Right-Wing Says Cut Wages Of American Workers

Being familiar with the stupidity of the right-wing and the greed of their corporate masters, I am really surprised it took this long for this idea to rear its ugly head again. The Washington Post and Fox News are now beating the drums for what they say is a simple solution to the jobless situation in America.

What is their solution? Simply cut the wages of American workers, especially those who work for minimum wage. It is their thesis that joblessness is not caused by the destruction of our economy by Republican deregulation that allowed unregulated speculation and abuse of consumers by financial institutions. No, the root of our rampant joblessness is solely due to a rise in the minimum wage according to the right-wing idiots.

They say if the minimum wage is cut, a move that would put downward pressure on the wages of all Americans, businesses of all sizes would suddenly go on a hiring spree and the problem of unemployment would magically be solved. They completely overlook the fact that this would make life much harder for ordinary Americans, while further increasing the record-breaking profits of corporate entities (which of course, is their real purpose).

They also ignore the reality that the buying power of Americans is already significantly lower than it was in years past when our economy was much healthier. It would take $9.92 an hour (about $20,634 a year) to equal the buying power of a minimum wage worker in 1968. Of course, the current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour will just give a worker $15,080. That means a worker has $5,554 less buying power today. That's already a huge wage cut for American workers, and these idiots want to cut it even further.

They try to justify this insane idea by citing a study published last year by David Neumark (University of California) and William Wascher (Federal Reserve). That study concluded that a rise in the minimum wage could result in the loss of a small number of jobs. But in their clinging to this one report, which really doesn't justify their position, they had to overlook numerous studies that show a rise in minimum wage does not result in job losses.

I am continually amazed at how the business community thinks that cutting wages is in their best interests, when the truth is that is exactly the opposite of what would actually create a healthier economy for both workers and businesses. Our history has shown that businesses actually thrive during times when workers have high earnings and buying power. Because money doesn't trickle down in a free enterprise economy -- it flows upward ( to small businesses and then to corporations).

But greed is a short-sighted thing, and seldom acts to its own long-term benefit. It brings home the fact that if corporate America truly had its way, workers would still be working 12-hour days, six or seven days a week, in unsafe conditions, for pennies a day and would owes their souls to "the company store". These things were not changed through the goodness of corporate generosity, but because of hard-won laws that curb corporate greed.

Lowering or doing away with the minimum wage would be a giant step back in our history. It would not be good for American workers or American businesses.

(Chart above shows history of the minimum wage - real and nominal.)