On numerous right-wing blogs, I discovered segments of the controversy final evening between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz of their race for Pennsylvania’s open seat within the U.S. Senate. Not surprisingly, they centered on Fetterman’s often-awkward solutions to questions. I used to be interested by their views on the minimal wage, which, in Pennsylvania, remains to be the federal $7.25 an hour.
Right here’s a 4-minute phase, uncut, that properly summarizes their views. Though Fetterman does state the problems awkwardly, I not less than understood his level. I assumed among the conservative websites did Oz a disservice by not displaying his cogent reasoning on the minimal wage. Watch the complete factor. As I stated, it’s solely 4-minutes lengthy.
I believe that one factor Fetterman stated didn’t make sense, and I believe it had nothing to do along with his current stroke, as a result of I’ve seen many “stroke much less” Democratic politicians say related issues. The questioner says:
What do you say to small enterprise house owners who’ve informed us that if the minimal wage had been elevated to $15 an hour, it might put them out of enterprise?
Parenthetical remark earlier than we get to Fetterman’s reply, just like the one requested within the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Child when they’re being relentlessly chased by a lot of individuals on horses: “Who are these guys?” I’ve by no means seen such a balanced and knowledgeable pair of questioners. They really appear to wish to get solutions. And the “if … had been” formulation is grammatical icing on the cake. Their efficiency is best than that of any questioners I’ve seen in presidential contests within the final 30 years.
Now to the a part of Fetterman’s reply that I discovered attention-grabbing:
You may’t have companies being sponsored just by not paying people that simply merely can’t evade [I’m pretty sure he means “afford”] to pay their very own means.
I’ve heard a variety of individuals say that paying low wages quantities to a subsidy to companies. I don’t see it. You may say “Properly, they’ll pay decrease wages than in any other case due to issues like welfare and Medicaid that go to low-income individuals.” However many of those applications cut back the availability of labor, making wages larger than in any other case. And to the extent some authorities applications, just like the Earned Earnings Tax Credit score, do improve labor provide, making wages decrease than in any other case, an try to evaluate the well-being of these wage earners with out taking account of their achieve from the EITC is senseless.
Take a look at how Oz lays out the concept of market forces driving wages and the significance of unblocking market forces, particularly within the power sector. I believe he overstates the ensuing wage charges, however he makes a superb level. He additionally makes the purpose that $15 an hour has already been achieved in Pennsylvania by market forces. I guess that’s a little bit of an exaggeration, however not a lot. Furthermore, the place you discover individuals incomes considerably lower than $15 an hour, it is best to fear {that a} $15 minimal wage would wipe out their jobs.
By the way in which, I do marvel what the names of the questioners are. A number of searches on Google didn’t give it to me.
