"Tonight on Fox9 it was the minimum wage increase proposed by President Obama in Tuesday's State of the Union address (I'll post a link to the segment video when it's available). Standard fare, really -- put more money in people's pockets to drive consumer spending, demand, and ultimately job creation vs. the tired old Republican talking points about small businesses not being able to cope with the added expense of wage increases." Joe
Of course I have concerns regarding this and left 2 comments. The first to Joe."And they are tired old talking points. I'm not saying it's not a prisoner's dilemma -- the selfish solution (keep my business's costs low so it can survive!) makes for a more stable bottom line in the short term, while the unselfish solution (we all pay our workers a bit more so they can afford to buy our stuff!) requires more faith in other business owners than the average Republican is used to having. But raising the minimum wage to keep up with inflation is still the right moral, economic, and political thing to do." Joe
"Joe, Who exactly do you think will pay this higher wage? Who do you think will be most injured by it? I agree that Dueber's had much bigger problems than their employee cost, and I think it is silly to raise that issue. Since this would go country wide, I am pretty sure that most companies will be able to very quickly raise their prices to cover the additional cost. Or they will automate more jobs since they can justify the additional capital costs. Or they will send some more work over seas. So let's see, by mandating a higher minimum wage than the market justifies, we will increase the expenses that are paid by many of the people you strive to help. And we encourage and cost justify the elimination of many of these very low skill entry jobs. Be careful what you wish for, you may get it." John (G2A)And the second in response to Sue's comment.
"What I think we've discovered, over many years of trial and error, in many states, is that those are not the sort of businesses that keep a community prosperous. It isn't always that the employer is mean-spirited; often they simply fall into a business model that requires wages at a certain level, and don't have the imagination or resources to get out of that model. Regardless, moving to a higher-wage economy, in which everyone has a bit more of the pie, will always involve winners and losers. The GOP trick is to make people focus on the losers as much as possible and ignore the greater good of society." Sue
"Please elaborate regarding the "greater good". We raise wages for the least qualified, thus increasing costs for all. And since we are doing it at the Federal level, that means this will drive the same wage whether one lives in a high cost city or a low cost rural town. Also, it will compress the wages at the lower end, unless you believe that it will shift the pay scale up for everyone. Which I guess it could since the higher costs of goods may drive that reaction. I am okay either way, yet it seems like a dog chasing it's tail." John (G2A)So what do you think, will raising the federal minimum wage help or hurt the low income folks? Or will it do nothing except drive inflation? Your rationale?
"Does anyone really deserve an an annual income of $30 million? I think half of that should be shared for the benefit of society and those much less fortunate." Laurie
"I don't agree completely with this writer as choices, including working hard do matter. I just don't see how one accepts that the super rich are 500 times smarter and harder working than someone like me." LaurieNow Laurie is a Progressive, and thus a big fan of Robinhood and a very progressive tax system which is "fair". However there are a whole bunch of Conservatives like me who are against a very Progressive tax system, and prefer a flat tax system because it is "fair".
"As of 2011, the average household income of the top 10 percent of households in the United States was $164,647. For the bottom 90 percent, it was $31,244. The top 1 percent averaged $3,238,386, and the top 0.1 percent $27,342,212. The wealthiest 1 percent of households in the United States possessed 32.7 percent of the wealth, while the bottom 50 percent held between 1 and 2 percent." LaurieWhy are we resistant to raising the taxes on the 1%? Is it fear that some day we would have to pay the bill, a sense of fairness, fear that taxing these people would damage the USA or other?
