Lawrence O'Donnell doesn't know how business economics works and is simply spouting rhetoric that he's been hearing for years. I'll take you through his statements that are flat out wrong and others that are true on the surface but aren't really meant in the way that is true.
"The minimum wage should not be reduced. It doesn't matter if you want to reduce it or even if you think it should be reduced. It is never going to happen because it never has happened."
Flat out bad logic. Just because something has never happened doesn't mean it shouldn't happen. Everything that has happened before must have happened the first time. Let's continue...
"The federal minimum wage is $7.25/hr. And CT being richer than the rest of the country and more generous in spirit has a state minimum wage a buck higher: $8.25/hr."
Minimum wage has nothing to do with being generous with those making a lesser wage. It's actually quite the opposite. I'll get into that later.
"Linda, you spend more on your hair than a CT minimum wage earner makes in a year."
I thought spending was a good thing. She's spending money on workers making less than she does. Furthermore, as long as it's not illegal, what a person spends their own money on is no ones business but their own. There are plenty of US senators that spend thousands of dollars per year on their hair. In Linda's case, it's her own money (for now), but the senators are spending the money taxed from actual working Americans. That's truly blood money.
"Minimum wage jobs are not easy...There is no one in CT or anywhere else in this country living on the minimum wage that does not work much, much harder than you do."
Here I'll agree with Larry but not the way he would like. Workers who make minimum wage tend to be in jobs that are very physically demanding but are very easy on the intellect. There are a couple of reasons for this. First off, a minimum wage forces businesses to ration their wages. A business who can afford two workers at $4.00/hr can only afford one worker at $8.00/hr. This keeps the work load the same but decreases the number of workers to do the job. The other reason is physical labor doesn't take years of schooling for those jobs. A day of on-the-job training and you're ready to start.
"That's an increase of 70 cents an hour...no one, no one gets fewer wage increases than minimum wage workers. 10 years without a penny of increase."
Flat out not true. Is he saying that everyone that has worked a minimum wage job at $6.55/hr was still at $6.55/hr when D.C. decided to increase it? Sure sounds like that's what he wants you to hear. Most jobs that start at minimum wage, if you can manage to keep the job and show you are a valuable employee, will increase within 2, 6, 12 months. Statistically the number of people who started at $6.55 when that wage amount started that were still at $6.55 just before the increase is zero. The only ones that were still at minimum wage are those that cannot keep a job and are shown to not be worth $6.55/hr.
As promised, a higher minimum wage does not equal compassion or generosity. In fact, it's quite the opposite. The minimum wage increase is a large factor of inflation. In addition to that it forces those not worth the increase out of a job.
Imagine you are a high schooler looking for your first job. You apply to a number of places but without experience or a proven work ethic, very few businesses are willing to say your hour of work is worth $8.25. But you're willing to work, you want to work. But you can't find a job. So what happens? You don't get a job, you decide to live off of your parents hard earned money and eventually you may live off of the public dole: food stamps, welfare, and medicaid.
What if you already had a job before the increase at minimum wage? What if you were working at $6.55/hr and the federal government decides that your work is suddenly worth $7.25/hr. But what if your employer doesn't agree or he cannot afford to pay $7.25/hr? What happens then. You lose your job.
Solution: End the minimum wage. Repeal the state minimum and ignore the federal minimum. Allow all businesses in the state to give whatever wages they see fit. Allow all workers to decide what their labor is worth. If any federal agent tries to prosecute a citizen of Connecticut, that agent should face fines and/or jail time. We the people of Connecticut find the federal mandated minimum wage to be hereby void and of no force.
Consequence of the solution: All those that want to work will now be able to find a job. What is your labor worth? What is better for you? Would you sell your hour of labor for $5.00 or will you keep it and make $0.00 for your hour? There are only two entities that can answer what your hour is worth. You and the employer. Neither the government of this state nor of this country know your and your prospective employer's unique situation. What may be right for your neighbor may not be right for you.
