That man of the people, former Rep. Gary Marble, R-Neosho, blasted Missouri voters' decision to approve a minimum wage hike.
In a column published in today's Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian, Marble, now head of the business lobbying group, Associated Industries of Missouri:
I really don't like to say I told you so, but I did.
Congress is expected to send a bill to the president's desk that would raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25 by 2009. The repercussions of this could force all of Missouri's businesses to raise their prices, and many may have to close their doors.
Last year, Missouri voters raised the state's minimum wage to $6.50 per hour from $5.15. What many voters may not have realized, though, is that they also cast a vote for the minimum wage to go up every year according to the Consumer Price Index.
I am tired of this attitude that Missourians are not smart enough to know what they are voting on and therefore need the help of public-minded (and oh so unbiased) citizens like Marble and members of our state legislature. We didn't know what we were doing when we voted down concealed weapons, so the legislature simply tossed out the voters' opinion and passed the law anyway. We wanted stem cell research, so some legislators fought to overturn that, as well. The same thing happened with the minimum wage law.
There was a fix that needed to be made with the law, but it is not the one to which Marble is referring. The legislature needed to correct the problem with how firefighters and police officers are paid, but it failed to do so, because some pro-business legislators wanted to take advantage of that problem to save businesses a few dollars.
Marble did not hesitate to draw on some Missourians' fear of illegal workers by noting that they are prime recipients of the minimum wage increase:
For those of you who might be worried about illegal immigrants being hired at below minimum wage, rest assured those workers have a watchdog in Washington.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., the new head of the U.S. House immigration subcommittee, recently said that she believes "minimum wage laws apply to people who are here legally and also apply to people who are here illegally. To the extent that the minimum wage is raised -- which I support -- it would include everybody who is working here."
So who won't get a raise? Unfortunately, the workers who will be hit the hardest are the more experienced and trained. Those men and women are the ones who will be sending their hard-earned raises down to the mandated increases for entry-level workers.
And, yes, they have the opportunity and privilege of enjoying the increased cost of living that always accompanies artificially increasing the cost of goods sold.
If everyone had worked together as requested by these lawmakers rather than pointing fingers and placing blame, we would not be standing on the precipice of having the highest minimum-wage standard in the United States.
During the 2006 election, Associated Industries of Missouri led the Save Our States' Jobs coalition in an effort to defeat the ballot initiative that would raise Missouri's minimum wage annually. We warned you what would happen if the measure was approved.
What we cautioned is about to take place.
I hate to say I told you so, but I did.
What Marble does not mention is that the same scare tactics being used by his organization in 2006 (and this year) have been used for decades every time a minimum wage increase has been suggested. And on not one occasion has the sky fallen.
9 comments:
Isn't it amazing how this same old BS come up each time there is talk of raising the minimum wage. We need to put all the congessmen on a minimum wage from now on and then some of them would be overpaid. Remember when Reag was President. He said lots of McDonalds would have to close if the minimum wage was increased. Thousands of people would be unemployeed.
All good ole GOP politicians are just alike.
I would like to see a minimum annual salary of 15000 for EVERYONE WHO WORKS.That way we could enjoy stuff like movies. WHy can'nt thr politicos give the people back all the money they get from the rich. Seems that we could use it
Why would Marble and others be so concerned? The increase will be phased in over a two-year period and was accompanied by tax breaks for businesses. The White House negotiated a $4.84bn tax break to help employers pay for the increase in wages. Well, of course they did! In other words, it seems that the additional "burden" of the higher wages will be borne by taxpayers themselves including those who can truly least afford it.
Did people know they were voting to make it easier for judges and politicians to get pay increases or did they think they were denying pensions to felons? Hmmm... seems that either the public isn't that smart or the ballot language is misleading.
To those of you making Socialist comments: When the minimum wage increase became law I had to lay off several people to stay competitive with out of state business. In regards to the comment of the 15,000 for everyone, why in the heck should I bust my hump so that you can have money that I've worked hard for? Answer me that! If you don't have the ambition to better yourself then is that my fault? Get real if you want redistributed wealth leave the US and go to China.
"In regards to the comment of the 15,000 for everyone, why in the heck should I bust my hump so that you can have money that I've worked hard for? Answer me that!"
Answer: Integrity and self respect.
William Vincent said: I have to wonder, and it depresses me to think about it, how honest young folk who are not lazy and just want to start a life can do it on $7.00/hr, or $8.00/hr. or $9.00/hr. or even $10.00/hr. or even $11.00/hr. or even $12.00/hr. or even $13.00/hr. or even $14.00/hr. now we are beginning to get into the area that people need to be starting at to begin to be able to support a family of 3. That is one husband (who traditionally went out and made the bacon), the wife (who traditionally stayed home and raised any young babies to become wholesome, decent citizens), and a child who hopefully had parents that would be able to properly be parents by being with him or her and guide him or her so they could grow up to be what they should be.
It is sad that America, a great (once upon a time) country has so drastically changed that life is screwed up mess. We don't need to wonder why we have children that can kill without giving any thought to it. We helped them become the people they are by our own shortcomings and this government needs new blood to recharge our nation and return us to the values we were raised by. In my generation we did not expect our wife to go out and get a job to help us support our family. It was traditional that the male provide the income neccessary to support a family. It is sad that we have gotten so far away from what's important that now our mates are forced to work also and the children are deprived of real parents while growing up and the whole thing is horseshit. Also as an ending to this I would like to introduce you to an event in my life that is of interest. Please go to www.fec-inc.blogspot.com and start with the oldest archive to get a beginning and also you can go to www.ripoffreport.com and enter in search FINLEY ENGINEERING CO., INC.
To Randy and all the other socialist nitwits that posted comments: Gary Marble is absolutely right! When people mandate that they must be paid more money, they also mandate their employers cover the costs. There are a few ways they can cover the incurred costs: raise the prices of their goods and services, scale back services, fire people, or a conjunction of all three. Are you people to stupid to realize that when you mandate higher wages for our most unskilled workers that organizations end up passing the costs onto the consumers. You uneducated morons may be making more money but you are also spending more money; leaving you right were you started: as uneducated morons! If you don’t like making minimum wages then the best thing for you to do is to take some classes, read a book, learn a new skill and find a better job.
Just the other day KSN and other media ran a cheery story on how Joplin was the cheapest city in America to live in.
A few weeks earlier the sainted "Globe" ran its customary story that concludes the "average wage" of Joplinites is $30-34,000 a year.
Of course, this is pure bull. The genuine "average" Joplin wage is around $13,000 a year.
Joplin's "wealthy class" (and those of Neosho and other cities) must feel threatened when they learn that average people might be able to keep their heads above water if the federal minimum wage goes up.
I am not an "uneducated moron" but I know that creating an underclass of poorly-paid workers (and a second underclass of permanent welfare recipients) is no way to run a progressive nation.
The PROBLEM with America is a lack of dignity for the poor. We've priced ourselves out of existence and luxuried ourselves into thinking cell phones and cable or Dish TV and home computer service and SUVs, etc. etc. are "needs."
So give working Americans a decent wage and if Mr. Marble doesn't like it, that's too bad. If he has to pay an extra .35 cents for a hamburger, that's too bad.
Deal with it.
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