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If we don't have a minimum wage, or make the minimum wage less than the cost of living, the result is simple: there are more people living below the poverty line, and therefore more people dependent on public programs to make ends meet (food stamps, food banks, temporary assistance for needy families, WIC benefits, Medicare/Medicaid, or state insurance programs).
This, in the end, puts the pressure on whoever gets taxed the most, because the cost of these programs is coming out of their pockets. Based on the current tax structure of the United States, that means that the middle class is paying the bulk for these programs--not the rich.
Sure, a minimum, LIVEABLE wage puts pressure on business owners. But in the end, it takes pressure off people who have enough pressure on them already to make ends meet--the lower class.
I'm guessing that the majority of you have never had to make ends meet on minimum wage. Believe me, it is a most humbling experience--and I wish everyone could experience living below the poverty line for themselves. Then you would not be so quick to do away with it.
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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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