Minimum Wage

          The issue concerning the Federal minimum wage is one that has been around for years.  It affects a large percent of people.  The food industry alone creates jobs for 10% of working Americans, most of these jobs paying minimum wage at entry level.  Raising the minimum wage would force restaurants, especially locally, to either cut back on expenses or raise prices of their products in order to avoid employee termination.  Former Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner in speaking on this issue in 2013 stated, "When you raise the price of employment, guess what happens? You get less of it."  If the United States government makes a decision to raise the federal minimum wage, not only will it not help the unemployment rate,  it will become an even bigger problem.  In the same article, a small business owner, Melvin Sickler, agrees that "it would create a new hardship, particularly on small businesses, at a time that many of us are attempting to contribute to economic and job growth in a weak economy".  Sickler is not alone. In fact, 7 out of ten restaurants are locally owned, small businesses that need to work hard enough just to stay on their feet.  In these situations especially,  raising the minimum wage would have very negative effects on the overall economy and job growth.  More money would be paid to less people.

Sickler, Melvin ¿Mel". "Should Congress Increase The Federal Minimum Wage And Index It To Inflation? (Cover Story)."Congressional Digest 92.5 (2013): 19-29. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Sept. 2016.