Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. wants to again raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.  Why?  Because Jesse Jackson Jr. believes that $10 is not an “unreasonable starting point.”  Well isn’t that great.  Apparently Jesse Jackson Jr. also believes that this is a decision for him to make, rather than allowing private businesses to determine the value of their employees.  Just remember that leftist political hacks ALWAYS believe that government knows best.

If they really knew what’s best, they would understand the overall impact of increases in the minimum wage.  Turns out that it isn’t all the proggies promised.  Let’s just look at teenagers, who generally return home for the summer to work minimum wage jobs.  Consider this analysis from SayAnythingBlog:

The Employment Policies Institute has released a new report detailing teen unemployment in the various states for April of 2012.  Of the top 5 states in terms of teen unemployment, four have minimum wages higher than the federal standard. Of the bottom five states for teen unemployment, just one has a minimum wage higher than the federal standard.  Going further, of the 20 states with the lowest teen unemployment just 4 have a minimum wage above the federal level. Of the top 20 states for teen unemployment, nine have a minimum wage above the federal minimum.

Proggies can’t seem to understand why increasing the cost of labor would lead to increased unemployment.  These are the same people who want to stimulate the private sector by hiring more government workers.