Charlie squawked the Republican party lie - errr "line": "The Democrats are the party of "intent politics". Increase the minimum wage even though it will only increase unemployment and make it harder for low skilled workers at the bottom of the economic ladder get their first start."

"Minimum Wage, Maximum Myth"
by Steven Pearlstein
(washingtonpost.com):

No doubt Ratner and the others will point out that workers making at or near the federal minimum wage are nearly all employed by small businesses. We will hear all the sob stories about how struggling small businesses with thin margins will be forced to cut back on hiring, pull back on expansion plans and, in some instances, close their doors. Moreover, this won't be a tragedy just for small-business owners and employees but for the economy as a whole, since everybody knows that small business creates virtually all new jobs. Only another round of tax breaks can keep the great American jobs machine humming.

And here's the thing: Most of it is nonsense.

To begin, both economic theory and history suggest that small business will, in time, pass on its increased costs to its consumers. Small businesses that pay low wages tend to compete with other small businesses that pay low wages, so they will all face the same cost pressures and respond in similar fashion. The worst that can be said is that a higher minimum wage will add, very modestly, to overall inflation.

There is also general agreement among economists that a higher minimum wage, at the levels we are talking about, will have a minimal impact on adult employment. Slightly higher prices might reduce, slightly, the demand for Wendy's hamburgers, cheap hotel rooms and dog-walking services. But largely offsetting those effects will be the increased demand for goods and services by tens of millions of Americans who will finally be getting a raise. A higher minimum wage doesn't lower economic activity so much as rearrange it slightly.

The biggest lie of all is that small businesses have created most of the new jobs in America. This canard, perpetrated by the small-business lobby and embraced by politicians of both parties, has been used for decades to justify all manner of special subsidies for small business. But as economist Veronique de Rugy of the American Enterprise Institute reported in a paper last year, new jobs have been created by both large and small businesses in roughly the same proportion.

In truth, the bulk of new jobs have always been created by a relatively small number of new firms that grow fast and get quite big -- think of companies like Southwest Airlines, Google, CarMax. Most have little in common with the small-business lobby in Washington or fast-food restaurant chains or the members of the Kiwanis Club in Helena, Mont. As a rule, companies like these couldn't care less about the minimum wage or special tax breaks to offset it.

No surprise that the Senate Republicans are quick to sit up and bark for the Small Business lobbyists these days, but let's look at how those small business owners are at shouldering tax responsibility. Pearlstein adds:

It's also worth noting that, according to the Internal Revenue Service, small-business owners, sole proprietors and the self-employed are, as a group, the biggest tax cheats in America, responsible for $153 billion of the estimated $345 billion tax gap in 2001. What these folks deserve are more frequent visits from IRS auditors, not more tax breaks.

It is lobbyists who are trying to tie the minimum wage hike to tax breaks, and it is Republicans who are doing the lobbyists' bidding.. all in an effort to help the people that the IRS calls the biggest tax cheats in America.

Absolutely unnecessary -- absolutely predictable.

Absolutely unnecessary -- absolutely predictable.

Posted by: Lee at February 3, 2007 11:53 AM

Just like you and your viral cockroach trolls-in-arms...

Holy shit, Lee's parroting the IRS now!

..it is Republicans who are doing the lobbyists' bidding.

Ummhumm, only Republicans, I see.

Ok, aside from that Lee, why don't you ask 'Ahmed' at your local convenience store next time you stop in for a morning taquito, or a late night beer run, which part of the 44ish %, according to the IRS, of the small business problem in America that he belongs to - never mind the fact that he's there 12 - 16 hours a day. Ask him why he's there in the morning and at night, followed by why aren't you "shouldering" your fair share.

Why don't you ask 'Flavio', the mom-and-pop Italian Eatery owner what minimum wage costs he's going to pass along to consumers like yourself? Better yet, why don't you ask the waiter why he'd prefer a cash tip?

Why don't you ask Jimmy, the local construction contractor if he knows that Southwest Airlines, Google, CarMax aren't affected by the minimum wage because they have to deal with payroll taxes for their employees just the same as he does, and he needs to pull his weight goddamnit!

Don't forget to tell them all that, according to you, Republicans are listening to the small business lobby and that Democrats are against them because they aren't "shouldering the responsibility".

Do note that you are part of the party of intent politics, because the Democratic leaders who are part of this are so absolutely and totally detached from the small business environment, it's sickening.

Keep up the good work though :).

Again, back on topic, I do like Petraeus.

America, please give this man the power to fight evil.