Our prosperity is directly related to our productivity and ingenuity. Paying people to sit at home versus paying them to be productive is a waste of labor resources.
Productivity is king, and incentivizing productivity is what Congress should be in the business of doing. Welfare does not make us better people. While there is justifiable welfare for the disabled or people temporarily out of work, we should replace the vast majority of welfare with workfare and education programs.
My legislation would subsidize jobs created by small businesses that employ the unemployed. Small businesses would be those businesses with revenues under $20 million per year. Jobs/employees would be subsidized for 2 calendar years.
$20 - $22.50 per hour wage | $5 subsidy per hour for 50 hours/week |
$22.51 - $25.00 per hour wage | $6 subsidy per hour for 50 hours/week |
$25.01 - $27.50 per hour wage | $8 subsidy per hour for 60 hours/week |
$27.51- $30.00 per hour wage | $10 subsidy per hour for 60 hours/week |
For example, a $20 per hour job would be subsidized by $5 per hour. That means the small business employer only pays $15 per hour. On a $30 per hour job, the employer would only pay $20 per hour and be subsidized $10 per hour.
Small businesses less than five years old can have up to 50% of their employees on this subsidized program. Small businesses more than five years old but less than ten years old may have 25% of their employees on this program. Small businesses more than ten years old may have 10% of their employees on this program.
My legislation would eliminate America’s minimum wage. Workfare and eliminating the nation’s minimum wage will push American productivity to new levels and increase our gross domestic profit. This should help to breathe new life into America’s neglected small businesses. This should radically reduce America’s unemployment and help in small business development and incubation.
Additionally, my legislation will set a maximum hourly wage for the incarcerated and illegal aliens. This should never exceed $15 per hour. If a business hires an illegal alien and pays them more than $15 per hour, when caught, that business will be fined for every dollar above $15 per hour they made.
My plan would include a daily work release program for non-violent criminals. Criminals would be incentivized to work by getting better meals and better accommodations in prison. At no point would criminals ever be forced to work, it will always be their choice to work or not to work. Only businesses with less than $100 million in revenues may employ prison labor.
Federal prisons would house violent offenders. Within the fences of work-to-release prisons for violent offenders, the prisons may have businesses that produce modular infrastructure components for America’s roadways, airports, harbors, beaches, border walls, and to produce components exclusively for low-income housing. Eliminating the minimum wage allows us to make the unproductive, productive. This significantly lowers the cost of incarceration. Seventy percent of the incarcerated wages are banked after restitution payments are made to their victims. This money helps the prisoner get transportation and housing once released from prison, making it much less likely to re-offend. This work will lower border wall construction costs, highways, bridges, retaining walls, break walls, and low-income housing.
Additionally, those incarcerated for five years or more may use more of their earnings to attend online school in prison. Prisoners in good standing, who pass schooling requirements, would-be candidates for early release. Early release programs can shave up to thirty percent off incarceration time.