This is a new feature I’m going to try. I’m going to pick a topic relevant in today’s political arena, give my point of view… and ask those who feel differently about the topic to convince me their position is right and my position is wrong.

My position: The federal government has no business setting arbitrary minimum wage requirements on private sector employers. Market forces, employee skill and employer/job/career choice should drive wages. In America, if you’re not satisfied with your current income, job or employer, you have the ability to get more education, more training or seek a different employer or line of work to improve your situation. If you choose not to, so be it. But the federal government shouldn’t be telling those who take the initiative to start their own businesses and employee others they deem qualified for the job, how much they have to pay employees. Not to mention, many jobs are different and thus pay should not be set to the exact same level for all. I especially don’t think there should be a minimum wage for those in tip-earning positions. The whole concept of tip-for-service is to incentivize the service provider to provide a quality service and increase the amount of gratitude (in the form of a tip) from the customer. Sure, some people will not tip appropriately, but the employee is free to find another line of work if they’re worried about it. Along this line, if the federal government can mandate the minimum wage and employer pays the employee, what’s stopping the federal government from mandating a minimum tip for waiters and bartenders? Bottom line, where we work, what we do and for whom we work are choices we can freely make. Because of this, we are free to find the job that compensates us as we feel adequate. This is not the place for arbitrary regulation by the federal government.

Convince me that the federal government should be setting (and raising) a minimum wage.