What is the Cost of Food in Democrat vs. Republican States?

For many years, it has been common practice for Democrats and RINOS to campaign for raising minimum wages. This particular standard operating procedure to retain or gain votes is not as high on the list as ballot stuffing or dead voters voting, but it’s up there.

“If minimum wage of 1968 had kept pace with inflation it would be more than $25 per hour. Instead federal minimum is stuck at $7.25,” Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. wrote on X Sunday afternoon.

“The whole idea of the minimum wage is “You can get by,” he continued. “No one can get by on $7.25 or even twice that in most places.”

“Minimum wage should be at least $15. More in most places. People who work hard should be able to get by. It doesn’t get any more simple than that.”

It’s likely Kennedy is attempting to skim more votes his way from the Biden regime.

Most of the responses to RFK, Jr’s statement were mixed:

Minimum wage represents the lowest hourly amount that an employee may legally be paid for their labor as determined by both state and Federal labor laws in the United States.

Under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, states and localities are permitted to set their own minimum wage rates, which will take precedence over the Federal minimum wage rate if they are higher.

In states that do not set a minimum wage rate, or have a minimum wage rate that is less than the rate set by the Federal government, the Federal minimum wage rate will take precedence and apply to all employees within that state.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), are among the groups that oppose the minimum wage increase to $15. According to NFIB, 92% of small businesses say that a $15-per-hour minimum wage “would be harmful to Main Street and its job opportunities.”

A $15 minimum wage proposed in the Raise the Wage Act would reduce private-sector employment by over 1.6 million jobs, according to the NFIB Research Center. It would produce a cumulative U.S. loss of more than $2 trillion in real economic output.

Minimum-wage laws raise labor costs, which typically take up a large portion of business budgets. They tend to hire fewer workers to keep their total labor costs the same when the government requires them to pay more per worker, thereby increasing the unemployment rate.

History shows, especially in Democrat controlled states, forced raises of minimum wages hits workers with income at or below the federal poverty threshold the hardest because they must compete for fewer jobs.

Some smaller companies may not be able to operate with fewer workers, and they may be forced to declare bankruptcy instead.

The minimum wage penalizes companies that are labor-intensive. It rewards those that are in capital-intensive industries by default. It can shift the very fabric of a state or the country’s economic base over time.

This is a primary reason that:

1. Citizens are moving away from Democratic states to Republican states for employment and tax benefits.

2. Companies are forced to outsource by moving factories or customer help desks to other countries where wages are lower.

Higher minimum-wage laws may not reduce the country’s poverty. They help the workers who have jobs, but they increase unemployment, which is part of the Deep State–New World Order plan. Bring in more immigrants and rely on government handouts.

Research shows that experienced workers receive higher pay and increased job opportunities, while less-experienced workers see a loss in job opportunities, according to a study of Seattle’s minimum-wage increase by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The percentage of hourly paid workers earning the federal minimum wage or less went down from 1.9% in 2019 to 1.5% by 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s well below the 13.4% in 1979, when this data was first collected. 

Historically, those who earn minimum wage or less tend to be young. Workers under age 25 represented just under 20% of hourly paid workers.  However, under the Biden Administration’s destructive immigration and ineffective “Build Back Better” policies, much of those jobs have disappeared or taken by older adults struggling to survive.

Examples of the current prevailing 2024 minimum wage rates in some states include Alabama, Georgia,  Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming, all at $7.25.

Meanwhile, there are California: $16, Connecticut: $15.69, District of Columbia: $17,  Hawaii: $14, Illinois: $14, Maine: $14.15, Maryland: $15, Massachusetts: $15, New Jersey: $15.13, New York: $15, Oregon: $14.20, Rhode Island: $14, and Washington: $16.28.

Can you see the trends?

Compare those wages with this January 21, 2024 sampling of fast food prices:

Domino’s Medium Pizza

Hawaii: $18.99, Washington: $16.99, California: $16.99, Maine: $14.99, Massachusetts: $14.99, Connecticut: $14.49, Illinois: $14.49, New York: $14.49, Texas: $13.74, Alabama: $12.99, Arkansas: $12.99, Iowa: $12.99.

McDonald’s Big Mac

Hawaii: $5.31, New York: $5.23, New Jersey: $5.23, Maryland: $5.03, Alabama: $3.99, Arkansas: $3.95, Mississippi: $3.91.

Chick-fil-a Chicken Sandwich

Hawaii: $4.06, New York: $4, California: $3.96, Connecticut: $3.78, Massachusetts: $3.72, Missouri $3.05, Alabama $3.05, Mississippi $2.99.

Taco Bell Combo Meal

Hawaii: $7.70, New York: $7.58, New Jersey: $7.53, California: $7.41, Maryland: $7:30, Connecticut: $7:18, Nevada: $6.43, Texas $6.30, Iowa: $5.91, Alabama: $5.79, Arkansas: $5.73, Mississippi: $5.67.

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IN GOD WE TRUST

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