Minimum wage hike means fewer hungry

I'm a volunteer director of a community food pantry. With specific rules in place to receive discounts for purchasing, we re-register once per year. This enables us to recognize who is and who isn't illegible. Depending the time of year we feed from 1,400 to 2,000 and from 400 to 600 children per month.

I'm committed to this, and truly believe this is what I was destined to do. So, what's my point?

By raising the minimum wage, roughly half, if not more, would not need our services. The same would be true about the section of the federal government's budget that is devoted to these individuals.

Now, let's look at the opposing argument: It would cause consumer prices to go up. Not true. In states that have already enacted a guarantee, job growth flourishes, prices remain stable because of competition, tax revenues increase and tax rates are stable and some lowered. Corporations/companies move off shore because they don't want to pay benefits. Countries they move to don't have "loopholes" in their tax system, which allows them to pay a "flat rate." The Democratic senate, house and president preposed the same, and the GOP countered with "No Deal" to this same type of tax reform and increase in the minimum wage, regardless of the positive effect on the economy, increase in the standard of living and increase tax revenues.

So, please, put me out of a job, and push your federal and state representatives to raise the minimum wage and adopt progressive tax reform.

Bill Spencer

Geneva