Consequences of $15 minimum wage

Now that the minimum wage dispute is settled, Seattleites can rest assured that high school kids do not need to go to college. Why would they, since the minimum wage rate has been raised to a whopping $15 an hour and those so-called “college-bound” teens can go get a very valuable job at McDonalds. Thank you Mayor Ed Murray and city council members, but most importantly thank you Kshama Sawant.
What exactly will happen now is that low-income persons will be able to earn $15 an hour and not have to have two jobs or more to make ends meet. Starting April 1, 2015 and over the next three to seven years depending on the size of the business the minimum wage will be raised.
Who is this wage increase benefiting? Most small business don’t have enough business to give that much to their employees and hours will be cut, so if you work for a small company start looking for a second job or maybe a job at a bigger company. Prices will be going up at your local sandwich shops and grocery stores, making the cost of living go even higher.
City Councilwoman Sawant pushed for the $15 an hour wage raise wanting it to be granted evenly to everyone. She is asking big businesses to pay the higher wage sooner and to strip out the training wage.
Here’s a thought, how about trying to get an education so you can get a better paying job? Isn’t it really easy to get financial aid and loans to go to school especially easier and better for low-income persons?
If the Sawant and Murray think there’s so much money lying around for employees to earn, then why not tax them higher and use that money for education? What about all of those teachers in schools who don’t even make $15 an hour and can barely survive on their paychecks and have to teach most of those low-income kids? What about putting money into food banks to feed those hungry kids that go to school that don’t even get two meals at home and have to go to school hungry? What about that Sawant? Got an answer for that or do you think that low-income parents should have to pay for their kids’ education too, now that they are making more money at work? How about Mayor Murray, where are your answers?
At a time when college seems like a dream for most people, it can now be checked off their bucket list because now it is affordable to make ends meet without an education. Who needs to be educated anymore? What is education? It’s so last-century.
So, who are these low-income workers that need the raise? Why can’t they work hard in another job or get some kind of education to have a better job? Is it really that hard? Prove that it’s hard and maybe I’d believe it, but until then I don’t agree with the wage raise. If you want to better your life, start by finding an opportunity, not a hand out.