Minimum Wage Increase - There isn't a WORSE Time

I was reminded by today's news that on July 24th the federal minimum wage will be raised to $7.25 per hour. This is happening at a time when unemployment continues to go up, banks and Wall Street firms have tanked, and everyone from major corporates to small businesses are struggling. These step-ups were mandated, if I recall, two years ago when things were only starting to look so grim.

Just two years ago the minimum wage level was $5.15 per hour. This new level represents a staggering 40% increase across two of the worst years in decades. It frankly constitutes a tax, at a time when corporate earnings have plummeted. But this tax is optional, in that employers who cannot absorb this "tax" can instead choose to lay off even more workers or cut their hours - just what America needs.

I am no fan of anyone but the market mandating what workers get paid, whether on the high-end or the low-end. However, I have accepted that these laws are well-entrenched in our economy. But congress should enact emergency legislation to postpone this increase indefinitely.

This will especially hurt retailers, who have already been hammered hard and are expecting poor back-to-school sales to begin with. Unfortunately this increase won't ultimately help the economic class of people it is designed to benefit, and it is salt on the gaping wounds of employers. But what what do you expect, from a government running wild.