Even if a particular transaction costs more, you not only feel better about yourself, you also have faith that you are saving money in the long run by getting better services or goods the first time.
Now imagine that the Utah Legislature passed, and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. absent-mindedly signed, a law that said you could not spend your own money that way. A law that said you could not take such matters into account but basically had to buy the cheapest stuff, even from outfits whose business practices offend you.
Of course, a great many of you don't have to imagine being such a wise consumer, because that's exactly how you choose to spend your money. At least some of the time.
And it has become a little easier, though no less offensive, to imagine such a ridiculous law. Because that's exactly what Senate Bill 139 does. It just does not, as yet, do it to you.
In a move that can only be interpreted as another legislative slap at Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, the law forbids cities and counties from doing exactly what Anderson wanted to do. He wanted to make it a policy for the city to give extra points to vendors and contractors who pay their workers a living wage.
Households making less than a living wage - estimated to be $9.06 an hour with medical benefits or $10.56 an hour without - are basically directed to public assistance of one form or another. Or to crime.
So it makes perfect sense for a governmental unit to prefer businesses that not only are likely to have more highly skilled employees, but also are likely to keep their own workers off the public dole.
The good news is that Huntsman now says he can't remember signing the bill and that the concept of a living wage is worth discussing.
The living-wage backers should emulate Bobby Kennedy on this one. Pretend you didn't get the hostile message from the Politburo about those missiles in Cuba. Instead, respond enthusiastically to the friendly overture you received from Khrushchev.
Allowing everyone to save face in the ensuing negotiations will be good for all.
