Jerry Miskulin – 6/10/12

This page was last updated on June 10, 2012.

Minimum wage should be raised; Jerry Miskulin; Beaver County Times; June 10, 2012.

I encourage you to review Mr. Miskulin’s body of work in the archives. Mr. Miskulin has written at least 81 letters since 2004 (I didn’t critique all of them.). Most (all?) are illogical and full of falsehoods (not just wrong).

Mr. Miskulin expressed displeasure with the tea parties (here and here), proclaimed “Rush Limbaugh is a propaganda minister,” and told us “Tariff is the best way to reduce deficit.” Mr. Miskulin’s most recent letter was “Why did it take so long?”

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“What do the trade imbalance, corporate mergers, marriage rates and housing foreclosures all have in common? The minimum wage and how it should be raised to reflect the times.”

[RWC] How will increasing the cost of U.S. goods via a minimum-wage increase help “the trade imbalance?”

“The trade imbalance purged us of our manufacturing sector and left people in the service industry at the whim of corporate conglomerates. Paying their stockholders is more important to them than paying their workers.”

[RWC] “[P]urged us of our manufacturing sector?” According to the Associated Press, “America remains by far the No. 1 manufacturing country. It out-produces No. 2 China by more than 40 percent.”

“A person making $8 per hour cannot hope to make a go of it in this materialistic world. Even two people making $16 per hour would have a hard time making it. So, why get married, just live together. Don’t put down any roots, just live a transient life.

“The possibility of owning a good home is about nil. What happened to many families who lost their homes lately is that they were caught up in the American dream. They thought things would get better, but they just got worse.”

[RWC] If you believe the stated intent of the minimum wage, it was never intended to be the sole source of income for an individual or a family.

“The minimum wage should be $11 or $12 per hour. It’s an investment in the community for whose going to buy off you if your workers can’t? Henry Ford would be sick to see what’s going on now.”

[RWC] Why stop at “$11 or $12 per hour?”

“You tell me we can’t afford the things I say, but this is a rainy day. Now, there’s just one way, and that’s the right way.”

[RWC] I refer to the minimum/living-wage exercise as akin to a dog chasing its tail. You can learn more about “The myth of the minimum/living wage” in my paper with the original name of “Economics.”