Edwards Plans to Punish the Weak

John Edwards has been running all over Iowa lately promising a higher minimum wage, stricter work safety laws, and a crackdown on "predatory" lenders. These, strangely, are supposed to "reward hard work."

The minimum wage does not reward hard work. It does, however, reward people who deserve a raise but don't argue for one. It also punishes those who have the hardest time getting a job.

Safety laws do not allow hard work to be rewarded but make it more difficult for companies to pay their workers what they deserve. Looks like more people will have to take a larger chunk of their compensation in the form of additional handicap ramps.

Making a loan harder to get isn't going to help those who need a loan. Sub prime rates (loan deals offered to those with a poor credit rating and require a lot of collateral, usually a house) are options that people don't have to take. Here we see the free market offering a chance to those who need it most and Edwards wants to see that option ripped away.