Ask Me Help Desk - Minimum wage

Minimum wage

Hello:

Right wingers WRONGLY assert that if you raise the cost of employment, there'll be LESS of it. It's a NICE idea. It's just WRONG.

Let's take your local McDonald's.. Right wingers say that if they HAD to pay their employees $15/hr, they'd hire FEWER employees. But, that ASSUMES your local Micky Dee's has EXTRA help just hanging around, and that they can KEEP the same level of quality and service with FEWER employees...

As a businessman, that of course, is STUPID. Let's assume that the price of beef goes up, as it does. Would that mean they'll buy LESS of it?? No, OF COURSE it doesn't mean that. It means that they'll have to raise prices or make less. Personally, when my COSTS go up, as they do EVERY DAY, my PRICES do too.

I NOW pay more than ANY employer I know who does what I do. Given right wing wrong headed policies, I SHOULD be going broke. Interestingly, I'm NOT.

How come right wingers DON'T understand the free market?

excon

I see you've gotten the memo. I gotta admit, you lefties are good soldiers.

only the libs think flipping burgers at Micky Ds is a career. What a scam . The real reason for all this fuss is that many union contracts are negotiated at a base line of the min. wage . If the min wage doubles that means that union wages goes up too. This has nothing to do with so called living wage. The only thing that will happen is the price of the burgers will go up..... lower skilled workers and young workers will now be competing for their jobs with a larger pool of people willing to do the job..... and when possible ,Micky Ds will automate their process.

Hello again, tom:

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and when possible ,Micky Ds will automate their process.

THIS is an EXCELLENT example of right wingers NOT understanding the market place..

First off, Micky D's IS as automated as it can be. What possibly makes you think they aren't? Your WRONGHEADED assumption, is that WHEN they come up with a NEW way to automate, they'll put it on the shelf because they'll have to fire a few employees...

??????

excon

They're just trying to change the subject from Obamacare, it has nothing to do with anything else.

Hello Steve:

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I see you've gotten the memo. I gotta admit, you lefties are good soldiers.

Do you wanna criticize my SOURCES or do you wanna address my post???

Look. If I was as BEREFT as your side is, with ANY ideas how to move this country forward, I'd talk about the weather too..

Bwa, ha ha ha.

excon

At least you admit it's because you got the memo. I'm not opposed to raising the minimum wage but I do think $15 is a bit much and I agree with tom's assessment. And as long as you guys control the WH and Senate you'll be able to keep making your mythical claims to us having no ideas because you know they are all DOA in Reid's Senate.

nah they aren't as automated as they can be yet .... and the workers that are left are low skilled . When I started out as a teen and a young man ,I did not begin at a top wage . I was doing dishes ,mopping floors ,slinging hash in a greasy spoon. I was paid what I was worth .It had nothing to do with 'living wage' .It was more about my value to my employer. I left many of those jobs on the way up the ladder . I never felt cheated .

The unemployment rate among teenagers is the highest of all age groups .In some areas like DC ,it's over 50% . DC recently allowed Walmart to open up shop . 23,000 people applied for 600 jobs. Evidently there are still some people willing to work for what the lib politicans deem less than 'living 'wages'.

A higher min wage will force these same applicants to compete with a larger pool of workers .

Hello again, Steve:

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At least you admit it's because you got the memo.

If it makes you feel better to think I'm a bot, think it.

excon

Where I live, in the northeast, no one anywhere pays the federal minimum, and of course many states have higher minimums. I agree that it's high time to raise the federal minimum,but I think $15 is a whopping and senseless amount. I haven't seen a single protester who is making the federal minimum.
I take issue with the vagueness of 'living wage.' I see too many people who think they should not have to learn a skill, should have their own apartment without doubling up with family or roommates, who think they can have the luxury of children, AND be paid for all that. They call that a living wage - how can I support my family? You shouldn't have a family until you have worked, learned, and saved.
There's nothing wrong with people getting rich. There's something wrong with loopholes to get rich.
That makes me in the dreaded middle of the road. So run me over.

Quote:

Originally Posted by excon

Hello again, Steve:
If it makes you feel better to think I'm a bot, think it.

excon

It's certainly "coincidental" that you, Tal and Obama have all made this today's issue. I don't blame you, you aren't winning the Obamacare battle and I don't foresee a jump to $15 any time soon either.

Hello again, Steve:

I watch the news. I don't get memos. Maybe tal watches the news too.

excon

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I agree that it's high time to raise the federal minimum,but I think $15 is a whopping and senseless amount. I haven't seen a single protester who is making the federal minimum.
I take issue with the vagueness of 'living wage.' I see too many people who think they should not have to learn a skill, should have their own apartment without doubling up with family or roommates, who think they can have the luxury of children, AND be paid for all that. They call that a living wage - how can I support my family? You shouldn't have a family until you have worked, learned, and saved.

Joy - I love you...

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello again, Steve:

I watch the news. I don't get memos. Maybe tal watches the news too.

excon

You must watch MSNBC, they get the memo. FOX and CNN cut Obama's sixth pivot to the economy this year way short.

Hello again, Steve:

Still talking about ME, huh?? That's all you got?

excon

I believe I already gave my opinion on the subject more than once today. People are going to need a raise since Obamacare though, so you may be onto something.

I almost said something about this possibility but here it is, Dems want the emperor to bypass Congress (again) and raise the minimum wage unilaterally for workers employed through government contracts. I mean why not, he is the emperor - the law is whatever he deems it to be.

Let's introduce some reality here, you know reality its what happens in daily life.

Where I live we have had a living minimum wage for years, has our economy collapsed,? no. In fact we have one of the strongest economies in the world with low unemployment. the minimum wage has little impact on employment and giving those in the economy who can't afford anything but the most basic boosts demand in the economy because they spend what they get, it is actually job creating, not job destroying. The minimum wage doesn't affect rates paid to skilled workers

and unskilled youth unemployment in Aussie is 17% ;and 63% of all jobs lost were jobs for young, unskilled Aussies. That min. wage is certainly working out for them.

What gets me is the notion that anyone who doesn't like $15/hr is a right winger.
I'm far from right wing. I'm for some increase in the minimum, like to 10.
I'm still waiting to hear this mythical 'living wage' definition.
Everyone here (I think) is old enough to have scraped by when young and thought nothing of it.
Now we have the Entitlement Generation.
Oh - and studies from other countries show that high school drop outs increase a lot when the minimum wage is high.
I can think of countless jobs such as bank teller and starting salary teacher in some states who make less than 15. What will they do? And so on up the skill and training and education ladder?

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I'm still waiting to hear this mythical 'living wage' definition.

No need for food stamps. Be different with 4/5% real unemployment, and those 50,000 closed and moved factories operating. But if retail and service jobs being created one out of four? And NO jobs bill with all the work that NEEDS to be done?

Cry me a river about not have a living wage and not doing the work that needs doing. You can't have it both ways and holler lazy, entitled, or any other winger excuses, and not be called a winger. But at least you can see some raise for the working poor. You ain't loony. Split the difference at $13.50. Let the CEO's and paper pushers figure out how to take care of the sweating workers. Or the owners of those billion dollar sweat shops.

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and unskilled youth unemployment in Aussie is 17% ;and 63% of all jobs lost were jobs for young, unskilled Aussies. That min. wage is certainly working out for them.

matter of perspective and definition Tom. Youth wages are set as a percentage of the minimum adult wage so it can only add to unemployment after they reach their majority. the reason for youth unemployment is that those job creators aren't creating jobs here either. I see where GM is withdrawing from Australia, 'just as they are from Europe, it's cheap to manufacture in South Korea

They should remember we have long memories and are loyal to manufacturers who give us local content. their reasons are a high Aussie dollar and manufacturing costs, Wages are not a high component of that, it is electricity, transport and we know that your QE has driven up the value of our currency

In any case you try to get some of these youths to work, it's a lost cause, if it hasn't got a screen and a game they don't want to know. Reality sets in around 25. In our economy those who want to work will find employment but there are many who opt out and become a statistic. If they get a job they can rely on being paid at least the minimum and are thus not slave labour the alternative is called New Start and gives them enough money to catch the bus

A whopping 4.7 percent of hourly workers make minimum wage, half under the age of 25. Once again a crisis that really isn't a crisis.But again, they're going to need a raise to pay for Obamacare and make it in their new part time jobs.

Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2012

It's a crisis for the 4.7%. Give them a raise.

Betting many of them work in restaurants where addition revenue from tips are standard . Betting some work retail where commissions add to their pay.

Betting most work at McDonald/Wendy's/Burger King or Walmart, where there are no tips or commissions.

nobody works for min wage here in NY for any job. If $15 is a reasonable "living wage " why not make it $25 ;$35,$50 ? .

COL varies considerably around the US. That is why so many states have higher minimum wages. Around the entire northeast and NY corridor, you won't find a single minimum wage being paid. And I don't think that exempt jobs (waiters) are even included in the stats.

Supply and demand usually determine what wages are paid unskilled jobs. But now that we are in a recession, employers cut wages as much as they can get away with. It is time to raise the minimum, but 15 would just push up all the low paying skilled jobs, AND raise the COL. It isn't the SOLUTION to much of anything!

The PROBLEM is the change in the global economy means we no longer have much manufacturing to give jobs to under trained people to learn on the job. We have known for decades that service jobs were going to be all that was left for them. Did we expand our trade schools? Nope. Welding jobs are still going begging! Especially underwater welding! There are tons of fracking jobs. The people working at fast food and big box stores don't have the wherewithal to get out of the rut they are in.

Is raising it enough to match what they get in food stamps unreasonable? Haven't figured out what that is yet, but its where I would start. But as I remember one of Obamas proposals was for a training program for the unemployed where companies would get subsidies for the salaries they paid. That sounded reasonable but went nowhere.

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Its a crisis for the 4.7%. Give them a raise.

Most of them probably live their parent(s).

Food stamps are paid out on a sliding scale according to a formula based on income.
I got so tired of people on Facebook saying 'it's $4.50/day' that I went to the SNAP website and filled out an application without submitting it. Even the CEO of Panera lived on 4.50/day for a month, without bothering to even get the facts.

People who get only 4.50/day HAVE INCOME, and not a small income either.
People on welfare get considerably more.

FEEL FREE TO GO LOOK.

I bet many have kids. Or rent, or get up early to catch a bus to work.

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Did we expand our trade schools? Nope. Welding jobs are still going begging! Especially underwater welding! There are tons of fracking jobs. The people working at fast food and big box stores don't have the wherewithal to get out of the rut they are in.

We became seduced with liberal arts colleges . I advise every kid I know relocate to where the job market is hot (even though it's very cold these days in North Dakota these days ).
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money...ota/50136572/1
Workers Missing in Job Boom - KWES NewsWest 9 / Midland, Odessa, Big Spring, TX: newswest9.com |
Pennsylvania job scene booms with Marcellus shale | Oil Patch Asia

of course on the other side of the border is upstate NY where liberal's policies have kept the region in a continuos state of depression (except perhaps in the college towns like Ithica ).

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Food stamps are paid out on a sliding scale according to a formula based on income.
I got so tired of people on Facebook saying 'it's $4.50/day' that I went to the SNAP website and filled out an application without submitting it.
People who get only 4.50/day HAVE INCOME, and not a small income either.
People on welfare get considerably more.

But they are the working poor, many single females with kids. KIDS need attending, and food is but a start.

The amount is increased for each child.
I'm not going to spell out how it's done when it's easy and very enlightening to go look.
Just make up a scenario for a single working mother, etc, and don't finish it.

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I advise every kid I know relocate to where the job market is hot (even though it's very cold these days in North Dakota these days ).

It's a good solution but extremely challenging without a lot of help and support. Any move requires a well thought out plan. Some companies though do provide for help if they know you are interested and serious about relocating and that's a good thing if you have no other contacts or relatives where your going.

Lateral mobility is often harder than upward mobility. Doing nothing is not an acceptable option when you have nothing.

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But they are the working poor, many single females with kids. KIDS need attending, and food is but a start.

Trust me, it's the single females without children who get the short end of the welfare stick. You try living on less than $600 a month with $70 worth of food stamps.

Why is a single female without children on welfare?
And you know one who gets 600/mo + 70? 600 is high for welfare singles and 70 is low.
AGAIN - the food stamps are on a sliding scale.

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Any move requires a well thought out plan

Nah just get up and go. You think the Okies had a plan except to get to California where the jobs were ?

She's my daughter and she's disabled. I believe her SSI is $550.