"It's a bad idea, even fast food workers get paid more than minimum wage. Only immigrants and hired on temp workers get paid that really, and with a hihger minimum wage more immmigrants with flood in." Apparently you have never been in a place where you couldn't eat because you had no more money or perhaps you can't get to work anymore because your vehicle has been re-posessed because you can't afford to pay for it anymore. No fast-food worker I know of gets paid much more than minimum wage. My wife used to be a manager and she only made $6 and hour. Not even close to being enough to pay bills. It is absolutley impossible for a single person with a child to get by on a minimum wage salary today. So what if it caused further inflation. We need to focus on the people out there that cant get by because they don't make enough. They might be undereducated, but working at 5.15 and hour, how the hell are they supposed to go back to school? Like someone else said...... "Its like a double edged sword..." You can't win if you do raise it and you can't win if you don't.
As good as a mimimum wage hike sounds, it does more damage than it does good. Firstly, most people earning minimum wage are teenagers flipping burgers. These are also known as 'minimum skill' jobs. They do not need money, rather, they desire it. Secondly, A hike on minimum wage causes jobs to be cut. If you only have x amount of money to spend, and workers a-e make .2x, you can only hire five workers. If workers a-j make .1x, you can hire ten workers, double production, etc. Also, you have to keep in mind, the inflation factor, which is self-explanitory.
Are you insane or do you live on another planet? I suggest taking a high school economics class and using common sense. Most people who make minimum wage are not teenagers, there are people out there attempting to raise familys on this. Second, if minimum wage were to go up, then the pay for other jobs would also rise. And if you want to talk about skills, then perhaps they should start teaching everyone some life skills in high school instead of offering study hall, perhaps they should train people in these minimum wage jobs with a marketable skill, so that they have the opportunity to do more and earn a higher living. Perhaps college education should be free to anyone who wants to learn. Perhaps we should be more concerned with the people in poverty here in this country than fighting for control of oil in other countries. Then you want to discuss double production, again common sense. When half of your 10 workers call out sick because they can't catch the bus, or because they are sick and can't afford medicine, or they are depressed and unproductive, then you are back at square one. I wish people weren't so greedy.
Actually, ReElectGore sounds like he took (and passed) a high school economics class, I'm not sure where you were 4th period. He's right, higher minimum wage will cause jobs to be cut, since it will no longer be profitable to have 10 workers instead of 5. That's the idea of downsizing (and there would be a lot more of that as well ). As for this irresistably quotable quote: You're saying we should be teaching 17 year olds how to work on assembely lines, how to flip burgers and how to drive buses just so they'll be able to go out and get a job when they graduate? School is to educate kids, to promote intelligent growth, not to teach them how to get jobs. As for college being free to those who want to learn, it's a good idea, but the sad fact is that most of the people who need a college education don't want one. They're the same people who dropped out of high school because 9th grade math was too difficult during 11th grade, and were too busy getting pregnant or fucking around to actually learn a thing or two during high school. The smart, motivated ones will learn and rise out of their poverty (it happens every day), and the dumb unmotivated ones will flip their burgers and bag their groceries.
Why wouldn't you teach people these skills? You have never heard of a trade school where you live? They are all over this state, for the people who would rather learn a trade. And I actually worked for a program that taught high school students how to get jobs, how to manage their money/credit, how to live in the real world, because someone has got to explain to them that when they are 18 and done school, they have to go out into the real world and figure these things out. That is also a service that the DOE provides, here. But of course you wouldn't know anything about actual employment issues. Do you know how many people come into my place of work looking for a job dressed in their goddamn slippers and sweat pants?! There are people out there who just don't know these things. Everything isn't the same everywhere, everyone didn't grow up like you and had the opportunities that you had/have. Teaching one to live in the real world, and teaching someone a trade is promoting intelligent growth. When that person has completed the program they know how to operate a forklift, or how to keep from going into debt. Maybe you should get out from your mommy and daddy's belt and go off to live in the real world rich boy. Do it without your beemer and trust fund and see how far you will get. To assume that everyone who is being underpaid in this country because they were too busy in high school getting pregnant or because they are not motivated is simply ignorant, and I refuse to attempt intelligent discussions with people who haven't a clue.
Trade school is for people not furthering their education (which is not bad), but it's not realistic to teach that to college bound students. Why the fuck, if I am going to college in 9 weeks, would I need to know the ends and outs of Taco Bell, or how to lay bricks? (Nice to know, but not necessary, especially in High School).
Trade school's are all fine and dandy, but don't force students to go to them. It should be there own choice.
Who the hell is forcing anyone to go to any type of school? I didn't say that people should be forced to go to trade schools. If you are lucky enough to be able to afford college, or be awarded a scholarship, or you have the ability to work full time and go to school part time, as I do and put yourself through school, then that is wonderful. More power to you. But not everyone has these opportunities. Just because things are easier for us, does not mean everyone can do it. You cannot help what kind of family you are born into, and life is not fair. Some children are born into poverty and because this country is the way that it is, those children have poor or no healthcare, below standard education, and people don't even expect them to make anything of themselves, people here even said so. One cannot put themselves up by their bootstraps. Bend over and try it! Some people need help. And I believe that there should be FAIR LIVING wages. So if you don't want to raise the minimum wage, that is all fine and dandy with me, but at least provide affordable housing so that those who do make only minimum wage can afford to live someplace. What I was proposing is allowing for adults who have already either graduated with a diploma or a GED, who cannot find work, go to some sort of program or schooling to learn some marketable skill. And none of those places teach you anything about a fast food operation. They teach you secretarial skills, how to work in a warehouse, etc. Many jobs these days say that you need experience before they will hire you (for jobs making more than min. wage) There are welfare to work programs out there, and there are other similar ideas in the works, but as of yet, I haven't seen too many of these become successful. It isn't because people don't try hard enoguh, or they don't want to work, it is because our government makes it very difficult to get out of poverty, and people like those posting here, refuse to help a brother or sister in need. That is very sad. I hope that one day you don't need help from anyone, that you don't find yourself laid off or underemployed becuse of the "economy". I've already stated numerous times, that I do not know a whole lot about minimum wage, but I know that I make well above minimum wage here and I still cannot afford to rent an efficiency apartment. That is not right. I haven't got any kids, I had excellent grades in school, I'm working my way through college. There is no reason why I should not be able to live in this real world, yet I cannot. You tell me how it should work then if you all have all of the answers!
Chill out, I wasn't attacking you at all, sorry if it came accross that way. On another note about a minimum wage increase, if companies are forced to give wage increases, they are going to charge more for their products and services, which hurt a lot more people than the benefits of increased wages. You have to be very carefull when you do that.
Jozak, I wasn't really talking to you babe, was talking to Max. But I currently work in retail, as a buyer and we have never once raised our retail prices because we had to raise min. wage, or because anyone got a raise, nor have our prices been lowered due to the fact that none of us got raises for 3 years in a row, but we did have less workers, and more responsibilities. As far as retail goes, it is pretty basic, most places use the same formulas, it just depends on how large the chain is to determine the actual cost that they pay for merchandise. For example we can't compete with Walmart in the least bit because they get thier products at such a low cost, because they have huge distribution centers and they turn out much more volume than we ever could. Therefore they can buy more at a time. So we pay say $2.50 for some shampoo, the SRP is about $4.16(which is 40% markup, or cost divided by .6) That is what the companies suggest we sell it at, but at my company we take 5% off all SRP. We have been doing this same procedure for the 35 years that my company has been in business. Regardless of the min. wage. Unfortunately, Walmart might only have to pay $2.00 per shampoo. Therefore they can offer it at a lower price to consumers. The good thing is Walmart, doesn't have the variety that we have, nor the customer service record. We don't really find them to be too much competition for us, because they cater to a different cliental than us. However Jozak, I do understand where you are going with your thoughts there. That is why I originally posted that it is a no win situation because it will force inflation, as far as I understand.
Mui, you always make me smile. I'm not a fascist, yay me. As a matter of fact, I would love for minimum wage to be raised. But how do we prevent that from doing more harm than good. I orginally asked for more information on where this would send us, as far as the economy and so far I haven't gotten much feedback. Do you know something the rest of us don't?
Your economics teacher must have been conservative... because mine said the exact opposite of this. All economics teachers think alike? Think not... in the past raising minimum wage has proved to be good for the economy... living wage ordinances kick ass too.
Yay i am a facist idiot because i am against someone getting paid 9 dollars for flipping my hamburger. Mui go back to whatever sewer that all bad ideas seep into you came from.
I'm sure your one of those "down with walmart people" yet you are for the minimum wage raise? It hurts small businesses which impedes them from competing with oligopolies. Wal-mart can afford to take some losses, that how they drive out competition.
Inflation certainly is not, and that can happen from a minimum wage increase. Not true at all. As much as you hate rich people Mui, they are the ones investing in things, which keeps are economy going just as much as workers like our parents. You damn commie
Even a basic attempt to argue with anything Mui says is a futile as argueing with Danip. He is as much of an asshole and moron as Danip was, but with a decidedly liberal agenda.
