Dancing to the Tune of More Loot

Hurrah! We just shot ourselves in the foot. Great job! Keep up the great work!
Hey, wait a minute, why am I so happy that we just collectively got shot in the foot? Lighten up, rejoice. Haven’t you heard? The good times are just around the bend. We’re all going to be rolling in dough, you, me and that good looking couple over there. Money’s going to just flow from the sky (can’t say heaven or we might offend someone). Better order a bigger wallet before the rush.
Or are you the last soul in the great Garden State who has not heard the news? The minimum wage will now go up annually. Did I vote for it? No, and I’ll tell you why: I hate higher prices, and this is exactly what is going to happen. Those who don’t believe that must be on the federal payroll (or gravy train), since money, apparently, can be magically produced there at the push of a button.
For once, I thought the populace might be able to come to its senses at the voting booth, but again, I was wrong. So now, by a whopping majority of unofficial votes, 1,008,989 to 649,640, (all the no votes likely coming from stingy, gray-headed curmudgeons like me), color New Jersey’s worker green all over. Don’t talk to the business owners, they won’t be as gleeful as the rest.
The day after the momentous Nov. 5 victory, a press release crossed my desk from Working Families United for New Jersey, Inc. to announce a press conference before the jubilant masses.
Senate President Steven Sweeney, Working Families United for New Jersey, Inc. Chairman Charles N. Hall Jr., Working Families United for New Jersey Trustees Charles Wowkanech and Laurel Brennan, and numerous coalition partners including labor, student, civic and women’s groups were set to discuss the overwhelming passage of Ballot Question No. 2 to raise New Jersey’s minimum wage with an annual cost-of-living adjustment.
“The Democrats in the Legislature and the voters of New Jersey gave minimum wage workers a hand up” stated Sweeney in that release. “Voters showed compassion and voted for the minimum wage increase because they know it is important to take care of those that earn the least among us.”
“Our coalition, made up of diverse groups including religious, civic, progressive, labor, student, women’s, retirees and community, worked every day for seven months, touched every corner of the state, speaking to groups large and small to ensure passage of ballot question 2” stated Hall. “I want to thank all of our partners for their tireless effort. We ran a grassroots campaign that included television advertisements, billboards in targeted areas and dozens of public events. The results speak volumes.”
“There is no stopping working people when we unite around an important cause” said WFUNJ Trustee and New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech. “It is important to look out for all workers and by passing ballot question 2 we have taken a step in that direction.”
“Earning more money will allow low-wage earners to spend it in local businesses to support themselves and their families” stated Trenton Deliverance Church Pastor Mark A. Broach. “I counsel residents all the time that struggle to make ends meet. Passage of this question will help make things a little easier.”
“Thank you to the hundreds of thousands of New Jersey voters that supported ballot question 2” stated low wage worker Tayzia Treadwell. “With its passage, and the additional wages we will earn, this will go a long way for working parents, to be able to support their families.”
Who can fight against a single-parent, low-wage worker who wants more money? So do I, so does my boss, so do the people I co-labor with daily. We all want more money. So, in order to help ourselves make more money, we will be more than happy to pay more money for what we buy.
This is sounding, at every turn, more like an unwritten chapter from George Orwell’s “1984.” What I ought to do is sign myself into a “re-education” camp where my old thoughts will be annihilated and I can be happy with the “new think.”
Somewhere in this great state do I hear a chorus of cheers up in the balcony of business owners? The very nerve of them, wanting to make a profit on the backs of working people, the ones they pay weekly or bi-weekly to sell goods and provide services, how, how, terribly capitalistic of them! Robber barons all of them, that’s what they are.
I didn’t ask for Obamacare, but that got shoved down my throat. I was happy with what I had, but that wasn’t good enough. There, dear reader was a perfect example of what government will do when it refuses to hear an opposing argument. Did health care need reform; maybe. Did it need an entire makeover with the federal government in command? It’s too late to offer an opinion.
Taken into the future, I suppose we will all be making $25 an hour, base pay, before all company benefits. Wow, what will we do with all that cash? As I gaze into my cloudy crystal ball, I see, what is this? A hoagie, $15.50, a soda, $5.50, small bag of chips, $4.50.
Day care, already sufficiently high enough to make working families eye second or third jobs, will probably increase at least 10-20 percent. I see a day when it will pay parents to simply stay home instead of paying to put Larry and Linda in day care. More unemployment benefits will only mean more chances for politicians to pander to those dependent on them for services. Ah, sweet success, don’t you love it?
If you operate a small business, you know how you struggle to make ends meet. How many more minimum-wage jobs will you be able to add with the now-passed, ever-increasing cost of employees and customers who are unwilling to fork over more cash for your product? At least half a dozen, right?
Hey, it’s only money. We owe it to ourselves. Be happy. Why worry? As the cashier in Sam’s Club asked with a smile, “Have you ever seen an armored car behind a hearse?”