Pennies from heaven

Happy days are here again, the skies above are clear again:

Minnesota’s legislative Democrats have struck a deal to raise the wages of the state’s lowest-paid workers.

Details of the agreement are expected to be released by House and Senate leaders Monday morning, but two sources with knowledge of the deal said Sunday that the minimum wage would rise to $9.50 an hour and future increases would be linked to increases in inflation.

“I feel really good,” said Deputy Senate Majority Leader Jeff Hayden, a Minneapolis DFLer who had long worked on the minimum wage issue. “I think there are going to be a tremendous amount of smiles [Monday.]”

Especially at this company:

This self-contained, automatic device sees raw ingredients go in one end and the completed custom-made burgers come out the other at the rate of up to 400 per hour. The machine stamps out the patties, uses what the company says are "gourmet cooking techniques never before used in a fast food restaurant,” applies the toppings (which are cut only after ordering to ensure freshness), and even bags the burgers.

Meanwhile, I got this great news from the internet yesterday:

See -- if we raise everyone's wages at WalMart by $5/hour, mac and cheese will only be a penny more per box! We can vote ourselves rich!

You'd think it wouldn't be necessary to explain this to people, especially the highly successful professional who posted this video on Facebook yesterday as if it were holy writ, but here goes: if the only thing that mattered were the price of mac and cheese, the video would make sense. Everyone who is involved in making the box of mac and cheese -- the farmer who grows the grain, the factory that turns the grain into pasta, the box maker who prints the box, and the transportation company that gets the box into Walmart's supply chain -- will also pass their costs along if minimum wage changes go into effect. There's not a chance in hell that the price of the box of mac and cheese will only go up a penny. And meanwhile, the cost of everything else in your basket will go up, too.

But it's all good -- Jeff Hayden is happy. And of course, the lege took care of the home fires, too:

The minimum wage deal came just after resolution of another contentious issue at the Capitol: a new senate office building. Bakk had insisted the new building was needed.

On Friday, House leaders gave their approval.

Many Republicans and some Demo­crats had said that draft plans for the building were too luxurious and at $90 million, including parking structures, were too expensive, especially since the building would not have housed all 67 senators.

The plans House leaders approved last week actually increased the total cost of the building itself but included office space for 67 senators, stripped out some amenities and eliminated a parking ramp. Senate leaders are expected to give the building final approval Monday afternoon, clearing the way for construction of a $77 million office space.

A penny here, a penny there. It's a good bet that the Slate video people helped with the financial analysis.