Socialist Utopia Setback: Seattle’s $13 Minimum Wage Led To Drop Of $1,500 In Income For Low-Wage Earners
Posted: June 26, 2017 Filed under: Economics, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Politics, U.S. News | Tags: Adam Smith Institute, Affordable housing, Artist, Chamber of Commerce, Employment, Katy Tang, Kshama Sawan, Living wage, Minimum wage, San Francisco, Seattle Leave a comment
Ben Shapiro writes: Remember that time Seattle’s socialist city council member Kshama Sawant pressed for the city to increase its minimum wage to $15 per hour? I actually debated Sawant on the issue; I asked her if she would be in favor of raising the wage to $1,000 per hour. She misdirected from the issue.
Seattle actually ended up embracing $13 per hour, raising the minimum wage from $9.47 in 2014 to $11 in 2015 to $13 in 2016 under the theory that an increase wouldn’t throw people out of work, wouldn’t encourage part-time hiring, and would inflate salaries enough to allow more affordability in the Seattle housing market.
From the dustbin of history: The socialist zombies of Seattle
A new study demonstrates that, as usual, central planning of the economy leads to precisely the reverse of the results the planners seek to achieve.
According to a new paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research:
Using a variety of methods to analyze employment in all sectors paying below a specified real hourly rate, we conclude that the second wage increase to $13 reduced hours worked in low-wage jobs by around 9 percent, while hourly wages in such jobs increased by around 3 percent. Consequently, total payroll fell for such jobs, implying that the minimum wage ordinance lowered low-wage employees’ earnings by an average of $125 per month in 2016. Evidence attributes more modest effects to the first wage increase. We estimate an effect of zero when analyzing employment in the restaurant industry at all wage levels, comparable to many prior studies.
In other words, restaurants didn’t fire anybody, they just put them on part-time shifts and cut back their hours. That shouldn’t be a surprise, since that’s precisely what happens every time the government places an extra burden on employers. Read the rest of this entry »
Combat Ready: Michelle Malkin Gears Up for 2014 GOP Warfare
Posted: February 9, 2014 Filed under: Mediasphere, Politics, U.S. News | Tags: Alec Baldwin, American Crossroads, Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Republicans, Malkin, Michelle Malkin, Pete Sessions, Ted Cruz, Twitter 1 Comment
Malkin is focusing on backing politicians challenging establishment Republicans. | AP Photo
Mackenzie Weinger writes: Michelle Malkin doesn’t run away from fights, she runs toward them. And she’s running faster than ever headlong into the 2014 Republican primary battles on behalf of upstart conservative candidates who are mounting insurgent challenges to the GOP old guard.
[Malkin’s Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild at Amazon]
Twitter is Malkin’s weapon of choice. Battles with her almost always devolve into wars, and those who follow the conservative social media scene know she has a proven formula online: Taunting quips from foes bring out the full force of her Twitter arsenal, with snappy replies, catchy hashtags and the mobilization of a legion of energized followers.
[Malkin’s Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies]
Malkin, 43, says she’s using her influence — and her confrontational approach — on behalf of candidates she deems worthy of it in this year’s midterm.
WAR: Chamber of Commerce to Spend $50 Million to Crush Grassroots Candidates
Posted: December 26, 2013 Filed under: Politics, U.S. News | Tags: $50 Million, American Crossroads, Chamber of Commerce, Karl Rove, Tea Party, United States Chamber of Commerce, Wall Street, Wall Street Journal 3 Comments
Wynton Hall writes: On Christmas Day, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says it plans to spend at least $50 million to “support establishment, business-friendly candidates in primaries and the general election, with an aim of trying to win a Republican Senate majority.”
“Our No. 1 focus is to make sure, when it comes to the Senate, that we have no loser candidates,” said U.S. Chamber of Commerce top political strategist Scott Reed. “That will be our mantra: No fools on our ticket.”
GOP establishment officials hope to elide Tea Party challenges by shrinking the nomination process down to a tight four-month window replete with penalties for states that shirk the rules.
The WSJ reported that Republican leaders “hope a less restive Republican caucus will allow the House to pass a farm bill and push ahead on at least incremental overhauls of the immigration system.”
pundit from another planet 