Daniel A. Bosh – 3/1/06

This page was last updated on March 5, 2006.

A simple matter of justice; Daniel A. Bosh; Beaver County Times; March 1, 2006.

If you’ve read Bosh letters over the years, you recognize him as a died-in-the-wool socialist. This letter provides more evidence; it’s all about the poor vs. the rich. Need more evidence? In the 2004 presidential campaign, Mr. Bosh was a Democrat national delegate committed to Dennis Kucinich. Mr. Bosh is a fulltime employee of the Steelworkers Pension Trust.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Some readers who oppose the proposed increase in the state’s minimum wage have recently written letters with some interesting arguments against it.

“One allegation that has been made is that legislators who favor an increase in the minimum wage are just pandering to the poor for votes.

“The problem with that charge is that very few of the poor vote. That makes pandering to them a bad campaign strategy. It is the well-off who vote in the greatest proportion and donate to politicians who do their bidding. It takes courage for those in government to oppose the rich and side with the poor.”

[RWC] OK, Mr. Bosh is at odds with his party. When anyone proposes voting reforms that require better identification, socialists tell us the reason is to “disenfranchise” the poor and other socialist victim groups. Mr. Bosh tells us the poor don’t vote, so this erodes the voter ID argument.

Where does Mr. Bosh get the idea that it’s the government’s job “to oppose the rich and side with the poor?” In my opinion, government should be blind to a person’s wealth or lack thereof. Folks like Mr. Bosh like to foment class warfare.

At no point in his letter does Mr. Bosh even attempt to make an economic argument in favor of the minimum wage.

“The claim that raising the minimum wage will lead to inflation and unemployment is an old and very tired allegation. While many reputable studies have been done on it over the years, none has supported this contention.”

[RWC] It’s “old and very tired allegation” to socialists. Increasing the minimum wage means adding a cost to the system that exceeds its economic value. Adding price without adding value is the definition of inflation.

Regarding his no unemployment claim, perhaps Mr. Bosh can explain the following.

· Where have the gas station attendants gone who used to pump our gas, check our oil, and check our tire pressure?

· Why have toll roads replaced human toll takers with automated tollgates and EZ-Pass devices?

· Why are supermarket (Giant Eagle and Kroger, for example) checkout clerks being replaced with self-service checkout machines?

· What happened to supermarket bag boys loading our groceries into our cars? In fact, what happened to bag boys period?

If you believe the answer to any of those questions is “customer service,” I have a bridge to sell you.

“The assertion that the minimum wage is welfare would be funny if it were not so sad that someone is actually pushing this line. People who work at the lowest levels of the economy have no market power and need to be legally protected from the wealthy few who have too much control.”

[RWC] Well, Mr. Bosh, if paying a person more than the economic value of his work is not welfare, what is it?

“The fact is that the jobs that pay minimum wage must be performed by people, and those people have to earn enough to get by. That is an economic reality. They should be compensated in a way that allows them to live with some dignity.”

[RWC] What dignity is there from accepting pay you know you didn’t earn?

I was raised to believe dignity has nothing to do with how much a person earns. A person who earns money by pushing a broom has no more or less dignity than a person who earns a million dollars.

“That is a simple matter of justice. When workers perform a service or produce a product and cannot live on the wages they receive, their employer is stealing from them.”

[RWC] Paying a person what their work is worth is now injustice and stealing? Isn’t it stealing when you accept more for your work than it is worth? Where’s the justice in the government forcing employers and consumers to pay a person more than the economic value of his work?

“People in business who cannot compete without stealing from their employees should not be in business. Instead, they should try getting a job and seeing what it is like.”

[RWC] People in business don’t have jobs? I hate to break it to Mr. Bosh, but I’d be willing to bet that most business owners work far harder than their employees who receive the minimum wage.