Andrea Joy Campbell: “I stand today on behalf of the working people, whose opportunity to work will be jeopardized if we proceed with what…”

“I stand today on behalf of the working people, whose opportunity to work will be jeopardized if we proceed with what apparently we are going to, and that is an ill-advised increase in the minimum wage. And here is the truth: The politics say it is an election year, increase the minimum wage. Never mind that the President had the chance to do so in the first two years of his administration when his party controlled the Congress. Never mind that. Now it is an election year. But, please, think of the average man and woman who may be making the minimum wage, and ask, do you want to put that person out of a job? Who do you benefit, who do you hurt? You hurt the person who would not get the job, except that it was at the minimum wage. Who do you benefit? You benefit those people who stay in their job and whose wages are increased. And that is a trade-off I just do not think we should make. What data do I have to support this? Let me just recite that every time since the mid-70's, which is where my research began, that we increased the real minimum wage and the economy was like it is today, we saw an increase in unemployment. It stands to reason, does it not? Because an increase in the minimum wage is a tax on an employer who is offering somebody a job. It is not paid for by all of us. It is paid for by the exact person, the employer, who is trying to offer a job. And we say an the natural result is that there will be fewer such jobs available.”