Letter: Conservative ideas hurt taxpayer
Occupy Albany protesters rally for a raise in the state's minimum wage on the Great Western Staricase at the Capitol in Albany N.Y. (May 29, 2012) Credit: AP
The letter opposing an increase in the minimum wage ["The minimum wage debate," June 18] is the perfect example of why this nation is going deeper into debt and why the Republican/Conservative viewpoint is just as much to blame for the growing debt as the Democratic/Liberal viewpoint.
The reason Republicans/Conservatives/small-business owners favor raising the federal and state Earned Income Tax Credit over an increase in the minimum wage is because they get to pass on any increase. An increase in the minimum wage would come from the business owner's pocket; the tax credit would come from taxpayers in general.
Of course, without more money going into tax coffers, this would increase budget deficits and the national debt. When did it become the norm for American workers to work harder, be more productive, build better products and have the business owner make more money -- yet the worker gets no raise?
Anthony Johnson, Brentwood