This week, New York Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos dashed any hope workers advocates had for a minimum wage increase this year. He released a letter that essentially called a minimum wage increase non-negotiable issue for his members.

Senator Skelos is against a proposal that would raise the minimum wage in New York from $7.25 to $8.50 next year with future increases tied to the rate of inflation. It's a modest plan, but even this compromise seems to be dead for the near future.

Here's why Senator Skelos' thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea. And why he's wrong:

Senator Skelos argues that raising the minimum wage is just another example of the extreme "taxing and spending binge" that progressives push for. This argument is confusing at best, raising the minimum wage is neither "taxing" nor "spending." The minimum wage is a public policy designed to ensure the public is compensated fairly and has disposable income to spend to keep our businesses strong. It is also not part of some radical progressive "binge" as he implies, there's nothing extreme about the minimum wage. It is not a fringe idea from the far left, as recently as last week, 78% of New Yorkers polled supported increasing the minimum wage.