Minimum wage, maximum absurdity.(Correction, Please!)

ITEM: The CNN/Money website for October 25 reported: "Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott said he's urging Congress to consider raising the minimum wage so that Wal-Mart customers don't have to struggle paycheck to paycheck. Scott told Wal-Mart directors and executives in a speech Monday that he believes 'it is time for Congress to take a look at the minimum wage and other legislation that can help working families.'"

Critics seemed unimpressed, said the report. "As the world's largest retailer and largest U.S. non-union private sector employer with more than 1.3 million 'associates' in its U.S. stores, Wal-Mart has been a lightning rod for criticism about its wage and benefits policy as well as lawsuits alleging gender discrimination. It continues to draw fire for allegedly stifling small businesses and squeezing its vendors."

ITEM: Writing for the Hearst newspapers, Helen Thomas reported on October 28 that the United States senators, "who draw salaries of $162,100 a year and enjoy a raft of perks--have rejected a minimum wage hike from $5.15 an hour to $6.25 for blue-collar workers. Can you believe it?" Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who sponsored the raise in the minimum wage, "called the vote 'absolutely unconscionable.'" Thomas' article in the San Mateo County Times (Calif) continued: "AFL-CIO president John Sweeney said the rejection was 'outrageous and shocking.' Sweeney said minimum-wage workers 'deserve a pay raise--plain and simple--no strings attached.'"

CORRECTION: There are several double games at play here. Liberals, particularly in the media, continue to maintain the fiction that mandating a raise of the minimum wage is nothing but an unambiguous boon to society. However, the numerous critics of Wal-Mart are uncomfortable because it also supports a raise in the minimum wage, and so they resort to saying that, because the company is not giving raises to all its workers, its action is hypocritical and a publicity stunt.

Does Wal-Mart really believe it can win over its left-wing enemies in this fashion? Probably not. It seems more likely that Wal-Mart is willing to play along with the myths associated with the benefits of raising the minimum wage because if the minimum wage actually were raised, it would hurt its competitors. Indeed, the Wall Street Journal also commented that the ...