Ralph's article is on newspaper today
TELL IT TO THE CHIEFTAIN
Minimum wage
Both Richard Mark (yes) and Bill Artist (no) in The Chieftain Ideas section on Oct. 1 had it wrong on Amendment 42, which substantially raises the minimum wage.
The primary reason all Coloradans and Americans in general ought to oppose this is because we value our freedom and property rights. Government has no property right or responsibility for the success of any private business. Therefore, the government should have no say in wages.
It is not up to government to tell you, me or our potential employers what wages (and benefits) we should agree to. It is a voluntary arrangement by the employer who owns the business and me who owns the desired labor.
If the minimum wage is raised and several struggling businesses go bankrupt, the government and the supporters of this socialist idea will bear no guilt nor suffer the consequences of this bad idea. In fact, several politicians will get a compassionate sound bite for their re-election while a business owner liquidates and many workers go unemployed.
Even short of bankruptcy, margins may get trimmed and many workers at much higher pay may become unemployed or lose benefits in order for a business to recover its margins.
Why? Because if 50 cashiers get another $1.70 per hour, then it also pushes up the wages above them and suddenly those new hires in shipping get laid off and the entire accounting department gets outsourced to India. So, while the junior cashiers might congratulate each other, the higher wage professional jobs (to which they might one day aspire) get outsourced to compensate for the higher labor costs.
Also, the new employee health plan suddenly has higher co-pays and more limitations to maintain margins. Ten full-time positions become 20 part-time positions to save the benefits costs. This is followed by the laid-off employees applying for unemployment and maybe other government benefits which eventually will come back around as lost tax revenue and increase government taxation - and on and on.
Meanwhile, your compassionate politicians have convinced you they have done something very good for you or at least your neighbor. I say, "Let me and my neighbors make our own agreements." In the end we will all be better off in terms of freedom and incomes.
Ralph Ciccarelli Pueblo West
http://www.chieftain.com/editorial/1160341517/7
Minimum wage
Both Richard Mark (yes) and Bill Artist (no) in The Chieftain Ideas section on Oct. 1 had it wrong on Amendment 42, which substantially raises the minimum wage.
The primary reason all Coloradans and Americans in general ought to oppose this is because we value our freedom and property rights. Government has no property right or responsibility for the success of any private business. Therefore, the government should have no say in wages.
It is not up to government to tell you, me or our potential employers what wages (and benefits) we should agree to. It is a voluntary arrangement by the employer who owns the business and me who owns the desired labor.
If the minimum wage is raised and several struggling businesses go bankrupt, the government and the supporters of this socialist idea will bear no guilt nor suffer the consequences of this bad idea. In fact, several politicians will get a compassionate sound bite for their re-election while a business owner liquidates and many workers go unemployed.
Even short of bankruptcy, margins may get trimmed and many workers at much higher pay may become unemployed or lose benefits in order for a business to recover its margins.
Why? Because if 50 cashiers get another $1.70 per hour, then it also pushes up the wages above them and suddenly those new hires in shipping get laid off and the entire accounting department gets outsourced to India. So, while the junior cashiers might congratulate each other, the higher wage professional jobs (to which they might one day aspire) get outsourced to compensate for the higher labor costs.
Also, the new employee health plan suddenly has higher co-pays and more limitations to maintain margins. Ten full-time positions become 20 part-time positions to save the benefits costs. This is followed by the laid-off employees applying for unemployment and maybe other government benefits which eventually will come back around as lost tax revenue and increase government taxation - and on and on.
Meanwhile, your compassionate politicians have convinced you they have done something very good for you or at least your neighbor. I say, "Let me and my neighbors make our own agreements." In the end we will all be better off in terms of freedom and incomes.
Ralph Ciccarelli Pueblo West
http://www.chieftain.com/editorial/1160341517/7
