- Apr 1, 2011
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The Commerce Clause authorizes Congress to regulate only “commerce” in a classic sense, i.e., the buying, selling, or transportation of goods or services across state lines. By its terms, the Clause authorizes Congress to regulate only interstate commerce itself—not activities that substantially affect interstate commerce. The power to regulate ‘commerce’ can by no means encompass authority over mere gun possession, any more than it empowers the Federal Government to regulate marriage, littering, or cruelty to animals, throughout the 50 States. Our Constitution quite properly leaves such matters to the individual States, notwithstanding these activities’ effects on interstate commerce.Congress created Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in 1938.So many times I hear conservatives make the ridiculous claim that if the minimum wage was raised a few buck an hour, the cost of everything would skyrocket. It comes from such a place of ignorance. And yes, prices would rise but we are talking cents on the dollar and people would have a few extra hundred bucks to spend each month.
Actual economics matter. Jobs would be lost initially, but over time the boost to consumer spending would CREATE jobs. The cost of jobs is worth the benefits.
“A new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has evaluated the impact of raising the federal minimum wage to $15, $12, or $10 per hour by 2025. According to CBO estimates, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would boost the pay for 17 million workers. But, says CBO, it would also cause a median 1.3 million employees to lose their jobs as employers can’t afford the wage — that’s a 0.8% reduction of the number of employed workers.
CBO says that if the federal minimum wage were raised to $15 an hour, there is a 66% chance that between none and 3.7 million people could lose their jobs. However, the report states, “there is considerable uncertainty about the size of any option’s effect on employment.”
$15 minimum wage would boost pay for 17 million workers, says CBO
I'm sorry, remind me again WHERE in the Constitution it stipulates that it is the job of the Fed to dictate to states how much or how little private business can pay for a given job? I forget just which Article that came under.
This act was created under article 1, section 8 of constitution; the section allowing congress to regulate commerce. States can too.
The Fair Labor Standards Act is unconstitutional.