Does a Low Minimum Wage Lead to Terrorism?

A future terrorist?San Diego Union-Tribune/ZUMA Press

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Corrina Robinson, a 25-year armed forces veteran who is running for Congress in South Dakota, won’t officially announce her candidacy until Veterans Day. But she’s already honing her pitch before local Democratic gatherings.

She could use the practice. In remarks she made at a county Democrats dinner, Robinson, who recently left an anti-terrorism job with the Pentagon, suggested that a failure to raise the minimum wage will cause poor South Dakotans to start joining terrorist groups:

“I knew first-hand that we could get on top of a lot of issues with minimum wage, so people can get jobs, so they don’t have to commit crimes, so they don’t have to get into terrorist groups,” she said, describing why she was running for Congress.

Robinson is correct that raising the minimum wage has been shown to reduce violent crime. But prevent domestic terrorism? She might want to take the time between now and Veterans Day to readjust to civilian life.

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