Has anyone thought of this in regards to minimum wage?

I Would Think This Is All Common Knowledge

The Problem, Is Other's Common Sense

 

There are few places, if any, where the minimum wage "is a decent living".

And EVERYPLACE in our country the current minimum wage buys FAR less than it did when America's economy was growing massively in the past.

 

That history has both advantages and disadvantages. Being illegal has more disadvantages economically, but the one advantage being illegal has is that you generally work for cash. That means little or no paper trail.

 

It has been proven that the federal government has known better than the red states about how to care for their citizens. Also many red states rely on the taxpayers to pay for workers instead of the companies in their states.

Of course, you will disagree but the public and the workers agree.

 

I agree with you but the first step should be to raise the minimum wage to what it was worth in the '60s. Other workers will pressure for better wages because they would be closer to the minimum wage. Right now workers have no say about what they are worth. Workers have to stop accepting what they get but they can only do that if they unite in some way.

 

It is possible for the areas that have a higher cost of living than the minimum wage can cover to increase their local minimum wage. There is no reason to raise the national min.

 

Also, in its inception, the minimum wage was worth $4.08. During the huge growth of the 90's, the minimum wage averaged an inflation adjusted rate of $7.09. Every biased article I read supporting the min wage increase uses the period 1968-present, but they don't tell you that 1968 was the peak of minimum wage value. Inflation adjusted, the current min wage is 78% higher than when min wage was created.

 

Has it been proven? Is the study over? What will happen to the well-being of the citizens of the blue states as they continue to go bankrupt? Of course, we all know that there will likely be a mass exodus of libs to financially sound red states.

Actually, a lot of red states have a low cost of living. In my state, a bright red state, $10/hr in most areas is a comfortable income. Also, I don't buy the whole "let's lower the qualifications to receive aid and complain about wages not being high enough to keep people off of aid" argument.

29 states currently have a minimum wage at or below the federal minimum. Perhaps, the public should start contacting their state reps if they want an increase. I am really not sure why you folks think a national increase is needed. Do you have a link to a poll of the public that follows the actual demographics of the public which show support for a national min increase?

 

If there was the collective will to raise the minimum wage, it would have been done already. But that's not the case. I live in Wisconsin, and at least in my state the tools that workers used to pressure for better wages are being systematically outlawed. The rules have changed, and good-willed people need to adapt.

I agree with the principle, but also have to acknowledge that a lot of people here have nothing but ill will and hatred for their countrymen. These people have a vote too, and right now their numbers are large enough to negate the efforts of people who are still working in the best interests of our nation. So the real issue isn't what the Right Thing to do is, but how we can persuade people with cold hard hearts to allow some good to be done.

If we can't persuade to do the Right Thing, then maybe we can appeal to more selfish motives. Since the devotees of voodoo economics are supposed to be all in on corporate stocks, one possible motivation to give them is a better return on their investments. These days few shareholders bother to vote their shares, and that abdication has created a situation where corporate profits are easily diverted from shareholders and labor to top management. The wide ratios between the compensation of top executives and the lowest paid employees in the US is unfair to both the lowest paid and the shareholders. That's common ground! And it's a start that just might work in today's real world conditions.

 

If you actually succeed in the fool's errand of increasing the national minimum wage, what will you do to persuade large employers from taking even more jobs to LCCs?

ADD: I work for a large automotive mfg company as an engineer. I really do not want to move to Mexico. I have a feeling that if VW unionizes in the South and the national wage is increased, my job will be south of the border.

 

"VW" is Volkswagen AG, a German company that has outsourced work from Germany to the US, apparently giving you your job. That truly is interesting!

I don't get the connection between "VW unionizes in the South" and you having to move to Mexico though. "Engineer" is a salaried, white collar position--non-union. What's the connection?

 

I don't work for VW. They are in Chattanooga. If min wage increases, it will force wage increases to maintain a staff at a job that is much more difficult than most min wage jobs. The alternative is to move production to Mexico which also removes union threat. Engineering follows mfg.

 

You don't work for VW??? So exactly why would your future be dictated by VW?

That's the textbook definition of a slippery slope argument. For such a prophecy to come true, lots of increasingly unlikely things must happen just so. If the random sequence of events ever happens, and happens to result in what you claim will happen, then you'll have a point. But no such thing has happened yet, so it's about as credible as saying space aliens play with your junk.

When it comes to speculation about ridiculous odds, why not focus on something happy? Try counting your lottery winnings instead! It's an equally unlikely outcome, but there is hard evidence that a positive attitude is beneficial to positive thinkers. It's also a lot friendlier than the "kill the poor" mantra. IJS

 

You want even MORE bureaucracy and complexity with this senseless, unconstitutional meddling in private enterprise by the Federal Government?! You want a two-tiered minimum wage?! When are people ever going to understand that a worker is worth only what he can command in the human labor market -- and that's true whether he's a nuclear physicist or a burger-flipper....

Oh, but here comes another interesting consideration -- after Comrade Obama finally becomes successful in giving citizenship to millions of illegal aliens in return for their votes, American workers will have to compete with Pedro and Hortensia for even the lowest-of-the-low crap jobs! Anybody who voted for this lying, deceitful, jive-ass clown should go look in the mirror if they want to see who is really responsible for our ever having put a socialist thing like this in the White House!

 

Depends on your definition of a good economy. The economy is VERY good right now for the 5%. I consider a good economy to be one where everybody has a few bucks for incidentals. So do most small shop owners.

 

You can bet those states are raising their min. wage because the retail trade organizations in that state are pushing them to so.

 

Yep, it has been proven with civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, disabled rights, voters' rights and workers' rights. I am sure that I could come up with others.

Red states generally rely more on federal money to take care of their citizens. Blue states try to do it better than the federal government.

There will be businesses (when they can) moving to red states to get better deals for themselves but blue states still compete for their business.

That has nothing to do with red states relying on the federal government to take care of their citizens.

I am not sure that any state can have a minimum wage lower than the federal minimum. They may say that they do but I would think that any citizen affected could challenge that.

 

Of course it does. If he hadn't been able to absorb those costs, THEN it would not have been a good policy.

That's why Eisenhower and Marshall wanted to rebuild Germany. Countries in ruins cannot buy you products. The same concept applies to the $7.25 min. wage.

 

Still hanging on to this debunked myth, huh?

 

There is a collective will but Boehner will not let the House vote on it.

Ugh! I hate when posters say that we should accept unfairness.

Yes, that would be nice but there is an incestial relationship among the very rich. I definitely want to reduce the wage gap but I think that correcting the minimum wages is a better first step.

 

That wouldn't be an issue if the electorate took their role in governing the nation seriously. It never should have been allowed to get to a situation where Boehner is cowed by a bunch of idiots who act like they have dynamite strapped to their chests.

I never said we should accept it! Quite the opposite in fact. My suggestion is that if you're blocked from one direction, try a different direction. If Congress drags its feet, take the fight right to Big Business!

The Sherman Antitrust Act was supposed to have prohibited the "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" situation.

I agree that the minimum wage needs to be adjusted, but it's just one part of a larger system that's broken. I think it's more important to bring actual change than it is to commit to only one change. If the do-nothing Congress refuses to act on one issue, hammer them on another. And work hard to get more people to vote in 2014!

 

If you wish to completely ignore the sequence of events that have led to the migration of mfg jobs from the north because of unions and from the country because of regulation and required labor wages, that is up to you, but making a joke out of it further supports the case made in your previous posts that you are rather ignorant on the whole subject.

 

Poll please? I don't think there is a collective other than those that directly benefit. Most folks are not morons and realize that a national increase is not a benefit to everyone. If you want an increase, go to your state govt. and vie for the national treasure trove of unskilled labor. Skilled labor making $10/hr do not need their production power slashed or their job forced to Mexico.

Ugh! I hate when posters try to objectify their opinion of fairness.

Most of the compensation for these top level execs is in the form of stock options which blows your whole "stockholders are getting screwed" argument out of the window. I mean, pay attention to the liberal talking points woudl you. You guys have been complaining for years that these execs have an unfair tax situation from utilizing the cap gains tax.

This wealth gap is another stupid notion. The wealth is not a static amount. Someone doesn't have to take your wealth in order to get more. In fact, everytime artificial wealth transfer is forced or coerced, potential wealth creation is destroyed. You guys always want to change the rules to benefit your current position on the board instead of just playing the game. Also, you do realize that the top 10% is a dynamic membership, right? Roughly half of the people in the lowest quintile stay there through 20 years, and roughly half the people in the top quintile stay there after 20 years factoring out death of course. Saying that increasing the minimum wage is going to do anything as far as increasing the wage gap is ridiculously foolish. More established, wealthy businesses will have the stability to pass the cost on to the consumer or simply wait out the smaller less founded competition and gain market share. In fact, almost everything you guys support creates a further centralization of wealth.

I say to give the rest of us some reprieve from these idiotic demands, go out and find someone rich and beat the hell out of them. Get it out of your system.

 

Quit Voting For Economy Crushers
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Right, and in addition, the people who make cars at the several auto plants in Alabama clear almost as much as union workers do when the cost of living is factored in. The UAW has cut its throat in several ways. Back in the mid 70s (I think it was then) the UAW sued the auto companies for the workers to stop the companies from banning foreign car brands from their parking lot. That was the beginning of the hard times for US auto makers. We, the labor force of the US, did it to ourselves.