage is lower, businesses can hire people who are actually worth the artificial minimum wage, leaving those whom the minimum wage is supposed to help unemployed.

 

[Classic]

On this point Romney is poorly advised.

 

[dross]

Not only is he wrong philosophically, he's wrong politically.

I think this may propel Santorum ahead.

The only thing that will save Romney now is his war chest and his organization. Like Bush, like McCain, the problem with Romney isn't so much that he doesn't agree with conservative principles - it's that he doesn't really understand them. That's what's frustrating.

Reagan undertood them in his bones. He knew when he was compromising and why. These guys don't understand. It's a shame that these are our choices.

 

[rambone]

Romneyomics in action

No Subway $5 Footlongs In SF, 'Cost of Doing Business' Too High

The catchy Subway sandwich shop jingle involving a variety of foot-long sandwiches available for $5 doesn't apply in San Francisco.

Apparently, the city's new minimum wage, raised to $10.24 as of Jan. 1, make $5 footlongs an impossible business model.

 

[sepe]

No Subway $5 Footlongs In SF, 'Cost of Doing Business' Too High

I've heard that you can still have $5 footlongs in parts of S.F. but I'm not sure if they'll put jalapenos on it or if that is extra.

 

[hornadylnl]

I've heard that you can still have $5 footlongs in parts of S.F. but I'm not sure if they'll put jalapenos on it or if that is extra.

Those jalapenos always burn in the end. Might as well get right to it.