<p>Walmart was forced to give up plans to build two new stores in poor areas of Washington, DC because it just can&rsquo;t afford the steep minimum wage of $11.50. If a proposed ballot measure is successful in November, that number could increase to $15.</p>
<p>&#8220;District leaders furious Walmart breaking promise to build stores in poor neighborhoods&#8221; ;screams the <em>Washington Post</em> headline. Of course the left-wing newspaper doesn&rsquo;t want to highlight the fact that it was an inflated minimum wage that caused the problem. ;</p>
<p>When asked why the company was downsizing, a Walmart official mentioned the District&rsquo;s steadily increasing minimum wage. He also mentioned a proposal for legislation that would require all DC employers to pay into a fund for medical leave for employees and another that would force employers to adhere to a minimum hours policy. ;These costs are major concerns for the retailer, who already has three stores in the area struggling to do business under ;the crushingly high minimum wage.</p>
<p>Thanks to the Left&rsquo;s &ldquo;bright ideas&rdquo; on economic policy, hundreds of jobs that would have provided $7.25 (or more) per hour are now gone. That leaves hundreds of individuals in DC without work. ;Salena Zito, a wrtier for the <em>Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Sunday</em>, explains why President Obama and other failed Democrats push disastrous wage increases: ;</p>
<p><em>In the Obama economy, wages have not improved; in fact, they have created great unease and not inspired the confidence Americans once had in work &mdash; which is why the president has responded by pushing higher wages for service jobs once meant to be temporary bridges from high school and college to adult life.</em></p>
<p><em>He needed a straw man for his climate-change regulations that closed manufacturing industries, nearly made coal production extinct and clobbered the shale industry. So he blames companies like McDonald&rsquo;s for not doubling the hourly pay for entry-level jobs to mask his inability to address the economic setbacks caused by his politics&hellip;</em></p>
<p>With an economy that can no longer create adequate jobs, Obama and the Dems try to bully stores like Walmart and McDonalds into offer ridiculous wages and benefits that are way outside the current market value. ;This type of economic policy is not sustainable. Walmart has already been forced to close nearly 150 stores in the United States, a sure sign that consumer spending &ndash; the engine that drives today&rsquo;s economy &ndash; is slowing.  ;</p>
<p> ;</p>