Is the federal minimum wage constitutional?

[A18]

I think it's pretty obvious that the authors were refering to commerce across state lines. Many states under the Articles of Confederation were placing taxes on each other's goods; it was a pain to trade between states.

[John Dibble]

I'm pretty sure the founders didn't consider wage when they wrote the commerce clause. They likely meant the trade of goods more than anything else.

All commerce is related - if you buy a candy bar it's probably going to profit an out of state company. Yet the retailer could be a local - outside of the goods he sells, everything else is local. Since the founders saw fit to distinguish between all commerce and interstate commerce, I think it should probably only deal with goods that cross state lines.

That being said, if the states want a minimum wage that is their business. Let red states be red states and blue states be blue states.

[The Duke]

I said it's constitutional; that's different from saying it's a good idea.

Have you ever heard of the substantive effects doctrine?