Like most Democrats in Utah, Family get-togethers are a great time for family members to gather in a circle, around you, and beat you to insensibility with their Sean Hannity talking points. Ah, the holidays.

This year, an especially nerve tickling issue is Minimum Wage. It makes those Republican just so very angry to hear that poor people deserve a fair break. Like it says here in Matthew 25: 41-46, Democrats have it covered, but the GOP just can’t help spew the Limbaugh Lingo, no matter what evidence you have. Facts and figures, you know, just get in the way.

For those of you determined to stand up to the inevitable onslaught of happy babble, here’s a few points on the minimum wage that Bob Van Velkinburgh sent out earlier this week:

The Jobs Myth
This argument says by increasing wages, workers will be let go and many businesses will have to close. “In truth the evidence indicates that small businesses benefit from a higher wage. A report by the Center for American Progress and Policy Matters Ohio found that the 11 states with a minimum wage above the federal minimum of $5.15 per hour have higher rates of small business growth between1997 and 2003.”

The Poverty Myth
This argument says that poverty rates increase by about 3 percent for every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage. This simply is not so. During the present administration there has been no increase in minimum wages yet the number of Americans living in poverty has increased by another 5.4 million.

Teenager Myth
Conservative right wing dings argue that raising minimum wages only helps teens and no one else. They don’t even want to help the teenagers. During 2005 only 26 percent of minimum wage earners were teenagers (16 years to 19 years), and nearly half (46 percent) were 25years or older.