Minimum wage is stealth tax hike

The minimum wage hoax: Who wins? Who loses?

I am not an economist nor do I have a college degree. However, I do have a brain. I can add and subtract, and have been in the labor force since I was 14.

Follow me here.

The Legislature proposed a dollar minimum wage increase to $8.50 per hour. Sounds great, huh? Take a deeper look.

One small business owner, with a number of minimum wage workers, nets $150,000 at year's end. Next year minimum wage increases $1 per hour.

Since he doesn't want to make less money, he raises prices to offset the payroll increase.

Every business will do the same thing.

So, with a $40 a week raise, minimum wage earners pay more income tax, plus higher prices for goods and services along with more sales tax.

At the end of the week, they won't have any more money left than before.

The collateral damage in this hoax is the workers making more than $8.50 an hour.

Prices will increase and they won't get a raise. So in reality, they have $40 less at the end of the week than they had before.

Doesn't sound fair, does it?

The workforce loses and the government wins again; it gets more tax revenue across the board and misguided "credit" for "helping" the poor.

The hoax is an across-the-board tax increase, disguised as a raise for the poor working person.

Todd Linkenhoker

Clovis