GOP Congressman Tom McClintock of California was recently asked on CSPAN for his take on raising the minimum wage. The congressman, who sits on the House Committee on the Budget, was asked if he would support raising the minimum wage as a step towards converting it into a livable wage.
The congressman schooled the host of the program Washington Journal on the purpose of the wage control measure. The minimum wage sets the entry level rate at which people with no work experience or little to no skills earn. He correctly pointed out that as the minimum wage has increased, it has reduced the level of job opportunities available for people with no work experience.
In this regard, increases in the minimum wage prove adverse for minorities especially youths who rely on low-skill employment as their first work experience. The left has spun McClintock’s words with a racist overtone as if he was stating that minorities are inherently worth no more than $7/hr. Absent was the fact that Black unemployment, especially among the youth, is at all-time highs under President Obama’s policies. The congressman pointed out that while raising the wage will benefit those who are earning their livelihood at that level of income, it will reduce the number of job opportunities for many young people.
Absent in the discussion was the fact that the driving need for raising the minimum wage is to use government muscle to improve wages for people. The policies of the past six years have transitioned the nation into a majority part-time low-wage workforce. If the president’s policies successfully led to full-time high wage income, the push for a “livable” wage would be moot.