Like so many other concepts promoted by the left, self-proclaimed progressives and their allies in organized labor have used the term “living wage” to mislead the public and justify government intervention in this case on behalf of organized labor. While the term “living wage” evokes sympathy and sounds innocuous, the real objective of the “living wage” in the eyes of organized labor is to use the coercive power of the government to unionize millions of new workers at the expense of the taxpayer and the American economy.