In response to "California Senate Candidates spar over Dem's proposal for a $50 minimum wage.
by Andrew Mark Miller Fox News, from the New York Post. 
nypost.com/2024/02/14/news/california-senate-candidates-spar-over-dems-proposal-for-50-minimum-wage-do-the-math
Feb 14,2024

The Minimum Wage: the Dodo Bird in the room. The Federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour or $58 a day. Time was, back in the 1950s that my father earned that much in a week. And he had a good job.

   §   Seven twenty-five an hour is a trash wage. You'd earn far more than that picking up trash at the beach. It is not a living wage. Nor is intended to be. It is a "give-a-kid-a-break wage." It gives a kid a summer job, perhaps mowing lawns, or working in the local zoo for a few hours a day. It gives a kid some working experience, something to put on their first resume. It provides a reference for a better job next year, but mostly it gives a kid a chance to save come coins for the rest of the year and still have a few to spend with his friends on a Saturday night.

   §   Fifty dollars per hour is not too expensive in the world today. And, no I have never earned that much money in my life, but then, how much money does a LION living the the most commodious enclosure in the zoo really need? I get free veterinary care, and ten pounds of raw meat every day. Ah, but it has been brought to my attention that the animals on the other side of the fence really do need more than that. For the fat cats who must pay people to work for them and found $20.oo per hour too onerous, let me point out that comes to only $40,000 per year, and that my good friend is not a living wage for full-time employment. 

   §   A Fifty dollar an hour wage would come out to $2000 per week, $104,000 per year or just over $8600 per month, less then that after taxes and other deductions. With apartments renting from four to six thousand dollars per month, that seems to put you in the correct ballpark. Now, that is far too much money for a pancake flipper, or a car wash attendant, but for the janitor at your local middle school it seems about right. I used to be such a janitor, and now that I look back upon things, that was one of the best jobs I ever had. Thus I find myself to agree with Democrat Congresswoman Barbara Lee (California) that we must take a serious look. On the otter hand (Otters always have two hands), Former baseball star Steve Garvey, the only Republican on the stage, told the moderators that the minimum wage “is where it is and should be.” 

   §   The underlying issue is that there really can be no reasonable minimum wage. What is reasonable for a high school student with his first summer job is not reasonable for someone trying to support a new family. The line on the bottom of the paragraph is to set a low minimum, or to set an array of minimum wages setting out what seems to be proper. Once I was looking for a job as a "maintenance man" and called a number in the paper. It turned out to be a McDonald's. He was offering $3.00 per hour, and I was looking for $300.00 per week. I'm like, "You are not looking for a maintenance man, you are looking for a mess-cook." My days of swabbing the deck on a warship are long past me, even way back then.

   §    So it seems that if politicians must sully their hands with the subject of a minimum wage that types of employment must be broken down into various sub-groups each with their own minimum wage. Perhaps four different sub-groups. Group 1 might be students living at home and still going to school--give them ten dollars per hour. Group 2 might be adults or young adults on a first or part-time job--give the fifteen dollars per hour. Group 3 might be high-school graduates looking for a better job--give them around twenty-five dollars per hour. Group 4 might be college graduates seeking a more permanent job or career--give them fifty dollars per hour, clearly a low-ball wage for such a job, but it gives a starting point for negotiations when looking for a new job. If an employer will not pay that much, then perhaps you should be looking in a different group.

   §   Now I am getting hungry. Where is that zoo keeper with my dinner, or must I negotiate starting with his fingers.