When Charlie Crist was our Republican governor, he said nothing about it, now as a Democrat he says we should do more.
The fact is we spend over $240 BILLION per year subsidizing businesses so they can pay low wages and have bigger profits. This is CORPORATE WELFARE and we all pay for it. That means that we are already paying for higher wages, except the money goes to corporations instead of to the people who need it.
The minimum wage in Florida today is actually 25% lower than it was in 1968, when you adjust for inflation.
The state of Washington has had the highest minimum wage in America for 15 years now, these days it's $9.32. Washington State continues to create jobs at almost 3 times the national rate.
New Jersey raised the minimum wage by $1.00 to $8.25 in January 2014 and immediately got over 8,000 new jobs.
Where are the job losses? There aren't any! Most economists simply don't understand business, and almost no politicians do either.
Raising the minimum wage in Florida to $10.10 will create 150,000 jobs within a year. However, the right, long-term approach should be a Living Wage!
LIVING WAGE--THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION
Considering all aspects of an economy that we have to deal with, it would be a rational and sound measure to provide an adequate living wage for the people whose income falls below the amount that can provide them a decent standard of living, and prevent the economy from falling increasingly in a chronic recession.
Can an economy afford such measure? Considering all the different kinds of social costs associated with unemployment, poverty, food stamps, incarceration, recession, loss of economic growth due to idling and un-used labor, young peoples' talents, etc., it is not only affordable, it is also economically sound and prudent.
Of course, there are a series of issues to be considered and analyzed before a living wage could be implemented. However, it must be emphasized that a living wage would put an end to cyclic boom and bust, creating a prosperous, recession-free economy and economic security for all people as well as for businesses.
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