Conservative Thinker Argues 73 Percent of All American Voters Are “Wrong” About Raising the Minimum Wage
Over at the National Review’s Corner blog, Cato Institute senior fellow Michael Tanner published a post on the minimum wage titled, hilariously, “The Voters Want a Higher Minimum Wage, but the Voters Are Wrong.” This headline identifies everything wrong with the conservative stance on the minimum wage — in sum, they’re denying reality. When political actors dismiss the 73 percent of the American voting public that wants a higher minimum wage as “wrong,” they’re either on the bad side of an issue or they’re suffering from a serious message problem.
You know that old conservative saying: “if nearly three quarters of all Americans agree on something, they must be wrong.” (Image via 15now.org.)
Tanner’s post is a fact-free diatribe (note the distinct lack of links in the text) referring to “Anecdotal evidence” that Seattle and San Francisco are becoming restaurant-free hellscapes (decidedly not true, and here’s a link to a wonderful Seattle Times story disproving his “anecdotes.”) He also refers to “a survey” saying Seattle small businesses are likely to cut staff without linking to the survey, which should set off alarm bells for any reader. If you have the facts, show your work. If you don’t have the facts, shut up.
Tanner continues, “There has also been a sharp fall-off in the number of firms seeking a business license in the city that has roughly corresponded with the passage of the minimum-wage hike.” He also says Seattle and San Francisco “have seen an unusual increase in the number of restaurants going out of business since the hike.” Uh. Twitter user Barry Ritzholtz disproved those claims within minutes:
@workingwa @MTannerCato Claim of increased Seattle restaurant closures is right if you hold this chart upside-down: pic.twitter.com/nWjwOt9oEy
— Invictus (@TBPInvictus) April 22, 2015
Tanner’s post is full of unsubstantiated information like this. But he does supply a very useful overview of Republican presidential candidate opinions on the minimum wage:
So far, among presidential candidates or near-candidates, only Rick Santorum supports an increase in the minimum wage. Bobby Jindal has said he is not “ideologically opposed” to raising the federal minimum wage, but he opposes doing so now, while the economy is weak. Marco Rubio’s position is similar, saying that he is not opposed to the minimum wage conceptually but opposes proposed increases. Most of the other leading candidates, including Ted Cruz, have also come out against any increase, although only Rick Perry and, surprisingly, Jeb Bush, called for eliminating the federal minimum wage altogether. Bush takes a federalist approach, saying that he would let each state set its minimum, although he would prefer to “leave it to the private sector.” Rand Paul could also be put in that camp. He has not explicitly advocated repeal but says that setting wages “is none of the government’s business.” Scott Walker, on the other hand, has said that while he thinks the minimum wage “serves no purpose,” he would not repeal it.
This paragraph will prove very useful in the days and months ahead, when one candidate from this Republican field eventually tries to tack leftward in the general election. Tanner acknowledges that the eventual nominee will have a difficult challenge when he (sorry, Carly Fiorina, but it’s probably not going to happen) faces an electorate that is overwhelmingly in favor of raising the minimum wage.
…the eventual Republican nominee is going to have to find a way to marry good policy with what might be bad politics. Whether candidates can stick to the right position even when voters lean the other way, and whether they can explain their reasons why, will be a good test for GOP primary voters.
Tanner is self-aware enough to understand that fighting a minimum wage increase is “bad politics,” but he believes that Republicans need to stand firm against any increase. His position would be more convincing if he didn’t plant it at the very end of a data-weak blog post packed with baseless anecdotes and fear-mongering.
