If Democrats Really Want to See Wages Increase....

Every good New Hampshire Democrat knows that the best way to have an immediate impact on jobs and the economy is to increase the cost of doing business.  Making it cost more to run a business acts like a tax on the business owner, and Democrats love taxing business.

Enter HB127, An act relative to the state hourly minimum rate.

Rep Tim Horrigan and admitted socialist Peter Sullivan (New Hampshire Democrats), are unsatisfied with the machinations of the Federal government in the value of labor relative to the task at hand and are certain that they know better, not just than their Federal master in D.C., but better than every employer and employee in the entire Granite State, what any hour of labor is (at minimum) worth.

This is an annual affair and every year we have to revisit why Democrats trying to raise the hourly rate is actually a tax on the business owner who must absorb that expense by reducing other costs or by raising prices-passing the labor tax on to you.

If you'd like a nuts and bolts math-based explanation, go here.  NHI contributor Rick Barnes has composed an excellent article that explains the costs of meddling with the cost of labor.

Or, we can go with my observations on Jan 1st, 2011 when Democrat Mike Brunelle proposed a minimum wage increase.

Take 2011-H-0239-R for example.  Mr. Brunelle would like to raise the minimum wage.  But this is a hollow populist act with a real world consequence.  It reduces opportunities for unskilled or under-skilled workers seeking or trying to retain entry level positions.  It adds to the cost of goods and services.  And it increases joblessness, which is a cost borne by taxpayers through unemployment benefits and the loss of economic activity.

How about this for a narrative.  New Hampshire Democrats want to raise the minimum wage to help offset rising electric rates resulting from Democrats forcing RGGI on electricity generators?

Ha!

All you need to know is that when Democrats meddle in the market everyone suffers and the opposite happens.  Every time.

Raising the minimum wage above the current Federal rate will do exactly the opposite of that which Democrats claim for raising it.  Instead of making more take home pay many employees will simply work fewer hours, pay higher prices, or have a harder time even getting a job.

Raising the minimum wage will make it more difficult or teenagers and under-skilled workers to get work.  Learn-while-you earn begins to lose it's value when the State forces employers to pay more for entry level jobs. Where the employers had previously been willing to use their own money to train new entrants to the workforce, artificially inflating the value of that labor makes doing so less cost effective.   It is more cost effective to look for and hire more experienced, older workers, who will take less time to train, mitigating costs associated with a longer learning curve.

And isn't this just the best time ever to make it harder to find work?

Artificially increased labor costs will appear in the cost of goods and services detracting from the point of raising wages while reducing commerce and--ironically--generating less tax revenue for Democrats in Concord.

What?  Oh yeah.  All the factors Democrats rely on for revenue will be negatively affected by forcing labor costs up.

If Democrats really want to do something to increase wages might I suggest that they simply cut business taxes instead?

Over time business owners will use that savings to grow their business and it can attract new businesses and more jobs.  Employers can use tax savings to offer more products or services that attract more customers.  More customers allows them to hire more people.  Greater demand on the labor pool pushes wages higher all on its own.  Entry-level wage rates will go up all by themselves--with the employer still paying freight for teaching job skills when needed.  Existing employees will find themselves getting raises sooner or more often.   Employers will have the option of providing better wages and benefits to those qualified to earn them.  And all while keeping prices stable or possibly driving them lower due to increased competition, all of which will...eventually bring in more revenue to Concord.

Raising the minimum wage will attract fewer new businesses, reduce job opportunities, retard expansion, limit choices, decrease hours, lower benefits, leave youth and unskilled workers unemployed, stagnate the labor pool, increase the welfare burden, increase the cost of goods and services, increase the cost of living, and result in less revenue in Concord, requiring them to insist on rising taxes.

Is that why Democrats like the idea so much?

 H/T Richard Barnes NH Insider

You are reading  "If Democrats Really Want to See Wages Increase…"   by  Steve Mac Donald originally posted at GraniteGrok.com (Home)

Steve has been recognized as the Americans For Prosperity Blogger of the month for December 2012

Obama/DNC Announce New Jobs Program

To Help Americans better understand President Obama's Jobs Program VII - The Return of The Laser Like Focus,  the Democrat National Committee has released this image for the DNC/Obama "Ladder to Success" jobs program.

Ladder to Success is a Department of Labor initiative to keep America moving.  The subtle implications of the hamster wheel as indicactive of your future on the government dole were dismissed by the Administration as nothing more than regurgitated rhetoric--talking points handed out by Rush Limbaugh, the voice of the Republican Party.

The man pictured, Benjamin Dover, has exhausted his 199 weeks of unemployment and is currently one of the record number of citizens relying on government hand-outs like welfare and food stamps for their livelihood.

As part of the work for the future "Ladder to Success' program, participants can earn sanctioned "extras" like 30 minutes of additional heating or cooling in their Government funded Community Environment Luxury Living (CELL) accommodations,  in any given month after enough credits have been accrued, pursuant to the Department of Energy Standards and limitations for Household Environmental Management rules, and only if they have commited to six hours per day of kinetic perambulatory engagement with the Manster wheel,  at least five days per week, over the required contract period, without days missed in excess of the minimum participation agreement.  This particular wheel powers the automatic, low volume flush toilets at Obama's new National Labor Relations Board -Ministry of rules administration for left handed albino homosexuals in work-place crisis.

The credits can also be exchanged for wood chips, or time to deploy a semi-porous retractable covering over the manster wheel in the event of inclement weather or other unanticipated rooftop conditions.

Installation and maintenance of the wheels, is said to have created or saved over one million union jobs, which party officials insist has absolutely no relevance to a marked increase in union campaign donations to Democrats and the Democrat party of close to 300 million annually. 

Mrs. Obama has gotten involved as well, dovetailing her anti-obesity "Let's Move" initiative with the new 'Ladder to Success' Program, providing fresh vegetables from the White House Garden ^TM (WHG) to participants during work hours.  Bits of carrot and celery, broccoli sprouts, and fresh lettuce leaves, as well as water are hand fed to program participants by public union employees from Homeland Securities new Division of Domestic Motion Enforcement--The Department of Sustenance for A Stronger America (DDMEDSSA).

The Agriculture department and DDMEDSSA estimate that The Garden will continue to yield produce for the millions of Americans the Administration hopes to eventually "place" in the Ladder to Success program, despite the drought conditions in (redacted) where most of the WHG vegetables are actually grown.  A spokesman for DDMEDSSA claims there will also be plenty of opportunity for Photo-Ops with the First Lady, Jillian Michaels from the Biggest loser, and Jared from the Subway commercials, handing fresh WHG produce to grateful participants as they climb the Obama Ladder to Success.

But the benefits to the nation don't stop there.  Health minister Kathleen Sibelius, and the CDC, in a joint report designed to encourage participation in Ladder To Success, noted that the program should improve health outcomes for obesity, saving the taxpayers 245 trillion dollars over ten years.  Not mentioned, however, was a DHHS memo released the same week requesting 245 billion per year in budget increases, for pain killers, knee braces, other orthopedic devices and even crutches.  Inside sources would not confirm if their was any relationship between the program and the new budget request.

Not pictured is this image, but critically important to the initiative, is a small flat panel television, affixed in a weatherproof enclosure, on which participants must watch MSNBC for the duration of each shift.  This has improved the networks otherwise abysmal ratings and while not everyone was thrilled by the programming limitation at first, most participants agree that watching this programming has made the work in the wheel seem less tedious by comparison.  Their is also general agreement that the networks ad campaign, Lean Forward, has served as a helpful reminder to maintain a proper forward body position during their shift, and is a suitable synonym to describe their new working relationship with the Federal Government, Bend over.

Officials claim that they should be able to put every American back to work with the Ladder to Success program, while reducing dependence on foreign energy, noting that simply letting the government tap their labor directly in exchange for services controlled entirely by the federal government was easier than Democrats continuing to pretend that anything anyone else earns is or has ever actually been theirs in the first place; or that they are capable of knowing how best to invest their labor output in the economy to achieve a proper socialist utopian superstate.

Authorization and administration details for the program are available in a 56,000 page report with links throughout to the 245 thousand page rule book used by relevant departments to administer the program. All documentation complies with the Reducing The Paperwork Reduction Act.

Note: The administration continues to defend program waivers given to Democrat women, illegal immigrants and non-conservative African Americans.  Spokesman with DoJ have indicated that they will use anti-bullying legislation and anti-discrimination suits against the misogynists, racists, and anyone fomenting misleading attacks by the right wing tea-party terrorists and those who want to take women's health back to the 1700's and redistribute wealth to the richest Americans.

Photo Credit: Stephane Mahe, Reuters/ USA Today Travel

 cross posted

New Hampshire Got Jobs!?

How about some jobs?  New Hampshire is reporting an April unemployment rate of 4.9%.  I don't have the exact numbers but using previous months figures as a guide this should be the result of both another slight increase in workforce population and a shift from the unemployed column to the employed column.   This is unlike last year when the initial "improvement" we saw was actually the result of workforce decline--people had stopped looking or receiving benefits and dropped out of the equation.

This is encouraging given the national employment numbers; we are also still best of breed in the North East, though Vermont is not too far behind us.  But the bigger news id that John Lynch was so excited he blamed low taxes.

"The reason New Hampshire is outperforming virtually every other state is because was have a successful economic strategy in place. New Hampshire is one of the most business-friendly states in the nation, with the lowest state taxes, and we must continue to follow the principles of our strategy if we are to continue moving New Hampshire forward.

Former Democrat house Speaker Terie "Billion Dollar Deficit" Norelli must have puked in her mouth when she read that.  Low taxes? She just spent (literally) the past four years digging us into a billion dollar deficit so democrats would have an excuse to raise taxes.  The damn voters screwed that up by showing the tax and spenders the door, though for how long is anyone's guess.  People who have jobs have short memories.

But for now we have the lefts only toe hold on power--small toe that it is--announcing that low taxes stimulate job growth.  Maybe Governor Lynch forgot but we watched him sign off on dozens of taxes including business abuse taxes like the Tent, and LLC tax to name just two. 

Did he forget that the Republicans were the ones trying to keep the taxes low all along?

That's something we can never get tired of hearing.  Republicans are for low taxes.  Low state taxes help create more jobs. There.  It's etched in Granite.  Thanks Governor Lynch.  We agree. Now how about you get with the program?

 Also available on the Grok

Mike Brunelle's Jobs Program

In true class warfare fashion the prominent democrat schemester Mike Brunelle saw his minimum wage bill go down in flames yesterday, which was exactly the point.  But put all the politicking and future sound biting aside, what is the real point?  Democrats either intentionally put politics above real job creation or they are just too daft to know any better.  but the results are the same either way.

The proof is in the blue pudding which is served across the counters of minimum wage employers all across the state.   It's not actual pudding, it can be observed in the declining number of pimples on the faces of the people serving you at these places of business.  No it's not Proactiv solution, it is the nature of markets and a common business sense which confounds left wing rhetoric.

Given the choice between someone in their thirties, forties or beyond and the average teenager, a manager interested in providing the most reliable and courteous staff to his customers will pick the grown-ups almost every time.  They tend to care more, are more reliable, more productive, more courteous, and responsive to direction and goals.

So raising the state minimum wage would only push teenage unemployment higher, reducing entry level access to the less skilled of all ages.  I know.  I was the less skilled. (Maybe I still am.) I started out at Mc Donald's at 2.35 an hour, worked my way up to store manager--complete with corporate training that shows you how a business is run--carried that into decision making rolls with other food chains, and from there into the technology sector, Quality and materials management jobs, and beyond.

Low wage entry level jobs are not just important to employers and customers from a cost and competition perspective, they are important to employees who need to learn how to earn more through behavior and performance.  Denying low wage entry level jobs to people willing to work hard and learn on the job is one of the fastest way to ensuring long term reliance on government handouts.

But democrats are the party of couch-potato handouts.   And increasing costs will kill jobs.  So is that Brunelle's goal or is he just another useful idiot of the left recycling wage rhetoric for political points.  And are the people of New Hampshire smart enough to know the difference? 

Cross posted

Unemployment- Is the Good News Bad?

The percentage went down to 9.4% for December but is that a good thing?  We will have to wait until we get the January numbers to shake out the holiday hiring but overall it is not strong news.

While there was some private sector hiring (yeah), some of the change that drove the rate lower was from an increase in people who gave up looking (boo.)  Employment, or unemployment, is calcualted by taking those out of work and comparing it to those looking for work and working--people identifed as in the work force.  When you drop out of the workforce, you are no longer part of the 9.4% unemployment figure.  You get to be part of the un or underemployed (marginally attached) number which is still around 17%.

Again, mixed bag.  The total size of the labor force edged down which is not good.  Involuntary part time workers was unchanged, also not great news. And the marginally attached figure rose as 389,000 people became discouraged and stopped looking for work. (yuck!)

So we are at 9.4% but until the labor force starts to grow steadily, as this number declines, we need to be suspicious of the job picture and any premature celebrations.  And I would not count on any truly happy news as long as we are staring at this kind of public debt.

The debt is a message to the business community.  It says "I am your future tax burden--come give me a hug."  And as long as leviathan remains super sized and growing, the job picture will continue to stagnate.   No business is going to invest in more employees or much else with the that kind of threat lingering over their heads unless they know they will need and use them.

We need to make serious long term and permanent cuts to government spending.  There should be obvious and measurable declines in the national debt and deficit.  And while you are at it, remove some barriers that increase the cost of doing business.  At that point, you might start to see some meaningful improvement across the board, that is if adding jobs is something we are serious about.

Cross Posted