Both it seems

A comment about how underskilled the "working poor" are?

If America had no welfare, entitlements, and minimum wage laws, companies would be forced to pay employees enough to live on or risk losing them to competitors.

At the same time, dependency continues to grow, progressing the moral decline of America using the empire crushing votes for loot system.

Hope and change, Obama style.

I call shenanigans on the author for claiming that jacking the minimum wage would simply get these people off food stamps and would NOT increase prices. That is a crock.

Well stated.

The link cited in the opinion piece to the study showing 73% of the country 's welfare recipients is broken. So there is no evidence to support the claim. It does take you to a UC Berkeley page that includes a study done for Oakland CA on the impact of raising minimum wage. Big box stores and fast food stores are designed for entry level positions. An ambitious employee can move out of the entry level fairly quickly if they can get the hours and take advantage of on the job training. There is incredible turnover in those jobs. One assumes workers get better opportunities, more hours elsewhere, go to school etc. It is a fallacy that people only earn minimum wage for long periods of their working life with no opportunities of advancement, with the exception of undocumented workers or those in the US illegally . The crony situation is obvious, but a company is in business to make profits. And yes many have cut back employee 's hours directly related to ACA not because they are evil and don 't want to offer benefits.

Is this a comment on low wages or a reflection of just how big the welfare state has become?