On The Minimum Wage
In a tweet, John Thune, Senate Minority Whip and Senior Senator of South Dakota describes how, in the 1970s, he began working bussing tables at a local restaurant for $1/hour. He slowly moved up to earning $6/hour as a cook in the same establishment which he describes as “the big league” "for a kid like him." As pointed out by many critics, these wages, with inflation, would be akin to $23/hour in 2021. In his example, Mr. Thune’s top pay was marginally more than twice that of the minimum wage of the time, which stood at $2.90 in 1979. It is clear from the senator’s story that the restaurant he dedicated himself to in his early work life had the margin of profit and the decency to pay him in a manner that respected his efforts and the value of his labor.
