RUSH: This is Caden in Reno. Great to have you.

CALLER: Hi, Mr. Limbaugh.

RUSH: Hi.

CALLER: This is just an honor. I just want to say how much of an honor this is to be speaking with you on your show. I am just… I’m doing a speech on Monday in my speech and debate class on where the minimum wage should not be increased.

RUSH: Mmm-hmm.

CALLER: And I would like to… I was wondering if you could give me a couple of talking points on why raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would affect the economy or just business in general.

RUSH: Okay. Caden, but first, before I answer this, do you have a computer? Are you able Google things and search them?

CALLER: Yeah.

RUSH: Okay. Because you’re gonna need to do this because you’re gonna find the evidence I’m gonna give you.

CALLER: Okay.

RUSH: Seattle. You need to search “Seattle and restaurants” and find out what happened to them after the minimum wage was raised to $15 an hour. A bunch of restaurants closed, Caden. Raising the minimum wage — choosing an arbitrary number that has nothing to do with the market and demanding that the least qualified earn that money — means that people get fired. Businesses do not have a pile of money they’re not using that they can go raise wages from. They have to earn it via sales or whatever.

So what happens when the minimum wage is raised arbitrarily on the command of government is that people lose their jobs. More people end up out of work, and the resulting increase in the minimum wage is not enough to counterbalance that at all. But you Google “Seattle and restaurants,” and you’ll find out the number of restaurants that have had to close since they raised the minimum wage to $15. It will be your argument right there. You can do your entire report on that story.