the minimum wages of sin is. . .

The problem with your vice president shooting people is that you just miss so much. . . .

Here’s something I heard nothing about until I caught a reference to it on Sirotablog. New Fed Chief Ben Bernanke was on the Hill testifying before the House Financial Services Committee when he was questioned by Vermont Representative Bernie Sanders (I) about the minimum wage.

SANDERS: Chairman Bernanke, should the Congress raise the minimum wage so that every worker in America who works 40 hours a week escapes from poverty? A very simple question, sir.

BERNANKE: I'm going to be an economist and give you the one hand, the other hand. On the minimum wage, it's actually a very controversial issue among economists. Clearly, if you raise the minimum wage, then those workers who retain their jobs will get higher income and therefore it helps them. The concerns that some economists have raised about the minimum wage are first, is it as well targeted as it could be? That is, how much of the increase is going to the teenage children of suburban families, for example? And secondly, does it have any employment effects? That is, do higher wages lower employment of low-wage workers?

SANDERS: And your response is?

BERNANKE: My response is that I think it doesn't lower employment.

That loud crashing sound you heard (OK, would have heard if it hadn’t been drowned out by the sound of a pricey Italian shotgun) is the conservative argument against the minimum wage falling to ground. . . again.

Bernie, by the way, is running for the Senate seat now occupied by the retiring Jim Jeffords (I-VT). It would be great to see a guy like Sanders in the Senate. Check him out. Help him out.