San Francisco Minimum Wage Success Story Ignored by Republicans.

Democrats are left debating something that depends on simple logic: Pay higher wages, increase spending and demand. It's that simple, really. And yet we have to argue with Republicans about this.

Perhaps the information below can be used to defuse the right wing lunacy about protecting "entry level jobs" so they won't disappear. I mean really, think about that. Business Week:

Courtesy of Mother Jones Magazine

San Francisco's Higher Minimum Wage Hasn't Hurt the Economy: For those who need more evidence, a new book hopes to persuade them. When Mandates Work: Raising Labor Standards at the Local Level argues that San Francisco’s decision to increase the minimum wage and offer other benefits, such as sick leave pay, hasn’t hurt the city’s economy at all.

The three editors—all labor experts—found:
From 2004 to 2011 overall private employment grew 5.6 percent in San Francisco and 3 percent in Santa Clara County. Other Bay Area counties saw an overall 4.4 percent drop during that time.

Among food-service workers, who are more likely to be affected by minimum-wage laws, employment grew 17.7 percent in San Francisco, faster than either of the other Bay Area counties. A few notes: San Francisco’s minimum wage is indexed to inflation and now stands at $10.74.

Consumers, though, did have to pay slightly more at the restaurants. “We did see a small increase, 2.8 percent, in food prices compared to other counties.”