Is there ever a good time to raise the minimum wage?

Rob's comment:

Whenever there's a serious proposal to raise the minimum wage, there's the same exasperating "debate." Conservatives and business groups always argue that giving the lowest paid workers a raise will actually hurt the working poor. 

But when exactly do those folks think raising the minimum wage is a good idea? The answer: never. They think it's a bad idea when the economy is doing poorly, and it's a bad idea now when the economy is doing well.

Who is Douglas Holtz-Eakin? President of the American Action Forum. He thinks Obamacare should be repealed. He doesn't think the working poor deserve either a raise or medical care.

See also this.

Interns: Working for free

VOLUNTEER ON THE BEST BIKING DAY OF THE YEAR!

From The Baffler (Internment Camp):

...With all the books, magazine articles, and pundits barraging us with an alarmingly unified rhetoric of, “Internships give you the edge in a competitive job market, “It’s a win-win situation for both employer and intern,” and “It’s not a job, it’s an education,” it’s easy to forget that internships are practically free money for big business. It’s easy to forget that the kids are getting royally screwed.

Somewhere over the past two or three decades, a secret and shrewdly undeclared war between the titans of the glamour industries and a small undefended segment of the labor pool has been fought, and labor has lost. 

By deft public relations maneuvering, innovation in the face of decreasing cash flow, and the merciless leveraging of an ever-younger, starry-eyed, and unwary segment of the population, the media mandarins have cemented the institution of the internship—working for free—as not merely an acceptable route up the corporate ladder, but the expected one. Tomorrow’s Mike Ovitzes, David Geffens, and Barry Dillers won’t have started in the mailroom at William Morris, they will have been interns there...

Rob's comment:

The SF Bicycle Coalition may not qualify as a "glamour industry," but it gets your politically correct ticket punched if you're pursuing a "green" career, whether in the private or the non-profit/government sector: The Coalition has 17 work-for-nothing jobs available.

See also Whither the Bicycle Coalition?

Thanks to Field of Schemes.