by J. J. Summerell
Chair, Libertarian Party of North Carolina

In his State of the Union speech Tuesday, President Obama announced special new benefits only for employees of government contractors. Via executive order, he raised the minimum wage for employees of federal government contractors to $10.10 per hour, a 32 percent increase over North Carolina’s current $7.65 minimum wage.

No other workers in the country have this benefit. The cost of this political favoritism will easily be passed on from the contractors to the government and, finally, to the taxpayers.

At a time when public sector pay and benefits are already significantly higher than their privately employed counterparts, this executive order smacks of cronyism, political arrogance, and economic ignorance.

Other Libertarian Response to the State of the Union

“All in all, the state of our union is a big mess created by Republicans and Democrats.” said Wes Benedict, Libertarian Party executive director.

“Thanks to unprecedented levels of government interference and government coercion, Americans’ rights are violated like never before. We are harmed by taxes, regulations, prohibitions, and shocking privacy intrusions,” he said. Read his full statement onLP.org.

Listen to Cato scholars as they live-blogged their reactions to what the president said—and what he left out.