George Miller: “Well. The point is this, that what this country deserves and what its low income wage earners deserve is they deserve a…”

“Well. The point is this, that what this country deserves and what its low income wage earners deserve is they deserve a raise, they deserve the dignity of having the ability to stay even with the increasing costs in our economy; to be able to provide for their family; hopefully maybe even to reach out and provide health care, which is unreachable to most of these individuals. But what happens? The employers in this country simply choose not to pay that wage. Quite legitimately, there are some owners that may not be able to, but there is no distinction in this provision. You simply choose not to pay it and the Government comes in and picks up your costs. There is a lot of people in the same business side-by-side in the same towns, we know them all, people pay more than the minimum wage and other people choose not to. People offer health care in the same business, the other person chooses not to. Do not offer health care, the Government will pick up the cost. Do not offer a pension, the Government will pick up the cost. Now do not offer a minimum wage, the Government will pick up the cost. This is starting to sound like corporate welfare. This is starting to sound like people who decide they are simply not going to meet their obligations to their fellow human beings in terms of their work, their labor, and their efforts on their behalf.”