First, raising the minimum wage has proven to be a flawed policy. By raising the minimum wage, you don’t increase employers’ revenue thereby allowing them to pay more to their employees; you simply force employers to cut labor expenses (jobs). What function does raising the minimum wage serve other than allowing one party to demagogue about looking out for the little guy? Why not simply raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour if raising the minimum wage is a good thing? It is a bad policy and immoral intrusion of government into the private lives of its citizens and the market.

I will never understand why anyone would not support private savings accounts instead of the horrible social security program. First, social security is nothing more than a promise by politicians (politicians who promise a lot of things to a lot of people) to take care of you when you retire. Most people don’t realize that they do not have any property right to the money that they set aside for social security. My social security money that I have been paying out of my salary is being used to pay for current retiree benefits (why this is not considered a Ponzi scheme, I will never know) and is not set aside with my name on it. And, because we currently have more payers than retirees, we have a surplus (although as the baby boomer generation hits retirement age that will not be the case anymore). What happens to that surplus you ask? It is completely spent every year by politicians, who then place an IOU into the cookie jar, promising that some other politician will pay it back years down the road when it is time for me to retire. Right now there is no “trust fund” or “lock box” with all of this surplus money in it, there is nothing but an empty cookie jar filled with IOUs signed by politicians. And we all know how good politicians are at keeping their promise. I have seen my grandfather’s military retirement benefits changed and cut time and again by politicians who find it a politically expedient way to get money. Have we gotten to the point in our society that we feel completely comfortable giving away our freedom in exchange for some security? Nevertheless, if the government feels that it must intrude into its citizens lives to ensure that they are prepared for retirement, why not set aside the money they take into personalized accounts to ensure that each person, regardless of what any politicians says, owns that money. It would also ensure that the government cannot spend it and put in an IOU in its place. I, for one, do not trust politicians with my money, period. Those who do not support private accounts give up their freedom to make their own decisions in exchange for government nanny-ism. I will never understand this.