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Minimum wage should be raised; Philip Dedig; Beaver County Times; May 16, 2014.
Mr. Dedig has written at least 23 letters since February 2008. Among those letters, Mr. Dedig supported the proposed federal gasoline tax holiday, Hillary Clinton for President, complained about “business as usual” (“Business as usual in D.C.,” 6/17/08) in Washington, DC, regarding energy, opposed offshore drilling, said Democrat voters deserve better candidates (“Local Democratic voters merit better,” 8/22/08), supported “bailing out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae” (“Fed, Treasury had to move;” 9/30/08), told us we had “No choice but to help auto makers,” told us “College costs must be made affordable,” supported the $787 billion “stimulus” package (here and here), told us “U.S. can afford health care for all,” and claimed “U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire is a Republican in sheep’s clothing.” Mr. Dedig’s most recent letters were “Change in priorities necessary,” “States should determine gun laws,” “Obama policies working,” “Recovery on the way,” “Pipeline not good idea,” “Energy policy long overdue,” and “Obama caves in far too easily.” If it’s a leftist position, Mr. Dedig supports it.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“The United States Senate should reconsider its vote not to raise the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage would benefit 16.5 million workers and lift 900,000 Americans out of poverty.”
[RWC] Mr. Dedig also wrote about the minimum wage in his letter “Change in priorities necessary.”
“The United States has one of the lowest minimum wages in the developed world at 38 percent of median income and it has lost 5.8 percent of its purchasing power since 2009. The average age of a minimum wage worker is 35 and a majority of these workers are women.
“Critics say raising the minimum wage would cost the United States 500,000 jobs. The minimum wage has been raised 37 times in the past and has had little or no effect on employment. Raising the minimum wage will increase consumer spending, which is 70 percent of Gross Domestic Product, and that will grow and expand our economy.
“American taxpayers have to subsidize wages of minimum wage workers with food stamps, Medicaid, cash payouts, school meals and child care benefits. Some of these corporations that pay these low wages are making record profits, which isn’t just.
“Polls of Americans show that 78 percent agree that the minimum wage should be raised because it is the right thing to do.”
[RWC] If you care about Mr. Dedig’s litany of factoids, which he provides without citation, I suggest you check them with credible sources. In any case, please read my paper “The Minimum Wage.”
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