Richard Fineberg, the conservative Republican challenging moderate Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey in the GOP primary in June, inked a blog post yesterday about the minimum wage issue that bears consideration…
“I can remember a time, not that long ago, when the minimum wage was much lower than today, and the economy was booming. Jobs were plentiful, and employee retention was an issue because people were leaving their jobs to take a new one right around the corner. The thought of raising the minimum wage at that time never came up for discussion.
“So apparently, talk of raising the minimum wage comes up only during hard times. But isn’t this really getting it all wrong? Part of the problem is that the minimum wage, like any other Big Government program, never goes away, and it continues to grow. If the whole concept of the minimum wage is to assist people in tough times, shouldn’t we be able to reduce the minimum wage in good times?
“It ain’t gonna happen folks. And that is the fundamental flaw with minimum wage laws. Not only do they kill jobs, they act as a permanent drag on the economy because they increase the cost of labor without any commensurate increase in productivity. Instead of employing large scale government programs to ‘fix’ the problem, it would be better to adopt specific, targeted, and temporary assistance.”
Meanwhile, Hickey inked his own column this week highlighting the story of a Las Vegas taxi driver, Gerardo Gamboa, who returned a bag full of cash that didn’t belong to him that was left in his cab.
“Certainly,” Hickey wrote, “to have more humble heroes and parents in our midst like Mr. Gamboa, would be food and comfort for the soul of so many in our society, who seemingly are deprived of emotional nourishment.”
Huh?
And in reflecting on a pair of recent shootings in Washoe County, Hickey wrote…
“In both instances, we are left to wonder if only family, friends, or other members of the community had noticed earlier the demons or dysfunction that were tormenting both individuals, they might have persuaded those persons not to succumb to the ‘lesser angels’ of their human nature.”
Pure political mush. Hickey vs. Fineberg = Sizzle vs. Steak.
