Minimum Wage

Minimum wage is an artificial restriction of the free market, and all restrictions of the free market come with unintended consequences. When I talk to small business owners in Eastern Washington, they are unanimous in their condemnation of minimum wage. They hire less people because wages are beyond their capability. Thus, their growth is hindered, and in some cases, success is unobtainable.

I got my first job off the farm when I was 13 years old. I was a bag-boy in the local grocery store and was paid 75 cents per hour. A few months later, the supermarket out on the highway offered me 80 cen...