Following up on my last post, I started reading this paper.  It looks quite good but it brings up an idea that I think needs to be challenged:

To assist low-wage workers and their families, the federal and state governments provide a set of “work supports”—benefits such as earned income tax credits, child care subsidies, health care coverage, food stamps, and others.

But do these things really “assist low-wage workers”?  How about this: They enable companies to keep labor costs low. eve

All these things that workers need to pay for are supposed to put upward pressure on wages.  By paying for these things, the state takes away this pressure.  Worse, it pays for these “work supports” by either taxing others–which further puts downward pressure on the lower wages–or by inflation which hits the lower end most heavily on average.

These are business subsidies.  In fact, they even make it harder for the work force to move elsewhere.  Servile state, anyone?