The Federal Government is presently at war with America’s poor.  Policy makers have proposed and are steadily adopting legislation which erodes prosperity and destroys opportunity for the working class.

Recent initiatives (including Healthcare Reform, Cap and Trade, Card Check, Cash for Clunkers, Minimum Wage and Stimulus Spending) have been marketed as “necessary” and as a means by which to “create the jobs of the future”.  Often they are sold to America’s working class as having some beneficial effect.  But universally the proposed/adopted interference increases the cost of goods (prices), decreases employment and makes American companies less competitive.  Our Government is actively engaged in command economy intervention which is increasing poverty and lowering the standard of living for those least able to endure the loss.

The Impact of Increasing Minimum Wage

On July 24th the Government increased the minimum wage during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.  As detailed in Manufacturing the Next Great Depression: Raising the Minimum Wage “the Government will knowingly worsen our financial calamity, destroy jobs, increase unemployment and prolong the downturn, all in a professed effort to help the working poor who will in fact be most devastated.”

The impact of arbitrarily inflating the cost of unskilled labor has been devastating.  (there are numerous factors which influence labor statistics, but the influence of increased minimum wage on unemployment is compelling)

Labor Statistics Since Implementation

The real unemployment rate, which includes people who are working part-time jobs due to economic conditions, has risen an astounding 1.3% in the three months since the minimum wage increase.




Teenagers, who represent part-time and entry-level labor, have been particularly hard hit by the Government’s price fixing.  The unemployment rate for teenagers has risen 3.8% in just 3 months.




The unemployment rate for Black Teenagers has increased by 5.6% during the same period.