Democrats Reject Capitalism And Free Markets

Proposed by three Democratic Socialist Representatives, House Bill 107 would triple the minimum wage that could legally be paid in New Hampshire. State Representatives Sofikitis, Frost, and Schmidt believe that it should be illegal for a person to work for less than $22.50 per hour, even if that is the desire of the worker. What effects would this bill have on the NH economy?

Firstly, business owners throughout the state would not be able to afford the massive increase in the cost of employing workers. This might cause them to fire a large portion of their staff. If they keep their entire staff on the payroll, they will have to make up for the costs elsewhere. They would either do this by raising the prices of their products and services by a corresponding (300%) amount, or by cutting other expenditures, such as employee benefits, vehicle maintenance, bonuses, overtime, etc. 

Free money cannot be created out of thin air. If these politicians want low-earning workers to have more money, they must either take the extra money from someone else by mandate or they could donate their own money to the workers.

Many fast food restaurants in New Hampshire pay their employees an average of $11 per hour. The average employee agrees to work for this low wage because they do not yet have the experience or skills to earn more than that wage. If they did, they would be working in a higher-paying job. Once this bill passes into law, those small business owners (yes, even the famous fastfood franchises are mostly owned by individual franchisees who struggle to make a few dollars of profit each month) would be forced to increase the prices of their food by around two-fold in order to make up for the doubling of the payroll expenses. And a doubling of food prices would cause sales to plummet, because people will not be thrilled about the costs being twice what they were before this bill passed. Once sales plummet, these local stores may go out of business. The numbers simply don’t add up. Yes, Democrats really do want to crush the economy so that they can justify the implementation of increasing government involvement in the market (socialism). 

Even if minimum wage laws DID improve the economy, I would still oppose such laws. I believe in freedom of choice and I oppose coercion. This bill would create more coercion and more criminals by stripping workers and employers of their natural rights and freedom of choice. 

If you want everything from your food to your health care bills to increase in cost by 50%, tell your state representatives to support this bill. 

Note: SB136 proposes a minimum wage increase to $12/hour. Both bills must be stopped.