Progressives' Good Riddance Attitude Toward Small Business

  

Progressives have become increasingly cavalier about the economic consequences of raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. One such disciple of doom to small business is Rep. Ro Khanna (D–Calif.) who said on CNN earlier this week when asked about whether hard-pressed small businesses would be able to absorb the mandated pay hike "I think $15 is very reasonable in this country."

Khanna's seemingly blasé acknowledgment that the Democrats' minimum wage proposal would force some small businesses to shut down sparked immediate criticism. But progressive allies of Khanna claim if a business is unable to pay a $15 minimum, that business should not be considered a viable enterprise. In other words, Good Riddance.

It must be noted here that Ro Khanna is a lawyer and former Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department of Commerce in Barky Obama's regulation happy Administration, has never produced or sold anything and obviously should, but doesn't, know what small business have to do to stay afloat.  But a callous attitude towards small business owners in light of the difficulties they're already facing amid a pandemic and related public health restrictions is par for the course for these regressive troglodytes.

Given how many mom-and-pop operations would struggle to cope with a $15 federal minimum wage, these progs like Khanna are writing off a huge number of existing businesses that are the back bone of America as essentially worthless.  Nationally, about a third of small businesses have closed since the start of the pandemic.  And even if one isn't inclined to shed a tear for mom-and-pop businesses, it's not like the current lower-wage employees of those businesses would be made better off either. They'd stand to make $0 an hour if their employer shuts down. And even if the business does survive, those employees still risk cuts to their hours.

Grocery stores are particularly sensitive to sudden increases in their labor costs given the typically tight margins those businesses operate on. Even if one thinks it's fine for businesses that pay low wages to go extinct, their shuttering also means fewer job options for low-wage workers and fewer entry level jobs for young adults in poorer communities. There's no social justice in that.

I must also note here, as I have about others in previous posts, that Rep. Khanna is another first generation child of immigrants, who's parents came through the system and immigrated legally, were welcomed with open arms and granted all the advantages and privileges' of the native born, contributed to America greatness and lived a successful life, only to have their regressive douchebag offspring go to work to tear it all down in the name of cancerous progressivism. This putz need to be unseated and sent back to chasing ambulances for a living.

[Reason Mag]

[WAPO]