On Legislative Review last weekend, the subject of raising the state's minimum wage came up. One area lawmaker suggested by taking more money from upper income earners, presumably the owners of Minnesota businesses, and putting it in the pockets of entry level workers, the economy will prosper because he said the super rich cannot possibly spend all their money, but if they give more to their poor workers with a minimum wage increase, the poor will buy things and pump up the economy. That is nothing short of re-distribution of wealth, ordered by the government. Basically taking the money earned by those who took the risks and used their talents to build a successful business and created jobs and giving it to those who apparently aspire to do nothing more than earn the absolute minimum. If the government is going to do that, why not make everyone equal? Why not forbid the owners of a company from making a single cent more than the very least of their employees? On paper, that may sound like a liberal's most pleasant dream, but where would the incentive be for anyone to go through all the risk and work of starting a business? Okay, if no one wants to start a business, how about the government taking it all over and creating factories for needed items and hire people to run the factories? Do we want to have a nation where no one aspires to earn more than the minimum, and do we want to enable them them just barely scrape by? How about having a society where people are motivated to get an education and an occupation where they can earn more than the minimum. Yes, it's true that the fatest of fat cats with the biggest of companies earn exponentially more than their typical workers, but those are the exceptions, not the rule, but those who wish to redistribute wealth in this country hold them up as examples of what's wrong, not what's right with this country. Instead of being inspired by them, some would rather lead them to the guillotine.
