Minimum Wage
ISSUE: raising the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour and illegal immigration.
REAL LIFE EXAMPLE: This author lives in a town of 15,000 people, with the minimum wage being the reality for most. Using rent as an example, which was about $500.00 a month on average for a 2-3 bedroom apartment or house.
THEN, 3-4 years ago oil & gas companies came in with the boom, bringing with it wages of $15.00 an hour or more. We would see all of these license plates from Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and so on ALL OVER TOWN. However, many locals also acquired these high paying jobs too. They also required you to work 60+ hours a week as well.
WHAT HAPPENED: Immediately, rent went from $500.00 to $2,500. a month. We had apartment complexes being built just for the oil & gas people. We had trashy motels, real dives, charging $1,200.00 month for just a room, a trashy roach and bed bug filled room. That is just rent, imagine the rise in other products of life.
That is what happens when wages are raised, the cost of living goes up and the worker gets none of the money, it goes to businesses that raise the cost of living. So, we would have to become a socialist country and actually have the government to control prices and wages.
THE RETURN: The high wages were short lived and all of those who built apartments were now stuck. The barrel of oil that was $120.00 a barrel plummeted to $45.00 a barrel in 2015 and has stayed there. Well, all of those out of state license plates are gone and all of the locals are now out of a job because the oil and gas companies have moved on. These same apartments built to rent at $2,500.00 a month are now back to the $5500.00 average, and prices for others things are back to normal. What will happen if the minimum wage is raised to $15.00 an hour, though? The high prices, i.e., cost of living will return.
Immigration Rights
Published on Apr 3, 2017: “Thousands are expected to protest in a call to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour. But is fighting for immigration rights counterproductive to the minimum wage battle?”
Tucker has asked a good question but in the interview, he seemed to stumble with it quite often. If you want to raise the minimum wage, which we just saw in the above, it is fine but futile, bringing in low-skilled workers by the millions, who are not worth a higher wage, will only incentivize the lower wages. Moreover, allowing millions of undocumented workers here, who will work for even less than the current minimum wage, will only disincentivize the raising of the wages. Therefore, until you get the immigration under control, it is futile to talk about raising the minimum wage. In addition, arguing for immigration rights at the same time you are arguing for minimum wage raises is like the saying, “cutting off the nose to spite the face.” In other words, you are arguing for a kind of immigration that would damage yourself more.
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