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Minimum wage politics are really a stealthy tax grab

Every time a new city council or group of politicians rallies behind a massive minimum wage hike, you can practically script the rollout in advance.

“It’s about helping workers in a tough economy.” 

That’s always the headline and the implication is just as predictable: Workers are struggling while greedy business owners, especially in the restaurant industry, are raking in profits. It’s an emotionally compelling narrative, but it’s also deeply misleading.

Here’s the reality: Most restaurants want to pay their employees more. The issue isn’t willingness; it’s basic math. 

When policymakers force sharp wage increases on businesses without addressing the underlying cost structure, they force operators into a corner with only three options: cutting hours, raising prices, or shutting down entirely. 

Minimum wage hikes aren’t just about wages. They are all about taxes. 

When wages go up, payroll tax collections rise automatically. Social Security, Medicare, state disability insurance, and unemployment insurance — every one of these scales with wages. 

In California, already one of the highest payroll-tax environments in the country, those increases compound quickly. 

If the true goal were to help workers, the simplest and most effective solution would be obvious: to cut payroll taxes.

Cutting payroll taxes would put more money directly into workers’ pockets, reduce pressure on small businesses, and avoid forcing price hikes on consumers — many of whom are the same workers that live in........

© New York Post