The Leaflet - The Battle Over The Minimum Wage In his State of
the Union Address, President Barack Obama proposed raising the
national minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 per hour. At the state
level, ten states had increases in their state’s minimum wage go
into effect in early 2013. According to data collected by the
National Conference of State Legislatures, currently 18 states
have minimum wages above the federal minimum wage. Five states
don’t have a minimum wage at all. While mandating a base level
of hourly pay is intended to help bring people out of poverty,
minimum wages bring with them unintended consequences. In our
lead story below, Heartland’s senior policy analyst argues
increasing minimum wage laws is not an effective method for
addressing poverty because it raises barriers to entry for less-
skilled and -educated workers. Nobel laureate economist Milton
Friedman said, ‘The real tragedy of minimum wage laws is that
they are supported by well-meaning groups who want to reduce
poverty. But the people wh