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by Rod D. Martin
December 5, 2016
Just as I’ve warned you — over and over — the agitators trying to raise the minimum wage to a ludicrous $15 an hour have torched the very people they claim to represent.
Those people got greedy. And their greed got them used.
In a guest op-ed in Forbes last week entitled “Thanks To ‘Fight For $15’ Minimum Wage, McDonald’s Unveils Job-Replacing Self-Service Kiosks Nationwide“, former McDonald’s CEO Ed Rensi explains the company’s rollout and the necessity for it, the harm Fight for $15 has done to countless workers, particularly those at the outset of their careers, and the cynical SEIU effort behind it all.
Fight for $15, of course, claims that all they’re seeking is a “living wage” for all the people “trapped” in minimum wage work. Sounds noble, right? And McDonald’s sounds greedy and evil.
Well, it does until you think this through a bit.
$15 an hour is $30,000 a year. For a teenage burger flipper. With no skills whatsoever beyond “Do you want fries with that?” A lot of these kids literally cannot make change.
Right now, the average household income is $55,775. Nationally, middle class for a single person starts at $24,000. For a family it starts at $42,000, but in many parts of the country a lower cost of living translates that to as little as $34,600. The poverty line for a family of four is just over $22,000.
That’s for a family. At $30,000 for an individual, Fight For $15 wants unskilled single teenage burger-flippers to be vaulted into the middle of the middle class. To borrow one of the left’s favorite words, that’s not “sustainable”.
More perspective. Minimum wage jobs are not intended to be anyone’s career. They’re supposed to be entry level positions for people like those just described. They make less because they bring less to the table. If they hang around anytime at all, they’ll pick up some skills and be worth more. At which point they’ll be paid more. And are paid more.
Fight for $15 is not at all about helping minimum wage workers. It is a scam by the unions who paid for Fight For $15 to push up the wage at the bottom so all the levels above have to be raised too. This is about getting raises for the union, at the expense of minimum wage jobs about which the unions don’t care at all.
Oh, and don’t think Democrat leaders like Bernie Sanders don’t understand this. Most of their money and organizational manpower is provided by the union bosses. Sanders and company are in on the whole thing.
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Note to the future: I recognize that someday these numbers will sound ludicrously low and someone will use them to paint me as a monster. I get that. In 1960 the average price of a house in the United States was $12,000, a car was $2,600, and the average worker made $5,315. These numbers change over time. Someday $15 an hour won’t buy a can of Dr. Pepper.
But not today.
Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.
Rod Martin and [former Howard Dean campaign manager] Joe Trippi are America’s two foremost experts on online politics.
Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.
Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.
Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.
Rod Martin is a born leader and an outstanding political mind. Anyone who takes him on is going to have a serious fight on their hands.
Rod Martin is a man of uncommon vision and character. Ever since I first worked alongside Rod in the early days of PayPal, I’ve been struck by his powerful vision for the future. Rod understands the intersection of technology, politics and culture in a way that few others do.
Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.
America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.
Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.
Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.
Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.
I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.
Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.
If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.
A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.
Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.
Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.
Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.
