August 21, 2013 by David K. Sutton

Hey Conservatives, Want Less Government? Raise The Minimum Wage

Are you a conservative who wants less government? Do you despise welfare queens? Do you have contempt for fellow human beings when they need trivial things like food and health care? Do you yell things like “get a job” or “work harder” or “start your own business” when you hear people grumble about their empty stomach, or carp about going into debt for medical bills, or bemoan their inability to buy the G.I. Joe with the Kung Fu grip for their kid at Christmas time?

Well, if you are a conservative who wants less government and if you also oppose raising the minimum wage ($7.25), then I’m sorry to inform you that you’re a walking contradiction.

Heidi Moore (The Guardian) — The low minimum wage is also as costly for the government as it is cheap for companies. While McDonald’s or other fast food companies save pennies and boost their profitability by paying a low wage, their workers cannot survive on that amount and often end up taking welfare benefits. In 2012, 4.3 million people received welfare benefits and 47 million received food stamps. The number of Americans getting food stamps – a national hunger crisis – has risen in tandem with the number of people unemployed or out of the workforce.

The minimum-wage salary is eaten up fast by necessities like food and healthcare: US minimum-wage workers don’t just lack cash; they lack benefits, and this ends up costing the government. Each of the 23 million households on food stamps is getting an average benefit of about $274 a month from the government to pay for meals. About 40% of food stamp recipients live in a household where at least one person is earning money, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

So if you oppose increasing the minimum wage, that means you tacitly support subsidizing huge corporate profits in the form of artificially low wages that must be propped up by government. Bravo to small government conservatives, because your contempt for fellow human beings is only overshadowed by your complete disregard for throwaway items like facts, evidence, and reality.