BlueMan

Re: the minimum wage. It doesn't work. Every time the minimum wage is raised... guess what happens? The price of goods goes up, effectively nullifying the wage increase. It also decreases the buying power of those making more than minimum wage because -they- don't get a raise when the minimum goes up.

It also has a tendency to cause employers to lay off workers or curtail their hiring, because their expenses are increased. The price of labor will be set by supply and demand. If noone will do the work for the offered wage, the wage will go up. All the minimum wage does is set an artificial standard of what a particular job is worth, which some employers then use to keep that wage artificially low.

And it's one thing to want to help the poor. It's a stupid idea to have the federal government do it. You want to -help- the poor, do it locally, and through charities. Government is the -worst- avenue to help people. It's the wonderful Nanny state that will take away the government assistance if you make a little bit too much money (but still not enough to get by on). This same system rewards that stereotypical woman with the 9 children by giving her money to continue making bad decisions. This has the effect of perpetuating those bad decisions, and the societal and economic consequences that come with those bad decisions. The fed is to big, bloated, and -too distant- from the problem to effectively deal with it on the case-by-case basis required to truly help people.

If I could see that government programs actually benefitted those truly in need, I'd probably be all for it. But I see entirely too many cases where it fails to help those in need, and rewards those who are good at gaming the system.