The Young Lose From a Higher Minimum Wage

Warm weather is coming, and with it the perennial student search for a summer job. Though often seen as an economic cure-all, minimum-wage requirements have the unintended consequence of decreasing economic opportunity for young workers and making that treasured summer job harder to find. --Over half of those who earn at or below the minimum wage are between the ages of 16 and 24, many in the hospitality and leisure sector. Since the majority of those earning minimum wage are younger workers, increases in the minimum-wage rate affect them the most. Negative effects extend into the future, because young people often use minimum-wage jobs as steppingstones to better careers.

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From Rubio and other young GOP stars, Obama-style inspiration

WASHINGTON POST, 2/21/2010 by Kathleen Parker (Hat tip: Hot Air) - Rubio brought plenty of raw meat to the table [at CPAC], but that was the least of his charms. As speeches go, there wasn't much new to chew on. Think "Groundhog Day" to a country music soundtrack. ∴ But amid the expected was something fresh that will serve Republicans well in the coming months -- and years. The traditional GOP is getting younger and less pale. Rubio, a Tea Party favorite who is challenging Florida Gov. Charlie Crist for the U.S. Senate, may be the Republican Party's Barack Obama. ∴ More important, he is one of a crop of young leaders who are first-generation Americans, sons and daughters of exiles, who can talk about the American Dream in a personal way. The 38-year-old son of Cuban immigrants, he is a natural pitchman for a new GOP. It doesn't hurt that he is photogenic. Read more at the Washington Post... Read More......