The conservative case for raising the minimum wage

[DonViejo]

A leading conservative argues that immigration reform and a boost in wages need to go hand in hand

BY RON UNZ

Ron Unz, a Silicon Valley software developer, is publisher of The American Conservative

Congress is currently considering bipartisan legislation providing an amnesty for America’s 11 million illegal immigrants, probably combined with extra visas for skilled workers and an agricultural guestworker program. But principled liberals and conservatives should both demand that any immigration reform proposal also include a sharp rise in the federal minimum wage.

The reason is simple. Any increase in the supply or job mobility of willing workers will tend to benefit Capital at the expense of Labor, stifling any growth in working-class wages, especially given our high unemployment rates. The last 40 years have seen a huge increase in immigration, and it is hardly coincidental that median American wages have been stagnant or declining throughout most of this same period. A large boost in the minimum wage, perhaps to $12 an hour or more, would be the best means of reversing our current economic race to the bottom.

American businesses can certainly afford to provide better pay given that corporate profits have reached an all-time high while wages have fallen to their lowest share of national GDP in history. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of our lowest paying jobs are in the non-tradeable service sector, rendering them immune from foreign competition. A major factor keeping wages low has been the large annual influx of new immigrant labor, which steadily reduces the bargaining power of existing workers, especially including all previous immigrants. Only the power of the federal government can halt this downward spiral into national impoverishment for most Americans by setting a reasonable floor on wages.

Under the amnesty proposals being discussed, millions of workers at the bottom of the economic ladder would be able to regularize their status and become secure enough to seek better and higher-paying employment. But if nothing is done to improve the wages of their current jobs, these would remain unattractive to legal U.S. residents and act as a magnetic lure for new waves of impoverished border-crossers, eager to gain an initial foothold in the American economy. This exact process occurred following President Ronald Reagan’s amnesty of 3 million illegal immigrants in 1986, and new arrivals might hope to benefit from some future amnesty.

full article
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/18/the_conservative_case_for_raising_the_minimum_wage/

[wandy]

1. Now that's what I call out of touch, Conservative case for raising the minimum wage......

The republican case for immigration reform is two fold.
1) It changes their "Image" with Latino voters with out the need to learn Spanish.
2) It provides low cost labor for the people they represent.

Was the author of this article asleep during the republican primaries where candidate after candidate toughed how much better the job situation would be if the minimum wage were to be eliminated?

Bachmann Says She Would Eliminate Minimum Wage to Stimulate U.S. Economy

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-26/bachmann-says-she-would-eliminate-minimum-wage-to-spur-growth.html

A lot of conservatives, led by The Wall Street Journal editorial page, were horrified when you said you want to index the minimum wage for inflation. And they said, `Look, that's just going to raise the minimum wage. That's going to raise the unemployment rate, especially for young people, especially for minorities. It's sort of a little bit of unfinished business.' Why do you want to raise the minimum wage? Why do you want to index it for inflation?

Mitt Romney: Well, actually, when I was governor the legislature passed a law raising the minimum wage. I vetoed it… And I said, `Look, the way to deal with the minimum wage is this. On a regular basis,' I said in the proposal I made, `every two years we should look at the minimum wage, we should look at what's happened to inflation. We should also look at the jobs level throughout the country, unemployment rate, competitive rates in other states or, in this case, other nations.' So, certainly, the level of inflation is something you should look at and you should identify what's the right way to keep America competitive…

… Yeah, so that would tell you that right now there's probably not a need to raise the minimum wage. What I can tell you is had one indexed the minimum wage back to, let's say, 1990, the minimum wage would be lower now than it actually is. Democrats make big hay of this every few years, `Oh, we're going to raise the minimum wage', and get a lot of hoopla for it. Frankly, the right way to process it is to look at the minimum wage, look at how unemployment rates are, make adjustments as time goes on based upon our need to compete, the need of the job market, and, of course, what's happened to inflation.”

http://2012.presidential-candidates.org/Minimum-Wage.php

Some went so far as to question the need for child labor laws.

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich called child labor laws "stupid" Friday in an appearance at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
"It is tragic what we do in the poorest neighborhoods, entrapping children in, first of all, child laws, which are truly stupid," said the former House speaker, according to CNN. "Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/21/newt-gingrich-child-labor-lobbyist_n_1105178.html

A leading conservative argues that immigration reform and a boost in wages need to go hand in hand my left foot!

Always remember, never forget who it is that republicans represent.

[DonViejo]

2. wandy, did you read the article? I'm confused by your comment...

the article is by "a leading conservative" proposing his ideas and beliefs, but yet, you respond with a lot of quotes from other conservatives. What arguments presented by the "leading conservative" do you disagree with?

[wandy]

3. Yes, It's just that I think it's more republican foma........

Let's look again at Mitt Romney's view.

Frankly, the right way to process it is to look at the minimum wage, look at how unemployment rates are, make adjustments as time goes on based upon our need to compete, the need of the job market,

Simply put.
The higher the unemployment rate the cheaper the cost of labor.
Nothing the republicans have done in the last four years has made any attempt to reduce unemployment.
Considering the declining state of our infostructure, that's dam foolish!

This doesn't mean that I'm against immigration reformed.
Let's face it someone here illegally is a lot less likely to demand higher wages than someone who is here legally.

It is just difficult for me to accept that of a sudden, the same republicans that have been promoting right to work laws and have been hollowing for the elimination of minimum wage, would suddenly change direction.