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Friday, August 11, 2006
Study: Santa Fe Minimum-Wage Law Hasn't Hurt Job Growth
An article in the Santa fe New Mexican reports on a UNM study showing that Santa Fe's "living wage" has not resulted in overall job losses. Quote:
``The analysis shows that overall employment levels have been unaffected by the living wage ordinance,'' says the report, which The New Mexican obtained through a public-records request.
... Carol Oppenheimer of the Santa Fe Living Wage Network, which helped push for the ordinance and has monitored its enforcement, said of the latest study, ``This says we should be proud of what we've done because it was the right thing to, and it was the moral and ethical thing to do.''
Strike three for the chamber of commerce types who eternally claim raising the minimum wage will cause a massive flight of businesses out of any area that dares to enact such a change. However, I imagine these forces that seem bent on preserving poverty will ignore the study's findings and continue peddling their myths. After all, no reputable study has ever shown the negative results repeatedly predicted by anti-living wage proponents. Facts just get in the way of their arguments so they ignore them.
August 11, 2006 at 10:32 AM in Local Politics | Permalink
Comments
I heard Al Franken mention that article on his radio show this morning while discussing minimum wage increases. The point that he was trying to make was that increasing the minimum wage HELPS people rather than the usual crap conservatives push about how it would be a disaster if working folks on the lower end get a little more money.
Posted by: VP | Aug 11, 2006 1:29:28 PM
I'm walking into the jaws of the lion on this, but you and your readers might be interested (or angered) by my post on minimum wage.
Polite comments would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Warren
Posted by: < | Aug 12, 2006 1:16:55 AM
Warren, I did want to read you article, but a couple of paragraphs in you got sidetracked with typical Republican rhetoric, "liberal" this and "liberal" that, it's where I stopped reading. Here is a quote for a man that stood head and shoulders above anyone in congress today, read it and learn, it might help you to relate better. If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- ... then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."
John F. Kennedy
If you want credibility on this subject, drop the Republican stawman arguments and get real. Save those talking points for your New York campaign because here in New Mexico we have seen way too much poverty to believe any of that nonsense. The economy we live in today requires that a minimum wage be much higher than what it is now, it's immoral and selfish to think otherwise.
Posted by: VP | Aug 12, 2006 8:58:06 AM
Warren: unfortunately, most of your arguments against a minimum wage have been refuted, like the one that it's mostly teens who are earning that amount. Research here in NM showed that most minimum wage earners were adults, many with families.
Without minimum wage hikes, workers could not possibly afford to live in Santa Fe, one of the most expensive areas in the nation. Most of the jobs in SF are service-oriented, many serving the wealthy. Having a higher minimum wage helps everyone, from the workers to those who want to have their workers able to live in the community.
I'm all for free markets IF the worst effects of them are tempered by common sense regulation. With your argument, I guess we should do away with such things as the 8 hour day, paid vacations and sick time and other labor laws and let the market decide. We already tried that at an earlier time in our history and it was an abysmal failure for the nation generally.
But thanks for the dialog. Polite debate is always welcome.
Posted by: Old Dem | Aug 12, 2006 9:21:54 AM
