Raising minimum wage a bad idea

To the editor:

Raising the minimum wage is a bad idea. Here is why:

' Why would an American company make parts in the U.S. when they can ship jobs out of the U.S. and save millions of dollars? Some estimate the loss of 500,000 U.S. jobs.

' The easiest jobs to automate are minimum wage jobs. So, when you increase the lowest level labor cost it's a real incentive to automate and eliminate those jobs and save money.

' If the government wants to influence the minimum wage they could require a 10 percent increase to the minimum wage to anyone after 1 year with the same company.

' If you are going to increase the bottom wages then all the other wages must increase, because wages are relative to each other.

' If inflation is a possibility in years to come, increasing the minimum wage is the worst thing the country could do to remain competitive worldwide.

' This is a state legislature issue not a ballot issue.

Mike Cambridge

Cedar Rapids