Posted by Alan on 8/30/2009, 7:42 am, in reply to "Re: How sad if much needed health care reform doesn't pass because of this"
One of the worst forms of government intervention is the minimum wage and part of the reason I didn't shed any tears for Ted Kennedy was that he was constantly advocating for a higher minimum wage. $7.25/hr. is outrageous. Just a little over 2 years ago, the minimum wage was $5.15/hr which I thought was too high. That means workers without high school diplomas received a 40% increase in just 2 years.
--Previous Message--
: When businesses take government handouts, then
: absolutely does the government have a right,
: and the responsibility, to address issues
: such as this. In the absence of such
: government assistance (which I wholly
: opposed from day 1 as it is an affront to
: the tenets of free market capitalism), then
: private corporations are free to do as they
: wish, regardless of how ostentatious their
: actions might be. Frankly, I wish greed
: weren't such a prevailing factor. I wish
: American executives earned pay more in line
: with their counterparts in Europe or Japan.
: But I do not support the government stepping
: in to regulate pay. Again, free market
: capitalism is far more productive (and yes,
: subject to abuses) than other forms of
: economies.
:
: JR
:
: