I make no apologies when I say that I do not believe that any business should be forced to pay a minimum wage.

It’s not that I believe that workers should be paid less, I think they should be paid what they’re worth and what they mutually agree upon.

So often I’ve seen job postings in which they don’t mention what the pay for the position is. This seems like an absolute waste of time. What sort of employee are they looking for?

I think businesses should be upfront about what they’re willing to pay and the people who come to apply for that job has that expectation that this will be how much they earn.

That said, the left believes that the minimum wage should be higher. In some cases, they think it should be much higher. I’ve seen some people say that the minimum wage should be upwards of $20-$30 per hour. This is pure insanity and would bankrupt businesses and destroy our economy completely.

One city, however, had a taste of what that looks like after the minimum wage shot up to $19.50 per hour.

According to The Blaze,

Because Portlanders demanded a minimum wage hike and their City Council refused to take responsibility and repeal the city’s state of emergency, every employer in town was suddenly forced to pay workers at least $19.50 per hour. And they would have to continue to do so until the council got its act together.

Thankfully some business owners and their supporters were willing to make a stink over the whole ordeal.

The Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce made its voice heard, telling its members to let the City Council know what they thought.

“Large chains will be able to absorb the added costs of a $19.50 minimum wage, but small businesses in Portland will not be able to absorb these costs without direct increases in prices or cuts to services and staff,” the chamber said, according to the Press Herald. “This strikes directly at our local economic self-reliance and makes it just that much harder for local organizations to compete.”

Some business owners expressed concerns and said that minimum wages of $19.50 per hour would mean they would have to leave Portland because that just becomes unsustainable.

Eventually, the City Council voted 8-1 to lift the state of emergency and thereby cut the minimum wage by $6.50 to $13.