Should Louisiana Raise The Minimum Wage? – Wingin’ It Wednesday

This week on "Wingin' It Wednesday," panelists Warren Caudle, Carol Ross, and Mike Stagg joined "Nathan and Bernie in the Morning" to discuss the possibility of raising Louisiana's minimum wage.

Here's what the panel had to say:

1. The Louisiana Democratic Party says it will push to increase the state's minimum wage in the 2014 legislative session. Party Chair and New Orleans State Senator Karen Carter Peterson says raising the minimum wage would help lift many people out of poverty and create an economy that would work for all Louisianians. Should we raise the minimum wage to 10 dollars per hour?

Mike Stagg started us off:

I don’t think it much matters what the Louisiana Democratic party wants to propose, they don’t have the votes to pass it, but I think it’s a great idea. There’s something like 70,000 people in Louisiana making minimum wage, and you’ll also affect the whole strata of people who are making under $10. The good thing about is people who make that money will spend it.
If you’re working full-time, you shouldn’t be living in poverty.

Carol Ross added:

It is going nowhere, but it’s playing to the base on the part of the Democratic party. Usually when you raise the minimum wage, businesses cut back on hiring. Secondly, it increases costs, meaning people who get an increase in the wage will have to pay hire costs, so where’s the benefit here?
Only 3-percent of people nationwide earn the minimum wage, and it actually hurts the people trying to help the most. If you drill down into the numbers, it’s not going to have the effect that they want.

 

Warren Caudle Concluded:

Back in the 1920s, Henry Ford came in and double and tripled the wages of his employees because he wanted the employees to buy the cars they were manufacturing. The other automakers were livid, but it certainly did what Henry Ford wanted it to do, it allowed the working class to afford the cars.
What we really need to be focused on is how do we stimulate this economy to create new jobs so that we can expand the job base we have now. Neither side has discussed that because it’s counterproductive to their own wellbeing.

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Now it’s your turn to tell us what you think about today’s Wingin’ It Wednesday topics. Who got it right, who got it wrong, and who was way off? Let us know in the comments section.