Who’s Got the Sense?

During the last two weeks of my fall semester, my sociology professor posed some political/social questions to the class.  One such question was; “should the government mandate a minimum yearly wage of $23,000 to full time workers?  Some money would be demanded from the places of employment, and the rest would come from increased taxes on businesses.”

Thankfully, everyone in my class disagreed with this theoretical proposition.  People were worried that the businesses would suffer too much from the mandate.  In order to pay some employees more, many people would be laid off.  This is of course an unintended consequence, but a very predictable one.  If only governmental officials had this kind of sense!  Instead, they think that we can spend our way to prosperity; that we can consume without first producing.  In fact, a 1.1 trillion dollar spending bill has just been passed through Congress and is on President Obama’s desk. 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091214/ap_on_bi_ge/us_congress_spending

I think Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid speaks for all the big-spenders when he says, “Every bill that is passed, every project that is funded and every job that is created helps America take another step forward on the road of economic recovery.”  Is he listening to what he’s saying?  Every bill passed?  It doesn’t matter what it is?  According to this logic, Congress should spend 100% of the GDP.  They should take every single dollar that the people of the U.S. have earned and spend it on whichever cause suits their fancy.

But back to the original question…Unfortunately, quite a few members of my class added on an interesting opinion to their responses; they had no problem taxing the super rich and giving it to the poor.  Yikes!  This attitude is scary.  Their argument is; “they can afford it, so why not decrease the gap between incomes?”  And the answer is simple; “the wealth is theirs!”  Whether you think they deserve their money or not, no one has the right to take it from them.  This undermines the establishment of a moral society.  In the words of Francisco d’Anconia, “Do not envy a worthless heir; his wealth is not yours and you would have done no better with it.  Do not think that it should have been distributed among you; loading the world with fifty parasites instead of one, would not bring back the dead virtue which was the fortune.  Money is a living power that dies without its root.”  If only government bureaucrats read Ayn Rand…

Not Your Money, Not Your Life

In order to raise more money for Obama’s extensive health-care system, Congress is planning on passing a bill that will fine Americans for not buying affordable medical coverage.  Individuals that don’t do what the government wishes will get a bill for over one thousand dollars.  Apparently, this idea is based on something that Massachusetts has already been doing.  It doesn’t make sense to me.  People should not be fined for refusing to get health insurance.  

Congress says that certain people will be exempt if they are too poor to get coverage, so anybody who has money will be required to get medical coverage or pay the fines.  Once again, the government thinks it’s being Robin Hood.  But Robin Hood didn’t steal money from those that had worked for it; he stole from those that had cheated and stolen money themselves.  When government takes from the rich and gives to the poor, they are righting wrongs that aren’t wrong at all.  Everyone deserves their own money.  Why should the poor take the money that the rich earned? 

Of course Obama is happy about this bill; he says it “reflects many of the principles I’ve laid out, such as reforms that will prohibit insurance companies from refusing coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and the concept of insurance exchanges where individuals can find affordable coverage if they lose their jobs, move or get sick.” 

If insurance companies are forced to cover people that have pre-existing conditions, they are going to lose money.  They aren’t just denying sick people coverage because they don’t like them; they are trying to stay in business.  It’s unfortunate that people with pre-existing conditions have a tough time getting insurance, but it is not the government’s responsibility to step in.  Individuals should have the choice to help their fellow man or not.  I would certainly help out a friend of mine if he or she had a life-threatening condition, and I trust that this is the case for many other people.  However, man is not his brother’s keeper; he has no obligation to help people he hasn’t even met. 

This is a totalitarian action; big government is stepping into our lives.  Individuals should decide if they want coverage or not.  It is not the government’s place to come in and tell Americans how to live their lives.   Government is becoming more successful every day in convincing Americans that their money is actually our money. 

I see the contradiction.  I hope you do.  It is your money.  It is your life.

My Undeserved Raise; Courtesy of the Federal Government

On July 24 the American minimum wage will increase by 70 cents to an arbitrary rate of $7.25 an hour.  Since I work for the minimum wage, I’ll be seeing a fairly large chunk of change being added to my paychecks.  However, I don’t see the increase as necessarily beneficial to me, or to my fellow Americans.  

First of all, relatively few Americans actually work for the minimum wage.  I believe the number is less than five percent.  So already, we have a law that only benefits a relatively small amount of people.  Second of all, increasing minimum wage will increase inflation on the already struggling dollar.  

Perhaps Congress thought they were being nice and giving minimum wage earners a better shot at achieving the American Dream; but do the pros outweigh the cons? 

I’m going to have to say a most emphatic no.  Minimum wage earners are not the only people being affected by this law.  This law has huge consequences for business owners.  They have to pay their workers that 70 cents more and still make a decent profit off their product or service.  In order to do this at a steady rate, they’re going to have to make some cuts, or more likely, increase prices.  When prices increase, you’re going to see a decrease in customers, and when customers stop coming…well, you understand basic economics. 

Business owners should be free to decide for themselves how much they pay their employees.  You might say; “But they’ll just take advantage of their workers and pay them an unspeakably low wage.”  This is not very likely.  Competition between businesses will ensure that workers get paid fairly, without the inflation caused by a minimum wage increase.  If a worker is dissatisfied with one employer, he can find another that will pay him more. 

Letting businesses decide their own employees’ wages is a much more practical way to ensure economic growth.  Businesses will be free to grow, unrestrained by federal regulations. 

Do I really deserve this 70 cent increase at the expense of America’s economy?