If The Economy Is So Great Why Can't Most People Miss One Paycheck?

[Oldstyle]

Inflation DOES happen! Especially when you increase wages artificially. So explain to me what the benefit to the average American is, if you increase his wages...which not only increases the cost of all of the goods and services he buys...but also buts him into a higher tax bracket so that he owes more in taxes?

Why would THAT increase demand? You'd be decreasing spendable income and that would decrease demand. You need to seriously study this subject before you make a bigger fool of yourself than you already have!

First off, for every dollar of minimum wage increase, the cost of producing a hamburger goes up 10 cents, so yes, prices go up but labour is only a small percentage of the total cost, and so the price shouldn't go up all that much. Our provincial minimum wage went up $3 per hour to $14 this year. I haven't noticed any huge increases in prices in restaurants or stores, but those making minimum wage are now making $480 a month more, based on a 40 hour work week.

Friends tell me that the kids making minimum wage are spending that money as fast as they make it, and those kids are now buying more consumer goods than they could afford before this raise. In order to have growth, you need both supply and demand.

First off, for every dollar of minimum wage increase, the cost of producing a hamburger goes up 10 cents, so yes, prices go up but labour is only a small percentage of the total cost

You think labor is only 10% of the expense of a fast food restaurant?

The INCREASE of the cost is less than 10% because the cost of his wage is already included his original salary. If you can't figure out the calculation, you have no business whatsoever, commenting on economics.

Raising fast-food hourly wages to $15 would raise prices by 4%, study finds

I have a HUGE problem with the study cited, Dragonlady! Their calculations are based on only raising the minimum wage of employees working in a restaurant to $15 and totally ignore what would happen if that were to happen!

Explain to me how you would feel if you had been working at said restaurant for several years...gaining job skills and several pay raises...raises that had brought your wages to the $15 level that entry level employees are now getting. Are you going to be content to make the same as the newbies? Or are you going to expect to be paid as much more than them NOW as you were BEFORE?

Now tell me what the supervisor who makes even more is going to want to compensate THEM accordingly!

Now do that for every single purveyor that supplies food, beverages, linens, trash removal, or cleaning services as all of their entry level employees get wage bumps and all of their more experienced workers demand more to make up the difference!

Gravity Payments still supports a thirty-five dollar an hour wage. The right wing is all hearsay and soothsay.

Gravity Payments? What in god's name are you babbling about now? Daniel...you've established yourself as probably the dumbest poster on this entire board and that's SAYING something!

 

[Cecilie1200]

Inflation DOES happen! Especially when you increase wages artificially. So explain to me what the benefit to the average American is, if you increase his wages...which not only increases the cost of all of the goods and services he buys...but also buts him into a higher tax bracket so that he owes more in taxes?

Why would THAT increase demand? You'd be decreasing spendable income and that would decrease demand. You need to seriously study this subject before you make a bigger fool of yourself than you already have!

First off, for every dollar of minimum wage increase, the cost of producing a hamburger goes up 10 cents, so yes, prices go up but labour is only a small percentage of the total cost, and so the price shouldn't go up all that much. Our provincial minimum wage went up $3 per hour to $14 this year. I haven't noticed any huge increases in prices in restaurants or stores, but those making minimum wage are now making $480 a month more, based on a 40 hour work week.

Friends tell me that the kids making minimum wage are spending that money as fast as they make it, and those kids are now buying more consumer goods than they could afford before this raise. In order to have growth, you need both supply and demand.

I think you need to research the food industry if you think that labor is only a small percentage of cost. It isn't. Generally speaking it's the largest cost by far...somewhere in the 30% range.

My parents owned a successful restaurant. I've worked in restaurants. Half of my family either owns or works in restaurants. I also worked in banking where I had to learn the cost ratios of various businesses, including restaurants. Labour costs in restaurants are 25 to 35% of gross sales depending on the type of restaurant. Fast food - 25%, high end with table service - 35%. So if we give the staff a 25% raise, the costs will increase by just over 6% at most. Would you pay 6% more for a Big Mac, if you knew the staff were no longer going to qualify for food stamps, Section 8, or earned income credits. I sure as hell would.

In a perfect world perhaps.

People who are on the dole find ways of staying there. Free money! Increase minimum wage, and you'll find employees working less hours. That's all you would accomplish.

Some of our customers use temporary employment services. Many of these temps are on some form of government assistance. When these companies ask the temps to work overtime, most of them refuse. As far as they are concerned, it's like working for free since more income means less benefits.

If you know any American business owners, ask them what it actually costs the company if they give an employee two dollars an hour more. It costs employers more because they have to pay for more workman's compensation insurance, more unemployment insurance, doubling the Medicare and Social Security contributions for each employee, a higher payout when those workers are on vacation or a paid holiday. It costs employers much more than the two bucks an hour.

People "on the dole" have few way of getting off the dole. If you have to work two full time jobs to keep a roof over your head, how to you go back to school, or get training for advancement? There are more and more people striving for fewer and fewer middle class jobs, so the changes of "moving up" are seriously restricted.

I have never met a single person in my life who has said "I want to live on welfare for my entire life, and have nothing", and I doubt you have either. That's a lie conservatives tell one another to look down on the poor, and blame them. like the I've been through period of being broke and unemployed, and it hard to get back on my feet again financially. Life is much easier and less stressful when you don\'t have to decide between paying the electricity bill or the rent.

Republicans work very hard to keep poor people poor. They refuse to raise the minimum wage, and force the middle class to subsidize wages through Earned Income Credits. The children of the poor get a substandard education in run down poorly equipped schools, that in now way prepares them for college or the work world. The USA has all but put the finishing touches on a permanent underclass of uneducated poor people who aren't equipped or qualified to work in today's economy, and then you blame them for being a drain on society.

There's a wonderful concept for the wealthy if ever there was one. We won't pay you a living wage. We'll just pocket these record profits and let the middle class give you a chunk of THEIR taxes. As a bonus, we get to call you lot lazy, "takers" and blame you for their high taxes. Win/win for me, and fuck you too!

My God, would you please let poor people down off the cross? Somebody needs the wood.

For all that you mistakenly preen yourself on how "compassionate and caring" you are compared to "heartless Republicans", at least WE pay poor people the respect of assuming they're actually intelligent and capable of managing their lives, instead of explaining them into perpetual failure and dependency with a constant stream of excuses about why they're utterly hopeless and absolutely nothing will ever work for them, and they JUST CAN'T ever expect to do anything but suck.

 

[danielpalos]

First off, for every dollar of minimum wage increase, the cost of producing a hamburger goes up 10 cents, so yes, prices go up but labour is only a small percentage of the total cost, and so the price shouldn't go up all that much. Our provincial minimum wage went up $3 per hour to $14 this year. I haven't noticed any huge increases in prices in restaurants or stores, but those making minimum wage are now making $480 a month more, based on a 40 hour work week.

Friends tell me that the kids making minimum wage are spending that money as fast as they make it, and those kids are now buying more consumer goods than they could afford before this raise. In order to have growth, you need both supply and demand.

First off, for every dollar of minimum wage increase, the cost of producing a hamburger goes up 10 cents, so yes, prices go up but labour is only a small percentage of the total cost

You think labor is only 10% of the expense of a fast food restaurant?

The INCREASE of the cost is less than 10% because the cost of his wage is already included his original salary. If you can't figure out the calculation, you have no business whatsoever, commenting on economics.

Raising fast-food hourly wages to $15 would raise prices by 4%, study finds

I have a HUGE problem with the study cited, Dragonlady! Their calculations are based on only raising the minimum wage of employees working in a restaurant to $15 and totally ignore what would happen if that were to happen!

Explain to me how you would feel if you had been working at said restaurant for several years...gaining job skills and several pay raises...raises that had brought your wages to the $15 level that entry level employees are now getting. Are you going to be content to make the same as the newbies? Or are you going to expect to be paid as much more than them NOW as you were BEFORE?

Now tell me what the supervisor who makes even more is going to want to compensate THEM accordingly!

Now do that for every single purveyor that supplies food, beverages, linens, trash removal, or cleaning services as all of their entry level employees get wage bumps and all of their more experienced workers demand more to make up the difference!

Gravity Payments still supports a thirty-five dollar an hour wage. The right wing is all hearsay and soothsay.

Gravity Payments? What in god's name are you babbling about now? Daniel...you've established yourself as probably the dumbest poster on this entire board and that's SAYING something!

appealing to ignorance inspires absolutely no confidence in your right wing sincerity.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Inflation DOES happen! Especially when you increase wages artificially. So explain to me what the benefit to the average American is, if you increase his wages...which not only increases the cost of all of the goods and services he buys...but also buts him into a higher tax bracket so that he owes more in taxes?

Why would THAT increase demand? You'd be decreasing spendable income and that would decrease demand. You need to seriously study this subject before you make a bigger fool of yourself than you already have!

First off, for every dollar of minimum wage increase, the cost of producing a hamburger goes up 10 cents, so yes, prices go up but labour is only a small percentage of the total cost, and so the price shouldn't go up all that much. Our provincial minimum wage went up $3 per hour to $14 this year. I haven't noticed any huge increases in prices in restaurants or stores, but those making minimum wage are now making $480 a month more, based on a 40 hour work week.

Friends tell me that the kids making minimum wage are spending that money as fast as they make it, and those kids are now buying more consumer goods than they could afford before this raise. In order to have growth, you need both supply and demand.

I think you need to research the food industry if you think that labor is only a small percentage of cost. It isn't. Generally speaking it's the largest cost by far...somewhere in the 30% range.

My parents owned a successful restaurant. I've worked in restaurants. Half of my family either owns or works in restaurants. I also worked in banking where I had to learn the cost ratios of various businesses, including restaurants. Labour costs in restaurants are 25 to 35% of gross sales depending on the type of restaurant. Fast food - 25%, high end with table service - 35%. So if we give the staff a 25% raise, the costs will increase by just over 6% at most. Would you pay 6% more for a Big Mac, if you knew the staff were no longer going to qualify for food stamps, Section 8, or earned income credits. I sure as hell would.

In a perfect world perhaps.

People who are on the dole find ways of staying there. Free money! Increase minimum wage, and you'll find employees working less hours. That's all you would accomplish.

Some of our customers use temporary employment services. Many of these temps are on some form of government assistance. When these companies ask the temps to work overtime, most of them refuse. As far as they are concerned, it's like working for free since more income means less benefits.

If you know any American business owners, ask them what it actually costs the company if they give an employee two dollars an hour more. It costs employers more because they have to pay for more workman's compensation insurance, more unemployment insurance, doubling the Medicare and Social Security contributions for each employee, a higher payout when those workers are on vacation or a paid holiday. It costs employers much more than the two bucks an hour.

People "on the dole" have few way of getting off the dole. If you have to work two full time jobs to keep a roof over your head, how to you go back to school, or get training for advancement? There are more and more people striving for fewer and fewer middle class jobs, so the changes of "moving up" are seriously restricted.

I have never met a single person in my life who has said "I want to live on welfare for my entire life, and have nothing", and I doubt you have either. That's a lie conservatives tell one another to look down on the poor, and blame them. like the I've been through period of being broke and unemployed, and it hard to get back on my feet again financially. Life is much easier and less stressful when you don\'t have to decide between paying the electricity bill or the rent.

Republicans work very hard to keep poor people poor. They refuse to raise the minimum wage, and force the middle class to subsidize wages through Earned Income Credits. The children of the poor get a substandard education in run down poorly equipped schools, that in now way prepares them for college or the work world. The USA has all but put the finishing touches on a permanent underclass of uneducated poor people who aren't equipped or qualified to work in today's economy, and then you blame them for being a drain on society.

There's a wonderful concept for the wealthy if ever there was one. We won't pay you a living wage. We'll just pocket these record profits and let the middle class give you a chunk of THEIR taxes. As a bonus, we get to call you lot lazy, "takers" and blame you for their high taxes. Win/win for me, and fuck you too!

Being able to support yourself is no magic trick. Stay in school until you graduate, get a job and preferably live at home with your parents for a while, resist buying things you don't really need, and save up some money. The problem with the poor is they start having kids when they are still kids themselves. The largest expense you will ever encounter besides buying a home is having children. Once you have a child, you are stuck with them for at least 18 years. If you are on the dole during that time, of course there is no way to get ahead. But you put yourself in that position; not society, not employers, not the schools.

Our education is not sub-standard, the parents are. You can't just whisk your kid off to school and it's no longer your problem. You can't let your kid stay out all night during the school week. And trust me, I've seen it right here where I live. Then when those kids grow up and can't even spell their name, it's the schools fault.

Trust me on this. Years ago I used to teach music at a music studio. Most of the students were really into it, but there were a few where the parents insisted their kid learn a musical instrument when he or she had no heart to do it. There was nothing I could do for them. If the kid doesn't want to learn or practice, I can't teach them diddly. I can understand a child lying to me about practicing, but some of the parents did the same thing! I know when a kid is not practicing because their guitar is in perfect tune when they return the following week.

People don't start companies to provide living wage jobs. They start companies to provide a product or service at a profit. That's it. Nobody opens up a company as a social obligation. It's up to the individual to make their labor valuable--not some leftist politician.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

This is why Americans are so miserable. You sit around expecting to make millions, while doing low-value work.

I am not suggesting anyone should deserve to make millions. Settle down and talk like an adult. But I will suggest that people who work full time should be able to buy a house, and a car, and take a vacation every year. While that may see like "royal living" where you come from, that's just a basic standard of living we should have here AND where you come from. So, if you would like to argue against that, then go right ahead. Or play with your "I deserve millions!!!" dollies. Whatever.

People don't open up or expand businesses to provide jobs that give employees the ability to buy those things. If you want those things, you need to get into a field of work that will provide those things. People invest money in business to provide services or products at a profit--their profit.

Take a company--any company that you feel underpays their workers. Now open up a similar business and pay your workers more wages and benefits. Which company do you think will close down within a few years, yours or theirs?

Businesses do nothing more than we American consumers. We look for the cheapest products or services we can find. If you get three estimates to have the transmission in your car rebuilt, you generally will take the lowest bid. You don't ask the transmission place what they pay their mechanics, what kind of benefits they provide, if their mechanics have the ability to buy new cars every five years or purchase a home. You just care about getting the work you needed done for the lowest price.

This is bullshit Ray. Even if you get an education and become a professional, or open your own business and live off the work of others, the economy still needs people to flip burgers, deliver pizzas and clean office buildings. If everybody opens a business or becomes a professional, who is going to do these low wage jobs? These people are entitled to a decent wage for a decent day's work.

There are a lot more workers than there are business owners or professionals, and while all jobs shouldn't be receiving equal pay, all full-time jobs should provide as least a modest roof over your head, food and clothing for a person, especially when the corporation is booking record profits.

The low wage bank job I had when I first left school paid minimum wage, and I had a two room apartment in downtown Toronto which I shared with my best friend. We couldn't afford much - bus passes for transportation, and lots of Kraft dinner for supper. An occasional concert at Ontario Place. But we didn't need social assistance to pay for any of this.

When I got out of school my first job was working at a car wash. It didn't pay much, and that's what gave me the drive to do better. Now had some Democrat come along and increase minimum wage to a ridiculous amount, maybe I'd still be at that car wash job today.

You don't get anywhere by somebody giving it to you, you have to desire it enough to get it yourself. The problem with our younger people today is they were never taught it takes work to get the things you want. Many of them just ask their parents for it, and that's how they obtain those things. Cell phones, video games, the latest trend in walking shoes, perfume, makeup, and it's all theirs for the asking. When you are raised that way, you have the same mentality when you become an adult.

 

[Cecilie1200]

This is why Americans are so miserable. You sit around expecting to make millions, while doing low-value work.

I am not suggesting anyone should deserve to make millions. Settle down and talk like an adult. But I will suggest that people who work full time should be able to buy a house, and a car, and take a vacation every year. While that may see like "royal living" where you come from, that's just a basic standard of living we should have here AND where you come from. So, if you would like to argue against that, then go right ahead. Or play with your "I deserve millions!!!" dollies. Whatever.

People don't open up or expand businesses to provide jobs that give employees the ability to buy those things. If you want those things, you need to get into a field of work that will provide those things. People invest money in business to provide services or products at a profit--their profit.

Take a company--any company that you feel underpays their workers. Now open up a similar business and pay your workers more wages and benefits. Which company do you think will close down within a few years, yours or theirs?

Businesses do nothing more than we American consumers. We look for the cheapest products or services we can find. If you get three estimates to have the transmission in your car rebuilt, you generally will take the lowest bid. You don't ask the transmission place what they pay their mechanics, what kind of benefits they provide, if their mechanics have the ability to buy new cars every five years or purchase a home. You just care about getting the work you needed done for the lowest price.

This is bullshit Ray. Even if you get an education and become a professional, or open your own business and live off the work of others, the economy still needs people to flip burgers, deliver pizzas and clean office buildings. If everybody opens a business or becomes a professional, who is going to do these low wage jobs? These people are entitled to a decent wage for a decent day's work.

There are a lot more workers than there are business owners or professionals, and while all jobs shouldn't be receiving equal pay, all full-time jobs should provide as least a modest roof over your head, food and clothing for a person, especially when the corporation is booking record profits.

The low wage bank job I had when I first left school paid minimum wage, and I had a two room apartment in downtown Toronto which I shared with my best friend. We couldn't afford much - bus passes for transportation, and lots of Kraft dinner for supper. An occasional concert at Ontario Place. But we didn't need social assistance to pay for any of this.

When I got out of school my first job was working at a car wash. It didn't pay much, and that's what gave me the drive to do better. Now had some Democrat come along and increase minimum wage to a ridiculous amount, maybe I'd still be at that car wash job today.

You don't get anywhere by somebody giving it to you, you have to desire it enough to get it yourself. The problem with our younger people today is they were never taught it takes work to get the things you want. Many of them just ask their parents for it, and that's how they obtain those things. Cell phones, video games, the latest trend in walking shoes, perfume, makeup, and it's all theirs for the asking. When you are raised that way, you have the same mentality when you become an adult.

My first job out of high school was cleaning motel rooms. After I found my first used condom tangled up in the bedsheets, my SECOND job out of high school was cleaning kennels at the veterinary hospital. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't still be there, even if they HAD raised the minimum wage.

But that's kinda the point of low-skill, low-wage, entry level jobs, isn't it? To simultaneously teach you life skills like punctuality and perseverance, and suck badly enough to motivate you to improve your life.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

This is why Americans are so miserable. You sit around expecting to make millions, while doing low-value work.

I am not suggesting anyone should deserve to make millions. Settle down and talk like an adult. But I will suggest that people who work full time should be able to buy a house, and a car, and take a vacation every year. While that may see like "royal living" where you come from, that's just a basic standard of living we should have here AND where you come from. So, if you would like to argue against that, then go right ahead. Or play with your "I deserve millions!!!" dollies. Whatever.

People don't open up or expand businesses to provide jobs that give employees the ability to buy those things. If you want those things, you need to get into a field of work that will provide those things. People invest money in business to provide services or products at a profit--their profit.

Take a company--any company that you feel underpays their workers. Now open up a similar business and pay your workers more wages and benefits. Which company do you think will close down within a few years, yours or theirs?

Businesses do nothing more than we American consumers. We look for the cheapest products or services we can find. If you get three estimates to have the transmission in your car rebuilt, you generally will take the lowest bid. You don't ask the transmission place what they pay their mechanics, what kind of benefits they provide, if their mechanics have the ability to buy new cars every five years or purchase a home. You just care about getting the work you needed done for the lowest price.

This is bullshit Ray. Even if you get an education and become a professional, or open your own business and live off the work of others, the economy still needs people to flip burgers, deliver pizzas and clean office buildings. If everybody opens a business or becomes a professional, who is going to do these low wage jobs? These people are entitled to a decent wage for a decent day's work.

There are a lot more workers than there are business owners or professionals, and while all jobs shouldn't be receiving equal pay, all full-time jobs should provide as least a modest roof over your head, food and clothing for a person, especially when the corporation is booking record profits.

The low wage bank job I had when I first left school paid minimum wage, and I had a two room apartment in downtown Toronto which I shared with my best friend. We couldn't afford much - bus passes for transportation, and lots of Kraft dinner for supper. An occasional concert at Ontario Place. But we didn't need social assistance to pay for any of this.

When I got out of school my first job was working at a car wash. It didn't pay much, and that's what gave me the drive to do better. Now had some Democrat come along and increase minimum wage to a ridiculous amount, maybe I'd still be at that car wash job today.

You don't get anywhere by somebody giving it to you, you have to desire it enough to get it yourself. The problem with our younger people today is they were never taught it takes work to get the things you want. Many of them just ask their parents for it, and that's how they obtain those things. Cell phones, video games, the latest trend in walking shoes, perfume, makeup, and it's all theirs for the asking. When you are raised that way, you have the same mentality when you become an adult.

My first job out of high school was cleaning motel rooms. After I found my first used condom tangled up in the bedsheets, my SECOND job out of high school was cleaning kennels at the veterinary hospital. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't still be there, even if they HAD raised the minimum wage.

But that's kinda the point of low-skill, low-wage, entry level jobs, isn't it? To simultaneously teach you life skills like punctuality and perseverance, and suck badly enough to motivate you to improve your life.

I worked long before my first full-time job. My father was a bricklayer. One time I asked him for five dollars. He asked what made me think he had five dollars to give? I said "you work so I know you have money!" He said "Well if that's the way I make my money, that's the way you're going to make yours. Now get in the van, we're going to work."

I was 11 or 12 at the time, and when you're a bricklayer up north, you work as much as you can during the favorable months because you can't lay brick in the winter. So after work my father ate, laid down for a half-hour, and went and did side jobs. Very memorable times.

He paid me one dollar an hour. One dollar to carry bricks to the job site, mix cement, clean his tools, follow his demands, and when I got home, I was a filthy mess; so tired I didn't even want to shower, but I had to.

While not a very educated man (he had to quit school in the 9th grade to support his family) my father is a great philosopher. I learned so many things working with him. The most important lesson was when I was slacking off one time. He told me I knew what he needed to do the job. Don't wait for a command to do it. Whenever you go to a job.....any job, always pretend you're the owner or supervisor. Know what you're going to ask your worker to do, and do it before they ask.

Those words made me a valuable employee for anybody I ever worked for.

 

[Andylusion]

This is why Americans are so miserable. You sit around expecting to make millions, while doing low-value work.

I am not suggesting anyone should deserve to make millions. Settle down and talk like an adult. But I will suggest that people who work full time should be able to buy a house, and a car, and take a vacation every year. While that may see like "royal living" where you come from, that's just a basic standard of living we should have here AND where you come from. So, if you would like to argue against that, then go right ahead. Or play with your "I deserve millions!!!" dollies. Whatever.

People don't open up or expand businesses to provide jobs that give employees the ability to buy those things. If you want those things, you need to get into a field of work that will provide those things. People invest money in business to provide services or products at a profit--their profit.

Take a company--any company that you feel underpays their workers. Now open up a similar business and pay your workers more wages and benefits. Which company do you think will close down within a few years, yours or theirs?

Businesses do nothing more than we American consumers. We look for the cheapest products or services we can find. If you get three estimates to have the transmission in your car rebuilt, you generally will take the lowest bid. You don't ask the transmission place what they pay their mechanics, what kind of benefits they provide, if their mechanics have the ability to buy new cars every five years or purchase a home. You just care about getting the work you needed done for the lowest price.

This is bullshit Ray. Even if you get an education and become a professional, or open your own business and live off the work of others, the economy still needs people to flip burgers, deliver pizzas and clean office buildings. If everybody opens a business or becomes a professional, who is going to do these low wage jobs? These people are entitled to a decent wage for a decent day's work.

There are a lot more workers than there are business owners or professionals, and while all jobs shouldn't be receiving equal pay, all full-time jobs should provide as least a modest roof over your head, food and clothing for a person, especially when the corporation is booking record profits.

The low wage bank job I had when I first left school paid minimum wage, and I had a two room apartment in downtown Toronto which I shared with my best friend. We couldn't afford much - bus passes for transportation, and lots of Kraft dinner for supper. An occasional concert at Ontario Place. But we didn't need social assistance to pay for any of this.

When I got out of school my first job was working at a car wash. It didn't pay much, and that's what gave me the drive to do better. Now had some Democrat come along and increase minimum wage to a ridiculous amount, maybe I'd still be at that car wash job today.

You don't get anywhere by somebody giving it to you, you have to desire it enough to get it yourself. The problem with our younger people today is they were never taught it takes work to get the things you want. Many of them just ask their parents for it, and that's how they obtain those things. Cell phones, video games, the latest trend in walking shoes, perfume, makeup, and it's all theirs for the asking. When you are raised that way, you have the same mentality when you become an adult.

And honestly, I think a large number of Democrats know this, and don't care, because class warfare, and dependence on the government, and a victim mentality, are simply great ways to get elected and re-elected.

They know their base is stupid, and love playing them for fools.... because it works. That's all there is to it. It works.

 

[Cecilie1200]

I am not suggesting anyone should deserve to make millions. Settle down and talk like an adult. But I will suggest that people who work full time should be able to buy a house, and a car, and take a vacation every year. While that may see like "royal living" where you come from, that's just a basic standard of living we should have here AND where you come from. So, if you would like to argue against that, then go right ahead. Or play with your "I deserve millions!!!" dollies. Whatever.

People don't open up or expand businesses to provide jobs that give employees the ability to buy those things. If you want those things, you need to get into a field of work that will provide those things. People invest money in business to provide services or products at a profit--their profit.

Take a company--any company that you feel underpays their workers. Now open up a similar business and pay your workers more wages and benefits. Which company do you think will close down within a few years, yours or theirs?

Businesses do nothing more than we American consumers. We look for the cheapest products or services we can find. If you get three estimates to have the transmission in your car rebuilt, you generally will take the lowest bid. You don't ask the transmission place what they pay their mechanics, what kind of benefits they provide, if their mechanics have the ability to buy new cars every five years or purchase a home. You just care about getting the work you needed done for the lowest price.

This is bullshit Ray. Even if you get an education and become a professional, or open your own business and live off the work of others, the economy still needs people to flip burgers, deliver pizzas and clean office buildings. If everybody opens a business or becomes a professional, who is going to do these low wage jobs? These people are entitled to a decent wage for a decent day's work.

There are a lot more workers than there are business owners or professionals, and while all jobs shouldn't be receiving equal pay, all full-time jobs should provide as least a modest roof over your head, food and clothing for a person, especially when the corporation is booking record profits.

The low wage bank job I had when I first left school paid minimum wage, and I had a two room apartment in downtown Toronto which I shared with my best friend. We couldn't afford much - bus passes for transportation, and lots of Kraft dinner for supper. An occasional concert at Ontario Place. But we didn't need social assistance to pay for any of this.

When I got out of school my first job was working at a car wash. It didn't pay much, and that's what gave me the drive to do better. Now had some Democrat come along and increase minimum wage to a ridiculous amount, maybe I'd still be at that car wash job today.

You don't get anywhere by somebody giving it to you, you have to desire it enough to get it yourself. The problem with our younger people today is they were never taught it takes work to get the things you want. Many of them just ask their parents for it, and that's how they obtain those things. Cell phones, video games, the latest trend in walking shoes, perfume, makeup, and it's all theirs for the asking. When you are raised that way, you have the same mentality when you become an adult.

My first job out of high school was cleaning motel rooms. After I found my first used condom tangled up in the bedsheets, my SECOND job out of high school was cleaning kennels at the veterinary hospital. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't still be there, even if they HAD raised the minimum wage.

But that's kinda the point of low-skill, low-wage, entry level jobs, isn't it? To simultaneously teach you life skills like punctuality and perseverance, and suck badly enough to motivate you to improve your life.

I worked long before my first full-time job. My father was a bricklayer. One time I asked him for five dollars. He asked what made me think he had five dollars to give? I said "you work so I know you have money!" He said "Well if that's the way I make my money, that's the way you're going to make yours. Now get in the van, we're going to work."

I was 11 or 12 at the time, and when you're a bricklayer up north, you work as much as you can during the favorable months because you can't lay brick in the winter. So after work my father ate, laid down for a half-hour, and went and did side jobs. Very memorable times.

He paid me one dollar an hour. One dollar to carry bricks to the job site, mix cement, clean his tools, follow his demands, and when I got home, I was a filthy mess; so tired I didn't even want to shower, but I had to.

While not a very educated man (he had to quit school in the 9th grade to support his family) my father is a great philosopher. I learned so many things working with him. The most important lesson was when I was slacking off one time. He told me I knew what he needed to do the job. Don't wait for a command to do it. Whenever you go to a job.....any job, always pretend you're the owner or supervisor. Know what you're going to ask your worker to do, and do it before they ask.

Those words made me a valuable employee for anybody I ever worked for.

I don't remember my parents ever really setting out to teach me any lessons about work, per se. They were more of the "set an example by how I live" sort. They believed that if something was worth doing at all, then it was worth doing as though you were working directly for God Himself, not just another person. And they believed that, no matter what, their lives were their responsibility before anyone else's. At the time, I just absorbed the attitude without even thinking about it. Now that I'm an adult, I can look back and point to any number of times they exemplified those principles.

I got a job the week after I graduated high school because my father was very sick with the illnesses which would eventually kill him, and he and Mom needed help paying the bills. Never crossed my mind once that it wasn't my responsibility to start bringing in money and helping support the family.

 

[Agit8r]

Largely it is because the newly employable don't have many life skills and spend it all driving oversized pickup trucks and spewing nicotine vapor out the window. Because our boyish society tells them that is what makes them a "real man"

 

[easyt65]

The economy is only doing well if you are in the top 10%. For everybody else, not so much.

A good economy can not compensate for personal economic itresponsibility, poor planning, & / or a lack of monetary discipline.

 

[JWBooth]

The economy is only doing well if you are in the top 10%. For everybody else, not so much.

because people do not know how to save and we live in an instant gratification society. 75 to 80 percent of the country lives paycheck to paycheck, no matter how the economy is doing.

Every bit of this is true. However, due to artificially low interest rates and currency devaluations, traditional savings methods are net money losers. This is intentional. Economic activity has been spurred because people are trained to spend and borrow now, because their monies will buy less tomorrow. Ride the bubble of the moment.

 

[sparky]

If The Economy Is So Great Why Can't Most People Miss One Paycheck?

relative to what? 1975 ?? ....Somalia ?

~S~

 

[Cellblock2429]

This is why Americans are so miserable. You sit around expecting to make millions, while doing low-value work.

I am not suggesting anyone should deserve to make millions. Settle down and talk like an adult. But I will suggest that people who work full time should be able to buy a house, and a car, and take a vacation every year. While that may see like "royal living" where you come from, that's just a basic standard of living we should have here AND where you come from. So, if you would like to argue against that, then go right ahead. Or play with your "I deserve millions!!!" dollies. Whatever.

People don't open up or expand businesses to provide jobs that give employees the ability to buy those things. If you want those things, you need to get into a field of work that will provide those things. People invest money in business to provide services or products at a profit--their profit.

Take a company--any company that you feel underpays their workers. Now open up a similar business and pay your workers more wages and benefits. Which company do you think will close down within a few years, yours or theirs?

Businesses do nothing more than we American consumers. We look for the cheapest products or services we can find. If you get three estimates to have the transmission in your car rebuilt, you generally will take the lowest bid. You don't ask the transmission place what they pay their mechanics, what kind of benefits they provide, if their mechanics have the ability to buy new cars every five years or purchase a home. You just care about getting the work you needed done for the lowest price.

This is bullshit Ray. Even if you get an education and become a professional, or open your own business and live off the work of others, the economy still needs people to flip burgers, deliver pizzas and clean office buildings. If everybody opens a business or becomes a professional, who is going to do these low wage jobs? These people are entitled to a decent wage for a decent day's work.

There are a lot more workers than there are business owners or professionals, and while all jobs shouldn't be receiving equal pay, all full-time jobs should provide as least a modest roof over your head, food and clothing for a person, especially when the corporation is booking record profits.

The low wage bank job I had when I first left school paid minimum wage, and I had a two room apartment in downtown Toronto which I shared with my best friend. We couldn't afford much - bus passes for transportation, and lots of Kraft dinner for supper. An occasional concert at Ontario Place. But we didn't need social assistance to pay for any of this.

When I got out of school my first job was working at a car wash. It didn't pay much, and that's what gave me the drive to do better. Now had some Democrat come along and increase minimum wage to a ridiculous amount, maybe I'd still be at that car wash job today.

You don't get anywhere by somebody giving it to you, you have to desire it enough to get it yourself. The problem with our younger people today is they were never taught it takes work to get the things you want. Many of them just ask their parents for it, and that's how they obtain those things. Cell phones, video games, the latest trend in walking shoes, perfume, makeup, and it's all theirs for the asking. When you are raised that way, you have the same mentality when you become an adult.

/—/ There are several reasons the left pushes minimum wages. One, many Union contracts are tied to the fed minimum wage so they get a bump in salary so they can donate more to the DNC. Second, the Teachers Union realizes they are graduating functional illiterates and can’t compete for decent jobs so they need at least $15 an hour at their McDonald’s career and thirdly it harms small businesses, the lefts main enemy.

 

[Lesh]

This is why Americans are so miserable. You sit around expecting to make millions, while doing low-value work.

I am not suggesting anyone should deserve to make millions. Settle down and talk like an adult. But I will suggest that people who work full time should be able to buy a house, and a car, and take a vacation every year. While that may see like "royal living" where you come from, that's just a basic standard of living we should have here AND where you come from. So, if you would like to argue against that, then go right ahead. Or play with your "I deserve millions!!!" dollies. Whatever.

People don't open up or expand businesses to provide jobs that give employees the ability to buy those things. If you want those things, you need to get into a field of work that will provide those things. People invest money in business to provide services or products at a profit--their profit.

Take a company--any company that you feel underpays their workers. Now open up a similar business and pay your workers more wages and benefits. Which company do you think will close down within a few years, yours or theirs?

Businesses do nothing more than we American consumers. We look for the cheapest products or services we can find. If you get three estimates to have the transmission in your car rebuilt, you generally will take the lowest bid. You don't ask the transmission place what they pay their mechanics, what kind of benefits they provide, if their mechanics have the ability to buy new cars every five years or purchase a home. You just care about getting the work you needed done for the lowest price.

This is bullshit Ray. Even if you get an education and become a professional, or open your own business and live off the work of others, the economy still needs people to flip burgers, deliver pizzas and clean office buildings. If everybody opens a business or becomes a professional, who is going to do these low wage jobs? These people are entitled to a decent wage for a decent day's work.

There are a lot more workers than there are business owners or professionals, and while all jobs shouldn't be receiving equal pay, all full-time jobs should provide as least a modest roof over your head, food and clothing for a person, especially when the corporation is booking record profits.

The low wage bank job I had when I first left school paid minimum wage, and I had a two room apartment in downtown Toronto which I shared with my best friend. We couldn't afford much - bus passes for transportation, and lots of Kraft dinner for supper. An occasional concert at Ontario Place. But we didn't need social assistance to pay for any of this.

When I got out of school my first job was working at a car wash. It didn't pay much, and that's what gave me the drive to do better. Now had some Democrat come along and increase minimum wage to a ridiculous amount, maybe I'd still be at that car wash job today.

You don't get anywhere by somebody giving it to you, you have to desire it enough to get it yourself. The problem with our younger people today is they were never taught it takes work to get the things you want. Many of them just ask their parents for it, and that's how they obtain those things. Cell phones, video games, the latest trend in walking shoes, perfume, makeup, and it's all theirs for the asking. When you are raised that way, you have the same mentality when you become an adult.

And honestly, I think a large number of Democrats know this, and don't care, because class warfare, and dependence on the government, and a victim mentality, are simply great ways to get elected and re-elected.

They know their base is stupid, and love playing them for fools.... because it works. That's all there is to it. It works.

Who's base is stupid?

Republicans have been voting for tax cuts for the rich and corporations see for decades.

 

[Correll]

The economy is only doing well if you are in the top 10%. For everybody else, not so much.

because people do not know how to save and we live in an instant gratification society. 75 to 80 percent of the country lives paycheck to paycheck, no matter how the economy is doing.

I'm a follower of Dave Ramsey, we try to keep at least a 6 month reserve.

And barring when we get hit, we generally do.

 

[miketx]

I am not suggesting anyone should deserve to make millions. Settle down and talk like an adult. But I will suggest that people who work full time should be able to buy a house, and a car, and take a vacation every year. While that may see like "royal living" where you come from, that's just a basic standard of living we should have here AND where you come from. So, if you would like to argue against that, then go right ahead. Or play with your "I deserve millions!!!" dollies. Whatever.

People don't open up or expand businesses to provide jobs that give employees the ability to buy those things. If you want those things, you need to get into a field of work that will provide those things. People invest money in business to provide services or products at a profit--their profit.

Take a company--any company that you feel underpays their workers. Now open up a similar business and pay your workers more wages and benefits. Which company do you think will close down within a few years, yours or theirs?

Businesses do nothing more than we American consumers. We look for the cheapest products or services we can find. If you get three estimates to have the transmission in your car rebuilt, you generally will take the lowest bid. You don't ask the transmission place what they pay their mechanics, what kind of benefits they provide, if their mechanics have the ability to buy new cars every five years or purchase a home. You just care about getting the work you needed done for the lowest price.

This is bullshit Ray. Even if you get an education and become a professional, or open your own business and live off the work of others, the economy still needs people to flip burgers, deliver pizzas and clean office buildings. If everybody opens a business or becomes a professional, who is going to do these low wage jobs? These people are entitled to a decent wage for a decent day's work.

There are a lot more workers than there are business owners or professionals, and while all jobs shouldn't be receiving equal pay, all full-time jobs should provide as least a modest roof over your head, food and clothing for a person, especially when the corporation is booking record profits.

The low wage bank job I had when I first left school paid minimum wage, and I had a two room apartment in downtown Toronto which I shared with my best friend. We couldn't afford much - bus passes for transportation, and lots of Kraft dinner for supper. An occasional concert at Ontario Place. But we didn't need social assistance to pay for any of this.

When I got out of school my first job was working at a car wash. It didn't pay much, and that's what gave me the drive to do better. Now had some Democrat come along and increase minimum wage to a ridiculous amount, maybe I'd still be at that car wash job today.

You don't get anywhere by somebody giving it to you, you have to desire it enough to get it yourself. The problem with our younger people today is they were never taught it takes work to get the things you want. Many of them just ask their parents for it, and that's how they obtain those things. Cell phones, video games, the latest trend in walking shoes, perfume, makeup, and it's all theirs for the asking. When you are raised that way, you have the same mentality when you become an adult.

And honestly, I think a large number of Democrats know this, and don't care, because class warfare, and dependence on the government, and a victim mentality, are simply great ways to get elected and re-elected.

They know their base is stupid, and love playing them for fools.... because it works. That's all there is to it. It works.

Who's base is stupid?

Republicans have been voting for tax cuts for the rich and corporations see for decades.

I see you're still parroting the party line's fake narrative.

 

[Mac1958]

We're teetering right now. A good China deal could swing things, some unexpected earnings reports would help. A 50bps drop by the Fed might help, but there are arguments against that. So we'll see.

But we're teetering.

 

[rightwinger]

This is why Americans are so miserable. You sit around expecting to make millions, while doing low-value work.

I am not suggesting anyone should deserve to make millions. Settle down and talk like an adult. But I will suggest that people who work full time should be able to buy a house, and a car, and take a vacation every year. While that may see like "royal living" where you come from, that's just a basic standard of living we should have here AND where you come from. So, if you would like to argue against that, then go right ahead. Or play with your "I deserve millions!!!" dollies. Whatever.

People don't open up or expand businesses to provide jobs that give employees the ability to buy those things. If you want those things, you need to get into a field of work that will provide those things. People invest money in business to provide services or products at a profit--their profit.

Take a company--any company that you feel underpays their workers. Now open up a similar business and pay your workers more wages and benefits. Which company do you think will close down within a few years, yours or theirs?

Businesses do nothing more than we American consumers. We look for the cheapest products or services we can find. If you get three estimates to have the transmission in your car rebuilt, you generally will take the lowest bid. You don't ask the transmission place what they pay their mechanics, what kind of benefits they provide, if their mechanics have the ability to buy new cars every five years or purchase a home. You just care about getting the work you needed done for the lowest price.

This is bullshit Ray. Even if you get an education and become a professional, or open your own business and live off the work of others, the economy still needs people to flip burgers, deliver pizzas and clean office buildings. If everybody opens a business or becomes a professional, who is going to do these low wage jobs? These people are entitled to a decent wage for a decent day's work.

There are a lot more workers than there are business owners or professionals, and while all jobs shouldn't be receiving equal pay, all full-time jobs should provide as least a modest roof over your head, food and clothing for a person, especially when the corporation is booking record profits.

The low wage bank job I had when I first left school paid minimum wage, and I had a two room apartment in downtown Toronto which I shared with my best friend. We couldn't afford much - bus passes for transportation, and lots of Kraft dinner for supper. An occasional concert at Ontario Place. But we didn't need social assistance to pay for any of this.

When I got out of school my first job was working at a car wash. It didn't pay much, and that's what gave me the drive to do better. Now had some Democrat come along and increase minimum wage to a ridiculous amount, maybe I'd still be at that car wash job today.

You don't get anywhere by somebody giving it to you, you have to desire it enough to get it yourself. The problem with our younger people today is they were never taught it takes work to get the things you want. Many of them just ask their parents for it, and that's how they obtain those things. Cell phones, video games, the latest trend in walking shoes, perfume, makeup, and it's all theirs for the asking. When you are raised that way, you have the same mentality when you become an adult.

/—/ There are several reasons the left pushes minimum wages. One, many Union contracts are tied to the fed minimum wage so they get a bump in salary so they can donate more to the DNC. Second, the Teachers Union realizes they are graduating functional illiterates and can’t compete for decent jobs so they need at least $15 an hour at their McDonald’s career and thirdly it harms small businesses, the lefts main enemy.

We push for minimum wage because it is the only way to protect low skilled workers

 

[PredFan]

The economy is only doing well if you are in the top 10%. For everybody else, not so much.

That has got to be one of the stupidest questions I've recently heard.

It's a very simple answer. It's because they are fiscally irresponsible, duh.