Business and Employees have Shared Interests

Jan. 16, 2007— -- The fundamental problem with the Democrats' dogged pursuit of a minimum wage increase is much larger than the difference between $5.15 and $7.25 per hour.

Every penny of the House-approved $2.10 increase represents more than a simple legislative victory—but instead a methodical attempt to drive a wedge, in the minds of the American people, between the interests of "corporate" or "business" America and the American "worker."

Democrats touted this vision time and again in the 2006 elections, so we shouldn't be surprised to see part of it implemented now that they hold power in Washington. This is what they promised to do, and it looks as if they're on their way to doing it. Good for them. But is this legislation—and more importantly, the ideology behind it—good for the country?

Well, at minimum, no.

One can no more separate "corporate" or "business" interests from those of "workers" than one can separate celebrities from tabloids. To run with the analogy, celebrities need tabloids to generate interest in their off-screen lives; this helps their careers. Tabloids need enough debauchery from celebrities to capture the attention of supermarket shoppers; this helps them sell magazines. An imperfect relationship? You bet. But does it serve the interests of both parties? Absolutely.

The same is true of the relationship between "corporate" America and the American "worker." How, exactly, would an entrepreneur build a company without capable "workers"? How, exactly, would the average worker find employment without the jobs created by corporations?

In that place where we keep our common sense, we know the truth about the nature of this symbiotic relationship. But you wouldn't know it by listening to the rhetoric surrounding the minimum wage debate. Consider the words of AFL-CIO president John Sweeney:

For the past 10 years, Republican leaders have held the minimum wage hostage, corporations and wealthy Americans have gotten their rewards. Now it's time to do the right thing for low-wage workers, with no payoffs to business.