Dave Hughes: U.S. Rep Collin Peterson Got It Wrong On The Federal Minimum Wage Vote

The very concept of a federal minimum wage is a bad idea to start with.

Dave Hughes

Yesterday, on the floor of the US House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi put forth the Raise the Wage Act, increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour nationwide.  This has been a longtime goal of the Socialists dominating today’s Democratic Party.  Our Congressman Collin Peterson, an ostensible maverick blue dog, voted in favor of the bill.  If this bill becomes law it will destroy our rural Minnesota small businesses and eliminate millions of jobs nationwide.

Peterson walked away from the 2018 Farm Bill – didn’t meet with the then Agriculture Committee Chairman, offer any amendments to help save our family farms, or negotiate with the Republicans.  He didn’t show up.  And now this – a small-business-killing $15 minimum wage, which would close doors on so many of our rural MN businesses that make our little communities great.  Collin is managing the decline of rural Minnesota.

The very concept of a federal minimum wage is a bad idea to start with.  $15 per hour will distort and harm economic activity in some parts of our county, but is vastly insufficient in other markets.  For this reason, economists know better to leave minimum wage determination to state and local authorities.  Even then, we’ve seen the $15 minimum wage wreak havoc in Seattle and other cities across our country.  The Feds should stay out of this one entirely.

Dave Hughes