Triple the Minimum Wage and Cut Welfare to a Third

Every time the government gets involved in a program, they skim a little off the top, like a bookie placing your bets. You think Cash for Clunkers cost the taxpayers $3,500 to $4,500 per car? Think again. You think all welfare money goes to welfare recipients? Ha! On and on the list goes. The House always wins.

I once had a great idea and started a high technology company based on that idea. We worked like you wouldn't believe - I was on fire! I did the job of a whole department. This went on for a few years as my savings dwindled and I tried to reach a breakeven point (i.e., making a profit). My end-game was to keep going, even when the money ran out: I charged up my credit cards and considered part-time jobs.

I actually got a few jobs, a couple in consulting and once or twice shoveling sidewalks. I considered flipping hamburgers but minimum wage was so low, I calculated the time worked would not pay for even a fraction of my living costs. That was out, but it got me thinking about the plight of workers holding these jobs. You can't make a living and you're better off in some kind of netherworld of crime, of welfare or going back to school. Based on statistics, school-netherworld is not the winner in all of this.

So I am in favor of a little government incentive for workers (which by the way, reduces same said government): Increase the minimum wage in real dollars over time (say 20 years) and decrease welfare by the same amount.

I know a big increase in the wage will hurt business, but many of them can automate and reduce the number of workers. Fewer workers, you say, then nothing is gained! Not true, say I. It is too narrow a view that a government bureaucrat feeding a welfare recipient is generating more wealth than workers in the workplace. That worker at employer that automates is richer and stimulates economic growth more. The automated equipment itself creates new jobs. And so do those.

I also know a lot of people on welfare. Mostly mothers that have responsibilites for a child but that have ways to work part-time. They are employable and therefore can contribute something to the economy rather than to government bloat.

The desparation of poverty can be reduced without welfare.

Oh and one last thing, my company failed. It wasn't such a great idea after all. Well it didn't harm anybody except my own savings.