President Obama’s proposed job creation plan – the third such “stimulus” in two years—will only add to the $12 trillion national debt while ineffectively handling the country’s double-digit unemployment rate (“JLF budget analyst explains why government stimulus doesn’t solve jobs problem,” December 19). A better idea would be to revisit the burden Congress has placed on employers through a 40 percent increase in the minimum wage.

In 2007, when Congress passed the Fair Minimum Wage Act, we warned about the unintended consequences of forcing higher labor costs on employers. Research repeatedly shows that increasing the minimum wage triggers unemployment for vulnerable groups like African-American teens.
Two years later, those warnings are now a painful reality, with half of African-American teens seeking jobs unable to find one.

It doesn’t take a “jobs summit” and billions in taxpayer dollars to provide jobs for the unemployed. Congress should take steps to lessen the financial burden minimum wage increases have imposed on employers, allowing them to hire workers with greatest need for experience and income.

Kristen Lopez Eastlick
Senior Economic Analyst
Employment Policies Institute
1090 Vermont Ave, NW #800
Washington, DC 20005
Website: www.epionline.org