Just under a month ago I published a post about how Obama thinks the federal minimum wage can just go up to $9 per hour without any adverse effects on the economy such as job loss or higher prices. Obviously that is 100 percent fairytale thinking but to prove it I went out the next weekend and did some reporting about how the minimum wage hike would affect the cost of meal plans here at UMD, which are already slated to increase in price by $152 next school year.
I conducted an interview with a representative from Dining Services here at Maryland, whose name I am withholding because nothing is anywhere near official yet, in which I was told that an increase in the minimum wage could mean higher costs for students, fewer student jobs available and/or a loss in services available from Dining Services.
Everything that representative of Dining Services told me directly contradicts what the president said will happen if this country raises the federal minimum wage. The president says no one will lose their jobs. Dining Services told me that if the minimum wage goes up, some of the 400 students it employs every year would lose their jobs or not get hired to begin with. The president says costs for consumers will not increase. Dining Services told me the increased cost of labor would be passed on to student consumers in the form of even more expensive dining plans. The president claims businesses as a whole will go on as normal with a higher minimum wage. Dining Services told me services might be reduced.
The representative told me that Dining Services will do whatever it takes to avoid operating at a loss, which is not permissible. So who do you believe? The community organizer in the White House who has no idea how businesses and the economy work or the business here at UMD that has presented the harsh realities of foolish policy decisions?
Jimmy Williams
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