Two Observations on the Politics of the Minimum Wage

February 15, 2013, 7:44 pm
Paul Krugman

It looks as if President Obama has successfully set a political trap over the minimum wage. Raising the minimum is very popular — even a narrow majority of Republicans (pdf) are for it. But Republican leaders are opposed. And they’d like people to believe that their opposition is driven by sincere concern for workers who might lose their jobs.

Well, this isn’t likely to work; the public won’t believe in their sincerity, and for good reason. Here are two examples of why it won’t wash:

1. The truth is that top Republicans have so little regard for ordinary workers that they can’t even manage to pretend otherwise ...

2. Consider a working couple with two children, earning the current minimum wage. How much federal income tax do they pay? If I’m doing the math right, the answer is, none — they get a refund. (They pay plenty of payroll taxes, sales taxes, etc., but that isn’t supposed to count). In the minds of Republicans, this makes them lucky duckies, members of the 47 percent, part of what’s wrong with America. The GOP just can’t credibly claim to suddenly be deeply concerned about their job prospects ...

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/two-observations-on-the-politics-of-the-minimum-wage/