In November 2014, residents of the S.F. Bay Area city of Oakland, CA, voted in favor of minimum wage increases by 36% to $12.25 an hour, effective March 1st.
From Unfiltered Patriot, April 10, 2015:
After only a single month under the new law, which raised the minimum wage from $9 an hour to $12.25, area businesses are feeling the pinch. Well, that's not exactly accurate. It's fairer to say the employees are feeling the pinch.
The Employment Policies Institute conducted a survey of 223 Oakland businesses to see how the minimum wage increase was affecting the economy. The results, to say the least, are eye-opening. 30% of businesses have cut employee hours and another 17% have actually been forced to lay people off. Keep in mind that the new wages have only been in effect since March 1st.
EPI's research director, Michael Saltsman, said that the numbers "should give pause" to other cities thinking about voting for a higher minimum wage in the future. [...]
We need someone with a national platform to tell the truth about how capitalism is supposed to work. How the minimum wage is supposed to be a starting point, not a finish line. How it's easier to do the work, earn a promotion, and get ahead than it is to stand on the sidewalk with a protest sign in your hands, waiting for someone to take mercy on you. A lot more satisfying, too.
But no. Hard work has become a dirty concept in 2015 America. We would rather teach young people that the deck is stacked against them. That they can't get anywhere because of white privilege and the 1% and slavery and whatever other excuses are trendy that day. Predictably, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Too bad. The American Dream is still as vibrant and real as ever. The ladder is still there. Still sturdy. We just have fewer and fewer people willing to climb it.
Here's the Employment Policies Institute's report, " Examining the Costs of the City of Oakland's $12.25 Minimum Wage," April 2015.
