Judaism has no position on a minimum wage, but most Jews in America are on the left and so they support a strong central government and higher minimum wage. <\/p>\n
Dennis Prager writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n The majority of Jews support increasing the minimum wage to $15. If asked why, they respond that a person cannot support a family on the current minimum wage, that it is matter of social justice and the Jewish obligation of tikkun olam (repairing the world). Read on<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Judaism has no position on a minimum wage, but most Jews in America are on the left and so they support a strong central government and higher minimum wage. Dennis Prager writes: The majority of Jews support increasing the minimum … Continue reading
\nI have no doubt that most of these Jews and the non-Jews who support the $15 minimum wage are sincere in their beliefs.
\nBut sincerity is meaningless when you are wrong. The $15 minimum wage will hurt people, not help them, and it will do economic and social damage to California and New York, the two states that have thus far passed this minimum wage law.
\nIn fact, the governor of California, Jerry Brown, actually admitted as much \u2014 on the record \u2014 at least twice.
\nIn January, the Sacramento Business Journal reported that Brown said: \u201cRaise the minimum wage too much, and you put a lot of poor people out of work. There won\u2019t be a lot of jobs.\u201d
\nAnd then again this month, the Sacramento Bee reported:
\n\u201cBrown, traveling to the state\u2019s largest media market to sign the landmark bill, remained hesitant about the economic effect of raising the minimum wage, saying, \u2018Economically, minimum wages may not make sense\u2019 [italics added]. But he said work is \u2018not just an economic equation,\u2019 calling labor \u2018part of living in a moral community.\u2019 \u201d
\nBut if the minimum wage hike doesn\u2019t make economic sense, it cannot make moral sense. The whole point of the minimum wage increase is to improve people\u2019s economic condition. If it doesn\u2019t, it isn\u2019t moral. When \u201cyou put a lot of poor people out of work,\u201d that\u2019s immoral.
\nEven The New York Times editorialized how disastrous the minimum wage is. It ran the following headline on an editorial:
\n\u201cThe Right Minimum Wage: $0.00.\u201d
\nThe editorial went on to explain, \u201cThere\u2019s a virtual consensus among economists that the minimum wage is an idea whose time has passed.\u201d
\nBut that was in 1987 \u2014 when some liberals still sat on The New York Times editorial board. Today, The New York Times is edited by leftists who support the higher minimum wage, not by liberals.
\nThere is a huge difference between liberals and leftists. When deciding what political, social, and economic positions to take, liberals ask, \u201cWhat does good?\u201d Leftists ask, \u201cWhat feels good?\u201d
\nIt feels good and moral to raise the minimum wage to $15; and feeling good and moral is a core impulse among progressives.
\nBut the $15 minimum wage isn\u2019t moral. It\u2019s immoral. When the government raises the minimum wage, it destroys jobs and creates inflation \u2014 both of which hurt the poor the most.
\nHere\u2019s one simple proof: If raising the minimum wage is good for workers and good for the economy, why not raise it to $20 an hour, or $30 or $50? Whatever answer you give applies equally to a $15 minimum wage.<\/p>\n