Nobody ever accused Charlie Crist, former Republican, now Democrat, of being the sharpest knife in the drawer, but at least give him credit for honesty for once. In yesterday’s Florida gubernatorial debate, he admitted that in his value system it is better to throw people out of work in order to force employers to give higher wages to a few people unable to raise their skills or performance to a level that would command higher-than-minimum wages.

I credit CNN’s Jake Tapper for asking the tough question that Democrats would rather avoid (video)

There is an obvious follow-up on the fiscal impact of 50,000 more people receiving unemployment benefits, food stamps, and the entire panoply of subsidies that must be paid-for by working taxpayers.

Meanwhile, a surprising conservative voice comes out advocating a full pander on minimum wages from the GOP. Newsmax publisher Chris Ruddy writes:

Democrats in the Senate, and President Obama, have expressed support for raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10.

They are right. Let’s join with them and raise the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour.

When I stop and think of the more than $10 trillion that went to Wall Street and the banks after the economic meltdown, I wonder why as a nation we can’t help working folks make $10 an hour, at a minimum.

Let’s do some back of the envelope math. If a person works 40 hours a week at $10 an hour, that comes out to a total of $400 a week. This is roughly $20,000 a year.

According to the federal government, the poverty level for a family of four is just over $23,000 a year.

Republicans have, for the most part, opposed such a measure, citing the negative impact it could have on employment and the economy.

They might be advised to re-examine their position.

Higher minimum wages higher unemployment, higher taxes, fewer jobs: how is this something to fight for?