Raise the Minimum Wage Already

The minimum wage has not been raised since 1997. I don't know about you, but I (need) look forward to getting a raise every year - no matter how small - yet Washington thinks raising the minimum wage would actually reduce the number of jobs being created. (Never mind the fact that Congress just voted themselves $3100 COLA raises. The poor babies couldn't make it on average salaries of $165,000+ a year.)

So, does raising the minimum wage actually hurt workers? Not according to Floridians who voted to raise the minimum wage to $6.15 from $5.15 in 2004. [Hat tip to The Carpetbagger Report]

What happened was…nothing. Here's what the Tampa Tribune reported recently:

Thousands of jobs would be lost if voters increased the state's rock-bottom wage to $6.15 from $5.15, said one e-mail sent out by the Coalition to Save Florida Jobs.

Jobs would be outsourced overseas, the e-mail said. Even companies that paid above the minimum wage would be forced to raise pay for everyone, said retailers and restaurants that opposed the amendment.

Today, though, it's hard to find much wreckage in the Florida retailing and restaurant industries, the two groups that bankrolled the Coalition to Save Florida Jobs.

Seventy-one percent of Florida voters passed the increase, and since the new minimum wage was implemented in May, retail stores and restaurants have added tens of thousands of employees.

Some of the biggest contributors to the Coalition to Save Florida Jobs have had stellar financial performances since May, including Publix Super Markets of Lakeland and Darden Restaurants of Orlando (owner of Red Lobster and Olive Garden).

Raising the minimum wage is the right thing to do. Social security recipients receive a cost of living raise every year, so it only makes sense to raise the minimum wage at least as much as inflation increases. Besides, if it's good enough for Congress, it should be good enough for ALL Americans.