Catch 22 - Raising the Minimum Wage

For many of us college students who work at minimum wage, the news that Congress has voted to raise the minimum wage comes as a blessing. We can get more of the sneakers the Chinese kids make or buy that new car to pollute the environment. Whatever it is our materialistic heart desires consider yourself warned, prices will go up along with your salary. It's a lose to lose situation. Raising the minimum wage forces the employer to raise prices and cut costs (possibly cutting jobs). At the same time one has to realize minimum wage workers have been receiving the same pay for the past 10 years. But the assumption can be made, the person who made $5.15 an hour in 1997 is not making that today being at the same job unless they're an idiot. According to economists (not me), our economy is fairly sound and now is the best time to make this change. Also, minimum wage jobs are only taken up by a fraction of the population, so it would not make such a great impact than we've blown it up to be.
This would mostly hurt small business owners. President Bush brought up an initiative to give these businesses tax reliefs along with their new found burden. Money pinching Democrats will have to make this concession to make this transition go smoothly.

So who is really coming out the winner here?

Not you, or me, but the smart-ass Democrats. The voting population will remember what a great deed they did, and the Dem's can brag about it during their convention. The Republican performed such actions through tax breaks. The Democrats are doing it through raising the minimum wage. Putting money in people's pockets = votes!!