Letters: $15 wage would cost jobs

Former NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous builds his case for a $15 minimum wage on talking points that work better in a campaign speech than in the real world ("Demand $15-an-hour minimum wage in Pa.," Monday).

Jealous argues that a $15 minimum wage would "instantly lift millions of Americans out of poverty." Using that flawed logic, a $30 minimum wage should instantly lift millions more. Economists and business owners understand that when customers won't pay the corresponding higher prices, employees end up paying for a $15 minimum wage with fewer hours and fewer jobs.

This isn't a partisan argument. Notable economists from the Obama and Clinton administrations have opposed $15, with one even describing it as "extremely risky." Last year, a University of New Hampshire survey of 166 economists also found overwhelming opposition to $15.

If Jealous is truly interested in helping the job seekers of West Philadelphia, he should consider poverty-reduction alternatives that won't price them out of the workforce.

|Michael Saltsman, research director, Employment Policies Institute, Washington, info@epionline.org

Benjamin Jealous' commentary struck a chord with Philabundance and the Coalition Against Hunger, as agencies that serve countless people who are working - often more than one job - and still struggling to make ends meet.

In the majority of the households we serve, at least one person has held a job in the last year. From child-care and home-care workers who spend all day taking care of people, to restaurant and fast-food workers who spend their days helping to feed others, many come home to an empty refrigerator and a hungry family. Their wages, combined with limited or nonexistent benefits and sick leave, make it impossible to cover all of the basics - housing, utilities, transportation, health-care, child-care, and food. Food is often the first part of a budget people in need cut, so they end up at our network of food pantries and soup kitchens.

We agree that "a full-time job should be enough to keep a family above the poverty line." We stand with working families who desperately need a higher minimum wage.

|Glenn Bergman, executive director, Philabundance, and Laura Wall, executive director, Coalition Against Hunger, Philadelphia

I must agree with Benjamin Jealous that the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour borders on slavery and is a disgrace. With all the reasons he put forth for raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour, he left out that it is a drain on the economy. Why would anyone consider going off welfare or workers' compensation when those programs pay more than the minimum wage?

The ubiquitous fast-food emporiums will not go out of business if they raise their prices slightly, and no fast-food gourmet will abandon his or her passion because of the increase. Other marginal businesses may need to sharpen their pencils. In theory, we got rid of sweat shops, but, in practice, we apparently have not.

|Ralph D. Bloch, Rydal, ralphdbloch@yahoo.com

A former bank teller who helped her boyfriend steal $151,529 got seven years in prison (Tuesday), while bank executives who defrauded homeowners and investors of millions got golden parachutes. As comedian Yakov Smirnoff would say, "What a country."

|Ray Harper, Springfield

I was thrilled to read architecture critic Inga Saffron's review of Rodin Square ("Exterior Afterthought," Oct. 21). Once again, she validated my opinion of a building, which is to say that she kept up her streak of getting it wrong.

From my 28th-floor office overlooking the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, I look at Rodin Square every day, and it's absolutely delightful. The beautiful, floor-to-ceiling windows have a greenish hue that changes marvelously in the varying light of day and adds a wonderful splash of color to an otherwise drab skyline. Also, the building is nicely articulated, at least from the Parkway. You'd think from the column that the building was a solid slab.

The retail space, by contrast, is a nice amenity but architecturally is nothing special and a jarring contrast to the colorful, graceful building sitting atop it.

|David M. Scolnic, Wynnewood, dms@hangley.com

Russian President Vladimir Putin would love for the United States to fail.

It is inevitable that, at some point, even the greatest nation will be faced with the threat of a tyrant. Can our nation be an exception? Many nations filled with good, hardworking people have managed to become the victims of themselves.

The Republican presidential candidate does horrible things, yet he has solid support. It seems that he, if elected, would face a great deal of resistance. Checks and balances may have little effect if our leader was elected as a bully and ascended in a way that flew in the face of conventional norms and values.

The Republican candidate has the potential to cause instability not only in our nation, but globally. Economic markets do not respond well to uncertainty. Putin understands our growing internal conflict and would bask in our collapse.

I am a landscaper, husband, father, and a hardworking, blue-collar, middle-class American. United, and with civility, we can overcome anything.

|Brandon Hudock, McMurray, Pa.

The Huffington Post had it right last summer, when it decided to cover Donald Trump's campaign as entertainment, not news. That strategy did not last, and now the media has lost control of the Frankenstein monster that is Trump. His attempts to undermine democracy by refusing to accept the results of the election are alarming, as are his dog whistles for voter intimidation, disguised as concern about voter fraud.

Columnist Dana Milbank is correct ("If democracy is threatened, it makes sense to take sides," Wednesday). Maybe this will be a wake-up call for the media, if there is still a free media after this election.

|Amy Mendelsohn, Elkins Park

I've reviewed Donald Trump's "Contract with the American voter," outlining his plan for his first 100 days in office, and all I can say is: "wow."

I've never seen anything so comprehensively thought out that directly attacks the multiple, generations-long problems that have plagued our country. It would be a Shakespearean tragedy if the greatest businessman of our generation were to be cheated out of his "rendezvous with destiny," as running-mate Mike Pence has called it, to fix this country.

Like Trump or not, he is perfectly set up to be the greatest turnaround president in our nation's history. All we need to do is get out the vote for him and let The Art of the Deal do its thing.

|Eugene R. Dunn, Medford, N.Y.