The Conservative Case for a Minimum Wage Hike: Hmm It Is Compelling

Well this might be a great reason for hiking the minimum wage.

One aspect of the minimum wage rise, which I think is underappreciated, is [that] it would function as a massive stimulus package, a government stimulus package. If the minimum wage nationwide were raised to $12 an hour, probably between $150 billion and $175 billion a year would go into the pockets of the lower-wage families that spend every dollar they earn. It would cause a tremendous boost in economic demand. 

Another important factor: One of the strange things in our society right now is that we have all these low-wage workers who are getting $7.50, $8 or $9 an hour, and because they earn such small wages, the government subsidizes them with billions or tens of billions of dollars of social welfare spending that comes from the taxpayer. 

It's a classic example of businesses' privatizing the benefits of their workers while socializing the costs. Forcing the taxpayers to supplement the salary of their own employees. 

That $150 billion would come off of the balance sheets of minimum wage dominated businesses like Wal-Mart and McDonalds and go right into the economy at large. I love the idea of stimulus that costs the government nothing. Also this hike would only affect certain companies who pay their employee's less than $12 an hour. The vast majority of businesses would be unaffected by this change. 

Hell, a $4 an hour hike to the pay of all lower income workers is like $320 extra a month. That could be a car payment or allow someone to build up a reserve fund so they don't have to live paycheck to paycheck. You could even afford some night school classes so a person can get a degree and make far more than $12 an hour.

The second argument falls right into the conservative wheelhouse. If you pay people crap they end up making up the difference through government payouts. If you force the companies to pay them more in wages you hopefully get the government to shell out less in social welfare. If that $4 extra that McDonalds shells out in wages constitutes $4 less that the government has to pay in welfare or food stamps then it is mission accomplished. 

I would love to see the CBO look over these numbers and see how much economic growth (if any) and government savings (if any) a minimum wage hike to $12 would put into the economy.