Breaking News: Restaurants Closing All Over Seattle As $15 Minimum Wage Mandate Starts April 1st.

[NYcarbineer]

It is possible to have higher wages, but that goes with an all-White society.

In today's unnecessary multi-racial society, we have the following problems:

Businesses are forced to hire incompetent non-Whites making them less productive

Everyone must pay taxes to support the ever-increasing welfare class

White people must spend more of their income on bloated mortgages for the privilege of living in a neighborhoods without gang scumbags roaming the streets so many people stop going out and stay at home more.

Sarah Palin, is that you?

 

[NYcarbineer]

Um if inflation "ate up" consumer spending, then our economy would have collapsed a long time ago. ObamaCare has not at all interfered with consumer spending.

Wanna bet?....What growing economy is the one to which you refer?
Rising Prices And Stagnant Wages Are Real
Inflation as it pertains to the 80 item market basket is already underway.
When local government manipulates the cost of labor the other market forces react...it's a simple law of economics.
In order to quell the negative effects, government will be forced to relax the rules or crate artificial price controls.

Yes, I recant what I said about consumer spending isnt affected by inflation. What I intended to say is that raising the minimum wage is not related to this.

Ugh...When costs to business are increased by artificial means, there is a direct adverse effect on the the end user.

This "artificial means" is just this same bullshit you people spew. Corporate profits are at an all time high yet wages have remained stagnant. It doesn't matter who raises the minimum wage, government or the businesses - there is nothing artificial about it.

The corporate profit argument? You're on that one now....Great. Still meaningless.
The fact is wages are NOT stagnant. Wages are down because the labor participation rate is at a 40 year low.
The other fact that there are far more part time workers. That drags down the numbers.
There are more illegals working in the US...That has lowered average wages in the unskilled and semi skilled markets.
Hiring is down because jobs that are now done by computers and machines no longer require humans.
Wages are down because cash strapped businesses are using temp instead of employee labor.
It's the marketplace which has adjusted to government policy and taxation....
One issue you libs ignore is that corporations are publicly traded companies. As such, the bottom line is the bottom line. If the performance of the company causes the value of the stock to fall and render the company no longer a good investment, the company falters and the workers are the first to go...
This is basic stuff.
And yes. When government sticks it nose into the marketplace for political reasons, the act is artificial.
Anytime government has interfered in the marketplace the result is always negative.

So your point is that Americans should accept the fact that we are now and will inevitably continue to be just one more low wage nation among the many others in the same boat.

Great. Conservative anti-exceptionalism. lol

 

[Politico]

never see anyone trying to set a maximum wage law

Careful....the left does talk about that...often....they also want your 401k plan money......they see that cash and they get all misty eyed thinking about taking that from you.......

Tru dat.

 

[Mac1958]

Hey rich republicans wanna go out of business rather than paying a decent wage good riddance. Cut off your nose to spite your face...no one cares.

What about the employees who have been laid off?

Good riddance to them, too?

Did that occur to you at all as you wrote that?

.

 

[2aguy]

do you guys really think that the teenager working at the local Dairy Queen should earn a living wage...that is at 16, they should earn enough scooping ice cream to buy a car, pay a mortgage, and send their non existent (I hope) kids to an Ivy League college?

What about the waiter.....should taking orders at a hamburger joint enable the same thing?

do you guys ever think through the result of what you want?

I think Thomas Sowell calls it two stage thinking....but the leftists never get to the second stage........

 

[LOki]

If $15/hr is really such a grand idea, why not make the minimum wage $115/hr, so everyone can have a standard of living that exceeds merely that of a living wage?

Every apologist for minimum wage says increasing wages has no effect on prices or employment... everyone just get more cash, and access to "the American Dream"

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Yes....the rich democrats are going to get what they want in Seattle....a few really good restaurants, with great waiters and the rest of the poor on food stamps......that is what you get when you hike up minimum wage for no good reason......

Seattle eateries closing as 15 minimum wage approaches Hot Air


Seattle’s $15 minimum wage law goes into effect on April 1, 2015. As that date approaches, restaurants across the city are making the financial decision to close shop. The Washington Policy Center writes that “closings have occurred across the city, from Grub in the upscale Queen Anne Hill neighborhood, to Little Uncle in gritty Pioneer Square, to the Boat Street Cafe on Western Avenue near the waterfront.”

Of course, restaurants close for a variety of reasons. But,according to Seattle Magazine, the “impending minimum wage hike to $15 per hour” is playing a “major factor.” That’s not surprising, considering “about 36% of restaurant earnings go to paying labor costs.” ..,

“Washington Restaurant Association’s Anthony Anton puts it this way: “It’s not a political problem; it’s a math problem.”

In reference to that last quote, it’s certainly a math problem for the restaurant owners, but that doesn’t eliminate the fact that it’s a political problem for the social justice warriors who shoved this initiative through. Of course, the problems in question are all too real for the workers who are now “benefiting” from having their wages bumped up by more than 50% in some cases, and it involves some calculating as well. Our friend Bruce McQuain asks the question which puts this whole math issue in focus. What’s $15 times zero again?

Are there alternatives to closing? Sure. But they’re the same ones we’ve talked about for years:

Restaurant owners, expecting to operate on thinner margins, have tried to adapt in several ways including “higher menu prices, cheaper, lower-quality ingredients, reduced opening times, and cutting work hours and firing workers,” according to The Seattle Times and Seattle Eater magazine. As the Washington Policy Center points out, when these strategies are not enough, businesses close, “workers lose their jobs and the neighborhood loses a prized amenity.”

Welcome to the land of $17 dollar cheeseburgers. And, as you can figure out fairly quickly, everything else will be more expensive too … which, of course, erodes the purchasing power of that $15 wage. More importantly, if you work for one of those establishments that is closing, your wage is $15 times zero hours, isn’t it?

Think of it this way: when rich elites had eevrything and laborers labored for little to nothing, the laborers eventually came for the elites sticking their heads on pikes and lopping them off in guilotines. Thus began the French Revolution.

If you don't think it can happen again here, guess again. The working poor wont take abuse indefinitely. Eventually the rich get richer, poor get poorer thing is gonna boil over and the streets will run red with the blood of the rich. Again.

 

[2aguy]

Yes....the rich democrats are going to get what they want in Seattle....a few really good restaurants, with great waiters and the rest of the poor on food stamps......that is what you get when you hike up minimum wage for no good reason......

Seattle eateries closing as 15 minimum wage approaches Hot Air


Seattle’s $15 minimum wage law goes into effect on April 1, 2015. As that date approaches, restaurants across the city are making the financial decision to close shop. The Washington Policy Center writes that “closings have occurred across the city, from Grub in the upscale Queen Anne Hill neighborhood, to Little Uncle in gritty Pioneer Square, to the Boat Street Cafe on Western Avenue near the waterfront.”

Of course, restaurants close for a variety of reasons. But,according to Seattle Magazine, the “impending minimum wage hike to $15 per hour” is playing a “major factor.” That’s not surprising, considering “about 36% of restaurant earnings go to paying labor costs.” ..,

“Washington Restaurant Association’s Anthony Anton puts it this way: “It’s not a political problem; it’s a math problem.”

In reference to that last quote, it’s certainly a math problem for the restaurant owners, but that doesn’t eliminate the fact that it’s a political problem for the social justice warriors who shoved this initiative through. Of course, the problems in question are all too real for the workers who are now “benefiting” from having their wages bumped up by more than 50% in some cases, and it involves some calculating as well. Our friend Bruce McQuain asks the question which puts this whole math issue in focus. What’s $15 times zero again?

Are there alternatives to closing? Sure. But they’re the same ones we’ve talked about for years:

Restaurant owners, expecting to operate on thinner margins, have tried to adapt in several ways including “higher menu prices, cheaper, lower-quality ingredients, reduced opening times, and cutting work hours and firing workers,” according to The Seattle Times and Seattle Eater magazine. As the Washington Policy Center points out, when these strategies are not enough, businesses close, “workers lose their jobs and the neighborhood loses a prized amenity.”

Welcome to the land of $17 dollar cheeseburgers. And, as you can figure out fairly quickly, everything else will be more expensive too … which, of course, erodes the purchasing power of that $15 wage. More importantly, if you work for one of those establishments that is closing, your wage is $15 times zero hours, isn’t it?

Think of it this way: when rich elites had eevrything and laborers labored for little to nothing, the laborers eventually came for the elites sticking their heads on pikes and lopping them off in guilotines. Thus began the French Revolution.

If you don't think it can happen again here, guess again. The working poor wont take abuse indefinitely. Eventually the rich get richer, poor get poorer thing is gonna boil over and the streets will run red with the blood of the rich. Again.

and putting them out of work is going to help how? a few will make the new 15 dollars an hour, the rest will be out of work.....or will have their hours cut...and they will now have to work 2 or more jobs to earn less than what they were earning before...that is what will really piss them off....

but again...the rich, elite democrats benefit, short sightedly, from this.....they get more people on government hand outs...which the democrats control, and they can use these angry, poor, uneducated, unemployed workers to target their political enemies to gain more power for themselves...an endless destructive cycle.....

And because they championed 15 dollars an hour....the poor won't blame the democrats,for their poverty.......

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Yes....the rich democrats are going to get what they want in Seattle....a few really good restaurants, with great waiters and the rest of the poor on food stamps......that is what you get when you hike up minimum wage for no good reason......

Seattle eateries closing as 15 minimum wage approaches Hot Air


Seattle’s $15 minimum wage law goes into effect on April 1, 2015. As that date approaches, restaurants across the city are making the financial decision to close shop. The Washington Policy Center writes that “closings have occurred across the city, from Grub in the upscale Queen Anne Hill neighborhood, to Little Uncle in gritty Pioneer Square, to the Boat Street Cafe on Western Avenue near the waterfront.”

Of course, restaurants close for a variety of reasons. But,according to Seattle Magazine, the “impending minimum wage hike to $15 per hour” is playing a “major factor.” That’s not surprising, considering “about 36% of restaurant earnings go to paying labor costs.” ..,

“Washington Restaurant Association’s Anthony Anton puts it this way: “It’s not a political problem; it’s a math problem.”

In reference to that last quote, it’s certainly a math problem for the restaurant owners, but that doesn’t eliminate the fact that it’s a political problem for the social justice warriors who shoved this initiative through. Of course, the problems in question are all too real for the workers who are now “benefiting” from having their wages bumped up by more than 50% in some cases, and it involves some calculating as well. Our friend Bruce McQuain asks the question which puts this whole math issue in focus. What’s $15 times zero again?

Are there alternatives to closing? Sure. But they’re the same ones we’ve talked about for years:

Restaurant owners, expecting to operate on thinner margins, have tried to adapt in several ways including “higher menu prices, cheaper, lower-quality ingredients, reduced opening times, and cutting work hours and firing workers,” according to The Seattle Times and Seattle Eater magazine. As the Washington Policy Center points out, when these strategies are not enough, businesses close, “workers lose their jobs and the neighborhood loses a prized amenity.”

Welcome to the land of $17 dollar cheeseburgers. And, as you can figure out fairly quickly, everything else will be more expensive too … which, of course, erodes the purchasing power of that $15 wage. More importantly, if you work for one of those establishments that is closing, your wage is $15 times zero hours, isn’t it?

Think of it this way: when rich elites had eevrything and laborers labored for little to nothing, the laborers eventually came for the elites sticking their heads on pikes and lopping them off in guilotines. Thus began the French Revolution.

If you don't think it can happen again here, guess again. The working poor wont take abuse indefinitely. Eventually the rich get richer, poor get poorer thing is gonna boil over and the streets will run red with the blood of the rich. Again.

and putting them out of work is going to help how? a few will make the new 15 dollars an hour, the rest will be out of work.....or will have their hours cut...and they will now have to work 2 or more jobs to earn less than what they were earning before...that is what will really piss them off....

but again...the rich, elite democrats benefit, short sightedly, from this.....they get more people on government hand outs...which the democrats control, and they can use these angry, poor, uneducated, unemployed workers to target their political enemies to gain more power for themselves...an endless destructive cycle.....

And because they championed 15 dollars an hour....the poor won't blame the democrats,for their poverty.......

Business wont be cutting back positions because they have to pay a fair wage. Their owners just wont be making the absurd profits they do now paying less than is fair.

 

[2aguy]

Yes....the rich democrats are going to get what they want in Seattle....a few really good restaurants, with great waiters and the rest of the poor on food stamps......that is what you get when you hike up minimum wage for no good reason......

Seattle eateries closing as 15 minimum wage approaches Hot Air


Seattle’s $15 minimum wage law goes into effect on April 1, 2015. As that date approaches, restaurants across the city are making the financial decision to close shop. The Washington Policy Center writes that “closings have occurred across the city, from Grub in the upscale Queen Anne Hill neighborhood, to Little Uncle in gritty Pioneer Square, to the Boat Street Cafe on Western Avenue near the waterfront.”

Of course, restaurants close for a variety of reasons. But,according to Seattle Magazine, the “impending minimum wage hike to $15 per hour” is playing a “major factor.” That’s not surprising, considering “about 36% of restaurant earnings go to paying labor costs.” ..,

“Washington Restaurant Association’s Anthony Anton puts it this way: “It’s not a political problem; it’s a math problem.”

In reference to that last quote, it’s certainly a math problem for the restaurant owners, but that doesn’t eliminate the fact that it’s a political problem for the social justice warriors who shoved this initiative through. Of course, the problems in question are all too real for the workers who are now “benefiting” from having their wages bumped up by more than 50% in some cases, and it involves some calculating as well. Our friend Bruce McQuain asks the question which puts this whole math issue in focus. What’s $15 times zero again?

Are there alternatives to closing? Sure. But they’re the same ones we’ve talked about for years:

Restaurant owners, expecting to operate on thinner margins, have tried to adapt in several ways including “higher menu prices, cheaper, lower-quality ingredients, reduced opening times, and cutting work hours and firing workers,” according to The Seattle Times and Seattle Eater magazine. As the Washington Policy Center points out, when these strategies are not enough, businesses close, “workers lose their jobs and the neighborhood loses a prized amenity.”

Welcome to the land of $17 dollar cheeseburgers. And, as you can figure out fairly quickly, everything else will be more expensive too … which, of course, erodes the purchasing power of that $15 wage. More importantly, if you work for one of those establishments that is closing, your wage is $15 times zero hours, isn’t it?

Think of it this way: when rich elites had eevrything and laborers labored for little to nothing, the laborers eventually came for the elites sticking their heads on pikes and lopping them off in guilotines. Thus began the French Revolution.

If you don't think it can happen again here, guess again. The working poor wont take abuse indefinitely. Eventually the rich get richer, poor get poorer thing is gonna boil over and the streets will run red with the blood of the rich. Again.

and putting them out of work is going to help how? a few will make the new 15 dollars an hour, the rest will be out of work.....or will have their hours cut...and they will now have to work 2 or more jobs to earn less than what they were earning before...that is what will really piss them off....

but again...the rich, elite democrats benefit, short sightedly, from this.....they get more people on government hand outs...which the democrats control, and they can use these angry, poor, uneducated, unemployed workers to target their political enemies to gain more power for themselves...an endless destructive cycle.....

And because they championed 15 dollars an hour....the poor won't blame the democrats,for their poverty.......

Business wont be cutting back positions because they have to pay a fair wage. Their owners just wont be making the absurd profits they do now paying less than is fair.

yeah...right....

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Business will be lucky to only have to pay $15/hour since if we tied the wage to inflation it'd be around $26/hour.

 

[2aguy]

yes...my ice cream scooper should get 15 dollars an hour......as should the last kid still delivering the paper........

 

[LOki]

Yes....the rich democrats are going to get what they want in Seattle....a few really good restaurants, with great waiters and the rest of the poor on food stamps......that is what you get when you hike up minimum wage for no good reason......

Seattle eateries closing as 15 minimum wage approaches Hot Air


Seattle’s $15 minimum wage law goes into effect on April 1, 2015. As that date approaches, restaurants across the city are making the financial decision to close shop. The Washington Policy Center writes that “closings have occurred across the city, from Grub in the upscale Queen Anne Hill neighborhood, to Little Uncle in gritty Pioneer Square, to the Boat Street Cafe on Western Avenue near the waterfront.”

Of course, restaurants close for a variety of reasons. But,according to Seattle Magazine, the “impending minimum wage hike to $15 per hour” is playing a “major factor.” That’s not surprising, considering “about 36% of restaurant earnings go to paying labor costs.” ..,

“Washington Restaurant Association’s Anthony Anton puts it this way: “It’s not a political problem; it’s a math problem.”

In reference to that last quote, it’s certainly a math problem for the restaurant owners, but that doesn’t eliminate the fact that it’s a political problem for the social justice warriors who shoved this initiative through. Of course, the problems in question are all too real for the workers who are now “benefiting” from having their wages bumped up by more than 50% in some cases, and it involves some calculating as well. Our friend Bruce McQuain asks the question which puts this whole math issue in focus. What’s $15 times zero again?

Are there alternatives to closing? Sure. But they’re the same ones we’ve talked about for years:

Restaurant owners, expecting to operate on thinner margins, have tried to adapt in several ways including “higher menu prices, cheaper, lower-quality ingredients, reduced opening times, and cutting work hours and firing workers,” according to The Seattle Times and Seattle Eater magazine. As the Washington Policy Center points out, when these strategies are not enough, businesses close, “workers lose their jobs and the neighborhood loses a prized amenity.”

Welcome to the land of $17 dollar cheeseburgers. And, as you can figure out fairly quickly, everything else will be more expensive too … which, of course, erodes the purchasing power of that $15 wage. More importantly, if you work for one of those establishments that is closing, your wage is $15 times zero hours, isn’t it?

There are always two sides to any issue. Is there a problem when a worker works 40 hours a week, yet still qualifies and receives some form of government assistance?

No.

Is it wrong for a worker to ask for more money when the execs of a company are making tens of $Millions in salary and perks?

It's not wrong to ask. It's just wrong to presume you deserve more money because an executive's salary is in the $Millions.

Is it wrong for a part-time Wal-Mart worker to ask for more money when the Waltons are worth $Billions?

It's not wrong to ask. It's wrong to expect more money just because the Walton's are worth $Billions.

I can understand the wage problem when looking at mom and pop operations, but there should be no problem for businesses like Wal-Mart and others.

There isn't a problem... except for that problem of using the coercive power of government to achieve a wage that is greater than the value of the service rendered.

That's a real problem.

Workers should be paid a living wage.

Why? Explain yourself.

Workers should be self-supporting.

Agreed. What is the Walton's role in this self-supporting behavior?

We shouldn't expect everyone to be poor and dependent, and be forced to live off of government assistance programs.

No one has this expectation. What's your point?

I've always believed that if you work someone, you pay them for their work. That means pay them fairly and adequately.

So if a workers work is worth $0.50/hr, you have no problems with paying that worker only $0.50/hr. That's fair, correct? It's adequate relative to the service performed, correct?

I wouldn't want someone working 40 hours a week for me and still getting food stamps and other assistance just to survive. Especially if I was making mega bucks off of their sweat.

No one is stopping you from paying your workers whatever you'd like; whatever their work is worth to you.

Again, there's always two side to any issue. We can look at the corporate greed side, or we can look at the good of the overall economy side. It may not be an easy issue to solve, but when considering a solution, both sides should get equal consideration.

False dichotomy.

You need to gather some intellectual integrity before you can join a discussion that will lead to a solution.

 

[featherlite]

Yep there it is. Ive seriously parted ways with those who actively fought for this. I now consider them arrogant, revenge filled f tards..

The issue itself Ive always been kind of torn on. I was told I dont understand the simple basics of economics. Its a fact... there will always be people ( for differing reasons)who will only make min wage..,.I think they should be able to live without working 2 or 3 jobs. Basic living ( food shelter) should be attainable for all.

The flip side and the one I tend to agree more with is...you get what you work for. What I do is far from rocket science , yet you do need a couple years of training for it ( at least now you do) You want better? work for better. Theres many easy ways to take classes & get financial assistance to take those classes, improve your skills or swich careers all together. Every one I know is working toward somthing. Most either own homes or in the process of buying one.
My point is...what some say is so out of reach isnt really true. Every peson I can think of is doing something to work for a better life now...and while it might not be a straight easy line...its do able.

 

[Sonny Clark]

Yes....the rich democrats are going to get what they want in Seattle....a few really good restaurants, with great waiters and the rest of the poor on food stamps......that is what you get when you hike up minimum wage for no good reason......

Seattle eateries closing as 15 minimum wage approaches Hot Air


Seattle’s $15 minimum wage law goes into effect on April 1, 2015. As that date approaches, restaurants across the city are making the financial decision to close shop. The Washington Policy Center writes that “closings have occurred across the city, from Grub in the upscale Queen Anne Hill neighborhood, to Little Uncle in gritty Pioneer Square, to the Boat Street Cafe on Western Avenue near the waterfront.”

Of course, restaurants close for a variety of reasons. But,according to Seattle Magazine, the “impending minimum wage hike to $15 per hour” is playing a “major factor.” That’s not surprising, considering “about 36% of restaurant earnings go to paying labor costs.” ..,

“Washington Restaurant Association’s Anthony Anton puts it this way: “It’s not a political problem; it’s a math problem.”

In reference to that last quote, it’s certainly a math problem for the restaurant owners, but that doesn’t eliminate the fact that it’s a political problem for the social justice warriors who shoved this initiative through. Of course, the problems in question are all too real for the workers who are now “benefiting” from having their wages bumped up by more than 50% in some cases, and it involves some calculating as well. Our friend Bruce McQuain asks the question which puts this whole math issue in focus. What’s $15 times zero again?

Are there alternatives to closing? Sure. But they’re the same ones we’ve talked about for years:

Restaurant owners, expecting to operate on thinner margins, have tried to adapt in several ways including “higher menu prices, cheaper, lower-quality ingredients, reduced opening times, and cutting work hours and firing workers,” according to The Seattle Times and Seattle Eater magazine. As the Washington Policy Center points out, when these strategies are not enough, businesses close, “workers lose their jobs and the neighborhood loses a prized amenity.”

Welcome to the land of $17 dollar cheeseburgers. And, as you can figure out fairly quickly, everything else will be more expensive too … which, of course, erodes the purchasing power of that $15 wage. More importantly, if you work for one of those establishments that is closing, your wage is $15 times zero hours, isn’t it?

There are always two sides to any issue. Is there a problem when a worker works 40 hours a week, yet still qualifies and receives some form of government assistance?

No.

Is it wrong for a worker to ask for more money when the execs of a company are making tens of $Millions in salary and perks?

It's not wrong to ask. It's just wrong to presume you deserve more money because an executive's salary is in the $Millions.

Is it wrong for a part-time Wal-Mart worker to ask for more money when the Waltons are worth $Billions?

It's not wrong to ask. It's wrong to expect more money just because the Walton's are worth $Billions.

I can understand the wage problem when looking at mom and pop operations, but there should be no problem for businesses like Wal-Mart and others.

There isn't a problem... except for that problem of using the coercive power of government to achieve a wage that is greater than the value of the service rendered.

That's a real problem.

Workers should be paid a living wage.

Why? Explain yourself.

Workers should be self-supporting.

Agreed. What is the Walton's role in this self-supporting behavior?

We shouldn't expect everyone to be poor and dependent, and be forced to live off of government assistance programs.

No one has this expectation. What's your point?

I've always believed that if you work someone, you pay them for their work. That means pay them fairly and adequately.

So if a workers work is worth $0.50/hr, you have no problems with paying that worker only $0.50/hr. That's fair, correct? It's adequate relative to the service performed, correct?

I wouldn't want someone working 40 hours a week for me and still getting food stamps and other assistance just to survive. Especially if I was making mega bucks off of their sweat.

No one is stopping you from paying your workers whatever you'd like; whatever their work is worth to you.

Again, there's always two side to any issue. We can look at the corporate greed side, or we can look at the good of the overall economy side. It may not be an easy issue to solve, but when considering a solution, both sides should get equal consideration.

False dichotomy.

You need to gather some intellectual integrity before you can join a discussion that will lead to a solution.

Just curious here, but did you read that somewhere, or did you come up with that all by yourself?

 

[LOki]

Yes....the rich democrats are going to get what they want in Seattle....a few really good restaurants, with great waiters and the rest of the poor on food stamps......that is what you get when you hike up minimum wage for no good reason......

Seattle eateries closing as 15 minimum wage approaches Hot Air


Seattle’s $15 minimum wage law goes into effect on April 1, 2015. As that date approaches, restaurants across the city are making the financial decision to close shop. The Washington Policy Center writes that “closings have occurred across the city, from Grub in the upscale Queen Anne Hill neighborhood, to Little Uncle in gritty Pioneer Square, to the Boat Street Cafe on Western Avenue near the waterfront.”

Of course, restaurants close for a variety of reasons. But,according to Seattle Magazine, the “impending minimum wage hike to $15 per hour” is playing a “major factor.” That’s not surprising, considering “about 36% of restaurant earnings go to paying labor costs.” ..,

“Washington Restaurant Association’s Anthony Anton puts it this way: “It’s not a political problem; it’s a math problem.”

In reference to that last quote, it’s certainly a math problem for the restaurant owners, but that doesn’t eliminate the fact that it’s a political problem for the social justice warriors who shoved this initiative through. Of course, the problems in question are all too real for the workers who are now “benefiting” from having their wages bumped up by more than 50% in some cases, and it involves some calculating as well. Our friend Bruce McQuain asks the question which puts this whole math issue in focus. What’s $15 times zero again?

Are there alternatives to closing? Sure. But they’re the same ones we’ve talked about for years:

Restaurant owners, expecting to operate on thinner margins, have tried to adapt in several ways including “higher menu prices, cheaper, lower-quality ingredients, reduced opening times, and cutting work hours and firing workers,” according to The Seattle Times and Seattle Eater magazine. As the Washington Policy Center points out, when these strategies are not enough, businesses close, “workers lose their jobs and the neighborhood loses a prized amenity.”

Welcome to the land of $17 dollar cheeseburgers. And, as you can figure out fairly quickly, everything else will be more expensive too … which, of course, erodes the purchasing power of that $15 wage. More importantly, if you work for one of those establishments that is closing, your wage is $15 times zero hours, isn’t it?

There are always two sides to any issue. Is there a problem when a worker works 40 hours a week, yet still qualifies and receives some form of government assistance?

No.

Is it wrong for a worker to ask for more money when the execs of a company are making tens of $Millions in salary and perks?

It's not wrong to ask. It's just wrong to presume you deserve more money because an executive's salary is in the $Millions.

Is it wrong for a part-time Wal-Mart worker to ask for more money when the Waltons are worth $Billions?

It's not wrong to ask. It's wrong to expect more money just because the Walton's are worth $Billions.

I can understand the wage problem when looking at mom and pop operations, but there should be no problem for businesses like Wal-Mart and others.

There isn't a problem... except for that problem of using the coercive power of government to achieve a wage that is greater than the value of the service rendered.

That's a real problem.

Workers should be paid a living wage.

Why? Explain yourself.

Workers should be self-supporting.

Agreed. What is the Walton's role in this self-supporting behavior?

We shouldn't expect everyone to be poor and dependent, and be forced to live off of government assistance programs.

No one has this expectation. What's your point?

I've always believed that if you work someone, you pay them for their work. That means pay them fairly and adequately.

So if a workers work is worth $0.50/hr, you have no problems with paying that worker only $0.50/hr. That's fair, correct? It's adequate relative to the service performed, correct?

I wouldn't want someone working 40 hours a week for me and still getting food stamps and other assistance just to survive. Especially if I was making mega bucks off of their sweat.

No one is stopping you from paying your workers whatever you'd like; whatever their work is worth to you.

Again, there's always two side to any issue. We can look at the corporate greed side, or we can look at the good of the overall economy side. It may not be an easy issue to solve, but when considering a solution, both sides should get equal consideration.

False dichotomy.

You need to gather some intellectual integrity before you can join a discussion that will lead to a solution.

Just curious here, but did you read that somewhere, or did you come up with that all by yourself?

Read what somewhere?

 

[2aguy]

come on....those who support a "living wage" should the 16 year old working at the ice cream shop get 15 dollars an hour? what about the guy at 7-11 behind the counter?

any answer to that? should the stockera stacking goods on shelves make enough money to finance a home, a car and sending their kids to college, as well as a vacation to Dismey every year?

 

[Sonny Clark]

Yes....the rich democrats are going to get what they want in Seattle....a few really good restaurants, with great waiters and the rest of the poor on food stamps......that is what you get when you hike up minimum wage for no good reason......

Seattle eateries closing as 15 minimum wage approaches Hot Air


Seattle’s $15 minimum wage law goes into effect on April 1, 2015. As that date approaches, restaurants across the city are making the financial decision to close shop. The Washington Policy Center writes that “closings have occurred across the city, from Grub in the upscale Queen Anne Hill neighborhood, to Little Uncle in gritty Pioneer Square, to the Boat Street Cafe on Western Avenue near the waterfront.”

Of course, restaurants close for a variety of reasons. But,according to Seattle Magazine, the “impending minimum wage hike to $15 per hour” is playing a “major factor.” That’s not surprising, considering “about 36% of restaurant earnings go to paying labor costs.” ..,

“Washington Restaurant Association’s Anthony Anton puts it this way: “It’s not a political problem; it’s a math problem.”

In reference to that last quote, it’s certainly a math problem for the restaurant owners, but that doesn’t eliminate the fact that it’s a political problem for the social justice warriors who shoved this initiative through. Of course, the problems in question are all too real for the workers who are now “benefiting” from having their wages bumped up by more than 50% in some cases, and it involves some calculating as well. Our friend Bruce McQuain asks the question which puts this whole math issue in focus. What’s $15 times zero again?

Are there alternatives to closing? Sure. But they’re the same ones we’ve talked about for years:

Restaurant owners, expecting to operate on thinner margins, have tried to adapt in several ways including “higher menu prices, cheaper, lower-quality ingredients, reduced opening times, and cutting work hours and firing workers,” according to The Seattle Times and Seattle Eater magazine. As the Washington Policy Center points out, when these strategies are not enough, businesses close, “workers lose their jobs and the neighborhood loses a prized amenity.”

Welcome to the land of $17 dollar cheeseburgers. And, as you can figure out fairly quickly, everything else will be more expensive too … which, of course, erodes the purchasing power of that $15 wage. More importantly, if you work for one of those establishments that is closing, your wage is $15 times zero hours, isn’t it?

There are always two sides to any issue. Is there a problem when a worker works 40 hours a week, yet still qualifies and receives some form of government assistance?

No.

Is it wrong for a worker to ask for more money when the execs of a company are making tens of $Millions in salary and perks?

It's not wrong to ask. It's just wrong to presume you deserve more money because an executive's salary is in the $Millions.

Is it wrong for a part-time Wal-Mart worker to ask for more money when the Waltons are worth $Billions?

It's not wrong to ask. It's wrong to expect more money just because the Walton's are worth $Billions.

I can understand the wage problem when looking at mom and pop operations, but there should be no problem for businesses like Wal-Mart and others.

There isn't a problem... except for that problem of using the coercive power of government to achieve a wage that is greater than the value of the service rendered.

That's a real problem.

Workers should be paid a living wage.

Why? Explain yourself.

Workers should be self-supporting.

Agreed. What is the Walton's role in this self-supporting behavior?

We shouldn't expect everyone to be poor and dependent, and be forced to live off of government assistance programs.

No one has this expectation. What's your point?

I've always believed that if you work someone, you pay them for their work. That means pay them fairly and adequately.

So if a workers work is worth $0.50/hr, you have no problems with paying that worker only $0.50/hr. That's fair, correct? It's adequate relative to the service performed, correct?

I wouldn't want someone working 40 hours a week for me and still getting food stamps and other assistance just to survive. Especially if I was making mega bucks off of their sweat.

No one is stopping you from paying your workers whatever you'd like; whatever their work is worth to you.

Again, there's always two side to any issue. We can look at the corporate greed side, or we can look at the good of the overall economy side. It may not be an easy issue to solve, but when considering a solution, both sides should get equal consideration.

False dichotomy.

You need to gather some intellectual integrity before you can join a discussion that will lead to a solution.

Just curious here, but did you read that somewhere, or did you come up with that all by yourself?

Read what somewhere?

That cute little remark directed at me. Had your morning coffee yet?

 

[jon_berzerk]

come on....those who support a "living wage" should the 16 year old working at the ice cream shop get 15 dollars an hour? what about the guy at 7-11 behind the counter?

any answer to that? should the stockera stacking goods on shelves make enough money to finance a home, a car and sending their kids to college, as well as a vacation to Dismey every year?

15 dollars and hour is not enough

it should have been closer to 22.50 an hour

that would have solved the problems

 

[2aguy]

come on....those who support a "living wage" should the 16 year old working at the ice cream shop get 15 dollars an hour? what about the guy at 7-11 behind the counter?

any answer to that? should the stockera stacking goods on shelves make enough money to finance a home, a car and sending their kids to college, as well as a vacation to Dismey every year?

15 dollars and hour is not enough

it should have been closer to 22.50 an hour

that would have solved the problems

Please...where does the 22.50 come from.....? Where does the 15 dollars come from in a donut shop....since the donut worker is just as entitled to a "living wage" as the Walmart worker....right?