{"id":169284,"date":"2021-02-24T17:10:26","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T22:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=169284"},"modified":"2021-02-24T17:43:53","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T22:43:53","slug":"the-romney-cotton-minimum-wage-plan-is-anti-conservative-and-embraces-the-logic-of-the-left","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-romney-cotton-minimum-wage-plan-is-anti-conservative-and-embraces-the-logic-of-the-left\/","title":{"rendered":"The Romney\/Cotton Minimum Wage Plan Is Anti-Conservative And Embraces The Logic Of The Left"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-romney-cotton-minimum-wage-plan-is-anti-conservative-and-embraces-the-logic-of-the-left%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=169284&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1207533662-1200x800-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>On Tuesday, Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Mitt Romney proposed a bill \u2014 currently titled the \u201cHigher Wages for American Workers Act\u201d \u2014 which aims to raise the federal minimum wage to $10 per hour by 2025, with this increase requiring businesses to E-Verify employees to validate their eligibility to legally work in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In other words, to increase the minimum wage and stop illegal immigrants from receiving this wage increase.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>According to<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/economy\/romney-cotton-unveil-plan-to-boost-minimum-wage-to-10-per-hour\"><span>Fox Business<\/span><\/a><span>, \u201cUnder the Romney-Cotton plan, the federal minimum wage would climb to $10 per hour by 2025 and would then be indexed to inflation every two years. There would be a slower phase-in period for small businesses with fewer than 20 employees. The proposal would also require employers to use \u2018E-verify\u2019 to ensure that businesses are hiring documented workers and would increase the penalties for anyone who hires an undocumented individual.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>What does the \u201cHigher Wages for American Workers Act\u201d proposal say?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>The current proposal is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cotton.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/higher%20wages%20for%20american%20workers%20act_one%20pager.pdf\">one page document<\/a>. It begins with the following paragraph:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><span>\u201cThe Higher Wages for American Workers Act would support a strong labor market for American workers by gradually raising the federal minimum wage to $10 and mandating E-Verify to ensure rising wages go to legally authorized workers. Rather than destroy 1.4 million jobs like a $15 minimum wage, this proposal would raise wages for 3.5 million workers without harming the very workers it\u2019s intended to protect. Mandatory E-Verify would preserve American jobs for legal workers and remove incentives for increased illegal immigration. Both policies work in tandem to create tighter labor markets and put upward pressure on wages.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Next, a \u201chighlights\u201d section outlines its high-level objectives:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><em><span>Drives wages up through tighter labor markets.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span>Protects the job market for American workers by ending illegal, black-market labor.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span>Prevents massive job losses, unlike the $15 minimum wage proposal.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span>Helps teenagers find their first jobs.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Then, a section titled \u201cMandatory E-Verify\u201d explains how the act would enforce eligibility validation.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><em><span>Mandates E-Verify for all employers, phasing in implementation over 18 months to allow small businesses additional time to comply.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span>Raises civil and criminal penalties on employers that hire unauthorized aliens and\/or violate I-9 paperwork requirements.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span>Prevents fraud by requiring workers 18 and older to provide a photo ID to their employer for verification, which will be cross-referenced if a photo is available through the E-Verify system.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span>Clearly authorizes states to share driver\u2019s license information\/photos to improve E-Verify\u2019s accuracy and conditions certain federal grant funds on information sharing.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span>Provides $100 million annually in automatic funding to ensure E-Verify is immune from a government shutdown, and authorizes Congress to appropriate additional funds as needed.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span>Grants DHS authority to create a program to block or suspend misused Social Security numbers for E-Verify, including Social Security numbers of deceased individuals and unusual multiple uses of the same number.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Finally, the summary explains the plan regarding the \u201cMinimum Wage Increase.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><em><span>Gradually raises the federal minimum wage to $10 by 2025, and then indexes it to inflation every two years.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span>Creates a slower phase-in for small businesses with fewer than 20 employees.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span>Prevents any increase during the Covid-19 emergency.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span>Increases the youth minimum wage and extends the eligible period to 180 days.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span>Protects sheltered-workshops by keeping the 14(c) exemption.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Then, a table of \u201cscheduled minimum wage increases\u201d under the proposal is provided, categorized by \u201cfederal minimum wage,\u201d \u201csmall businesses,\u201d and \u201cyouth minimum.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Analysis \u2014 Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><span>\u201cThe Higher Wages for American Workers Act would support a strong labor market for American workers by gradually raising the federal minimum wage to $10 and mandating E-Verify to ensure rising wages go to legally authorized workers.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>This opening statement assumes that a strong labor market is provided or encouraged by simply mandating that businesses pay their employees a certain amount, and that requiring registered businesses to verify the eligibility of workers will further strengthen the labor market. This assumption is far from supported by this document.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><span>\u201cRather than destroy 1.4 million jobs like a $15 minimum wage, this proposal would raise wages for 3.5 million workers without harming the very workers it\u2019s intended to protect.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>This statement is, in many ways, self-contradictory. The first part acknowledges that enforcing a higher minimum wage will destroy some number of jobs. The second part claims that enforcing a slightly lower wage increase would raise wages, while ignoring that<\/span> <em><span>any<\/span><\/em> <span>forced wage increase will likely result in<\/span> <em><span>some<\/span><\/em> <span>unemployment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The fundamental reality of mandatory minimum wages is that many small businesses survive along very tight economic margins. Even a modest increase in wages can skew their margins from positive to negative, meaning that jobs are inevitably affected. The claim that this legislation would increase wages \u201cwithout harming the very workers it\u2019s intended to protect\u201d is unsubstantiated given that it doesn\u2019t even acknowledge the impact<\/span> <em><span>any<\/span><\/em> <span>wage increase has on businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><span>\u201cMandatory E-Verify would preserve American jobs for legal workers and remove incentives for increased illegal immigration. Both policies work in tandem to create tighter labor markets and put upward pressure on wages.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>This is simply untrue. There is a quantum logical leap between \u201cmandatory E-verify\u201d and \u201cpreserving American jobs for legal workers,\u201d with the void missing evidence that the \u201cAmerican jobs\u201d \u2014 which is a meaningless platitude \u2014 are designed and provided only for legal workers. Increasing wages will drive up the cost of legal services, which would only fuel the desire in the marketplace for cheaper \u2014 and therefore, often illegal \u2014 labor. While \u201clegal\u201d companies may comply and verify the eligibility of their workers, they will bear the burden of increased wage costs. Their customers will then bear the burden of increased service costs. This will only widen the \u201ccost gap\u201d between legal and illegal services, providing further incentive for illegal labor and, therefore, further incentive for illegal immigration.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Analysis \u2014 Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><em><span>Drives wages up through tighter labor markets.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span>Protects the job market for American workers by ending illegal, black-market labor.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span>Prevents massive job losses, unlike the $15 minimum wage proposal.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span>Helps teenagers find their first jobs.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>These \u201chighlights\u201d are based on unsupported premises. Forcing businesses to increase wages does not necessarily \u201cdrive wages up\u201d if those jobs no longer exist or are \u201creplaced\u201d by illegal and cheaper alternatives. Markets which are inorganically controlled by the federal government may be \u201ctighter\u201d in terms of legislation, but this doesn\u2019t necessarily amount to market \u201cstrength\u201d or \u201csuccess.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Given the federal government\u2019s consistent inability to monitor or control illegal immigration, there is no evidence to suggest that requiring businesses to E-verify \u2014 thereby further shifting responsibility from the government to businesses, as we will discuss later\u00a0\u2014 would prevent an illegal labor black-market. In fact, by forcing legal businesses to increase wages, there may be further need for cheaper labor, which inevitably results in enabling those willing to risk prosecution in return for business opportunities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The claim that this legislation would \u201cprevent massive job losses\u201d is entirely subjective. Yes, on a basic level, increasing the minimum wage to $10 instead of $15 will likely result in fewer job losses, because $10 is less than $15. However, two policies can be bad at once, and just because one policy is preferable to another does not mean that the lesser of the two policies is itself optimal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Analysis \u2014 No link between mandatory E-Verify and minimum wage increase<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>The claim that \u201cboth policies work in tandem to create tighter labor markets and put upward pressure on wages\u201d is somewhat invalid given that these policies are mutually exclusive.<\/span> <span>Ultimately, this is an attempt to achieve a fundamentally non-conservative policy goal \u2014 to increase the minimum wage on a federal level, thereby accepting the Left\u2019s premise \u2014 while avoiding all responsibility for controlling illegal immigration by placing the burden on small businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Employers are already required to verify that their employees are eligible to work. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, employers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscis.gov\/i-9-central\/form-i-9-resources\/handbook-for-employers-m-274\/10-why-employers-must-verify-employment-authorization-and-identity-of-new-employees\">must<\/a><\/span> <span>\u201cverify employment authorization and identity of new employees.\u201d The addition of E-Verify simply enforces the use of an online verification system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Generally, validation of work eligibility is already the law, so it\u2019s unclear what such a policy has to do with an increase in minimum wage. Indeed, most items in the \u201cMandatory E-Verify\u201d section outline understandable and agreeable improvements to the employee verification process. What is missing is the link between such security improvements and minimum wage increases to achieve the supposed goal of working \u201cin tandem to create tighter labor markets and put upward pressure on wages.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>There are several key problems with this proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span>The policy link between higher wages and immigration validation is unsupported.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>The assumption that increasing the minimum wage has optimal economic results is unsupported by both economists and past evidence.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Agreeing to increase the minimum wage \u201cin return\u201d for supposed improvements in illegal immigration controls is foolish. Firstly, it accepts the Left\u2019s premise that an increase in minimum wage is economically optimal. Secondly, it shifts the burden of responsibility for immigration control from the government (who are failing) to small businesses.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span>Ultimately, this proposal is fundamentally non-conservative in nature. The control of illegal immigration must be a central pillar in the Republican manifesto moving forward, but potentially meaningless legislative decoration should not be celebrated in return for the economic disaster which could be triggered by opening the door to ongoing minimum wage increases.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ighaworth\"><em>@ighaworth<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Tuesday, Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Mitt Romney proposed a bill \u2014 currently titled the \u201cHigher Wages for American Workers Act\u201d \u2014 which aims to raise the federal minimum &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2274160,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1207533662-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"The Romney\/Cotton Minimum Wage Plan Is Anti-Conservative And Embraces The Logic Of The Left","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-169284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1207533662-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"The Romney\/Cotton Minimum Wage Plan Is Anti-Conservative And Embraces The Logic Of The Left","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2274160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}