"Where are the statistics to suggest that people 55+ are taking all the minimum wage jobs?" The evidence is only anecdotal and theoretical. In theory, the elde

"Where are the statistics to suggest that people 55+ are taking all the minimum wage jobs?" The evidence is only anecdotal and theoretical. In theory, the elderly cannot work as hard as young professionals but have a stronger work ethic than the very young, so they will compete with the young for low-wage, low-difficulty labour. For an anecdote, you can go to Wal-Mart and see all of the old people in the entry-level low-paying jobs there that high school students could also do. "Why does this author mention Bush four times?" Because it's a politically-motivated response to a politically-motivated piece that blamed a core Democratic Party principle for events that also took place when Bush was in power. "The blogger is editorializing worse than the WSJ here" It's some guy's blog. He's not pretending to be a professional journalist. "Essentially all of the counter points were mentioned in the WSJ article up front" The blogger's counterpoints are that 1) the current depression hurt teen employment and began before the minimum wage was raised, 2) the drop in teen employment began a long time before the minimum wage was raised, 3) certain numbers in the WSJ article are exaggerated or false, 4) youth in summer jobs have a lower minimum wage than the WSJ article says they do, and 5) the young have an increase in competition from the 55+. Only the first counterpoint is addressed.