It doesn't work that way. You don't just wave a magic wand or sign a magic bill and people make more money. Maybe it worked that way for good ol' Uncle Phil at Goldman Sacks when he was moving rich people's money around and making himself a fortune. But Givenor Murphy wants a $15 an hour minimum wage bill and he wants it on his desk now!

Never mind that it will hurt small and medium size businesses, entry level workers and employees themselves. It just looks good and to some people like the ultra rich Murphy, it feels good. He feels guilty about all that money he made playing with other people's money, while not really "making" anything. So he wants to help the "working poor", but granting them an instant pay raise. A pay raise they didn't earn and the market place can't afford without it hurting someone in the process. Won't hurt Uncle Phil.

It will hurt small businesses who may have to reduce hiring or benefits, which hurts people trying to climb the income ladder. It will hurt kids looking for their first job, because their value just isn't up to that level. And it hurts the people who may have taken years to get to $15 an hour only to see entry level folks making the same with far less experience.

Some companies have taken the lead on making the decision on their own to offer a $15 minimum wage. Amazon's Jeff Bezos just raised their minimum pay in the U.S to that magic $15 an hour mark earlier this month. He did it partly due to pressure from some lawmakers who complained that the world's richest man's employees had to rely on government benefits to survive. He also realizes that to stay ahead and crush the competition, he has to offer more in this highly labor competitive market, with unemployment below 4%. It also comes at a cost to some of his employees. It's eliminating hourly worker's monthly bonuses and stock awards.

But that's how business works. It's what the market will bear or what the world's wealthiest man is will to do to stay on top. But in New Jersey we have the wealthiest Governor who wants to move up to Washington. And he'll do ANYTHING to get there. It's not a matter of "what the market will bear". It's what NJ's long suffering citizens will bear. Many of our young people have fled to more business friendly state. Many families have and are planning an exit strategy and businesses won't be far behind. We have to figure out an exit strategy for Uncle Phil or it will only get worse.

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