Employees, not government, are responsible for raising their own wages

One of the best parts of a vibrant economy with high demand for employees under record-low unemployment rates is knowing the people have the power to fight for better wages. They can do this by earning raises or finding a new job. We have that freedom. In the United States under President Trump, the vast majority of Americans are not beholden to the whims of their employers.

Our EIC learned this lesson in an anecdotal story he experienced last week when a grocery store clerk told of how companies were fighting to hire and keep him. I get to see it every day at my job as employee productivity is at the highest I’ve ever seen it. Why? Because our company is giving raises to top producers. Why? Because the strong economy has made 2019 a record sales year, beating 2018, which beat 2017. Before that, the best year prior to 2017 was 1994.

I bring all of this up based on a highly misleading story on Vox today that tried to paint House Democrats as legislative dynamos who are being obstructed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and, somehow, by President Trump. The McConnell critique is partially true, but with a caveat. He isn’t voting on Democratic proposals because the vast majority of them are symbolic. Democrats in the House passed them knowing they would never be passed in the Senate or that they would be vetoed by the President. It’s similar to the dozens of times Republicans passed various Obamacare repeal or hindrance bills under President Obama. They knew they had not chance of being signed, but they did it for show. We know this because they couldn’t pass a single one once President Trump took office.

One of the quotes used by Vox was from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer:

“From raising the minimum wage to ensuring equal pay, we have passed legislation to raise wages. And we have passed legislation to protect and expand health coverage and bring down prescription drug prices,” Hoyer said in a statement to Vox. “We continue to urge Senator McConnell to take up our bills, many of which are bipartisan.”

To say “many” are bipartisan isn’t just a stretch. It’s a lie. If a single Republican votes for a bill, Democrats label it as bipartisan. What they don’t mention is the fact that most of the time, Republicans who vote in favor of these bills do so because they’re vulnerable in 2020 and they know the Senate won’t take them up. These aren’t truly bipartisan. They’re votes for show, just like the legislation upon which they’re voting.

The part that gets to me even more is how Hoyer framed it. He’s talking about raising the minimum wage and ensuring equal pay. Raising the minimum wage continues to prove on a daily basis to be disastrous policy for both businesses and the people they employ. If you want to see the cities that are not benefiting properly form President Trump’s policies, just check out how things are going anywhere minimum wage laws were passed. What makes it even worse is knowing the areas where they were passed were high-cost areas. If Democrats get their way and pass minimum wage bumps across the country, places that aren’t San Francisco, Seattle, or New York City will be economically devastated by the results.

As for wage equality, that has also been debunked many times. It’s only on the surface where we see wage gaps. Dig a little deeper and it’s clear the statistics they use to demonstrate wage gaps are generated by faulty methodology. When you look at males and females doing the same jobs at similar levels of productivity who have been employed for similar periods of time, the wage gap is non-existent. The numbers are skewed by selective polling.

Democrats really need to stop getting involved with how we do business. Instead of trying to “protect” workers through minimum wage hikes, equal pay mandates, labor union requirements, and pushing against the free market, they would do us all right by getting out of the way. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen any time soon as they’ve pushed their victim mentality as far and wide as possible.

If you want to be paid more, earn a raise. Find a better job. Work more hours. Get a degree. There has never been a time in American history when opportunities were more abundant. Stop letting Democrats tell you it’s not possible and just do it.

We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.