<HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=windows-1251" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META content="MSHTML 5.00.2919.6307" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV><FONT size=2>Well, there's the famed minimum wage.  However, as I see it,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>raising the minimum wage simply changes the value of the money.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>(Labor theory of value.)  In practice, when the relatively</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>poor start to get more money, the better-off, who have more</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>power than they do, can be expected simply charge them and</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>each other more until the wage change is absorbed by inflation.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>And this is what we seem to observe.  It seems like a cruel </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>joke, in fact, but "only the poor will suffer, and they're</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>used to it."</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>I think there is empirical evidence that this does not happen. Look at EPI's web page. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Also, Marx's law of value predicts that changing wages (the value of labor-power) will not change the value of money (labor itself crystallized in the form of a universal commodity).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But Brad is right that low-wage workers encounter the welfare state in many forms. Many have very insecure employment and never qualify for unemployment insurance, so TANF is always on the radar screen whether they actually receive it or not. Your sister or cousin or neighbor may be receiving it. The school system. Various health programs, especially for kids. Housing programs. Child protective services. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>All of these are both welfare and a cop -- very typical of the role of government to low-wage workers. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Maybe Ehrenreich didn't notice these because she didn't have children with her on her investigation.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Tom</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Tom Waters</DIV> <DIV>Bronx, New York</DIV> <DIV><A href="mailto:tjwaters@earthlink.net">tjwaters@earthlink.net</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML>