In only 10% of counties in the US can a worker afford a 2 bedroom apartment working 40 hours a week

[Missouri_Mike]

'A national problem': U.S. housing affordability is out of whack with minimum wage

Obviously this should bother republican voters, but they have this fantasy mindset that Trump will turn this country into some kind of utopia despite the fact that he had two years to do so with a republican Congress. Their only response when presented with this is the usual pathetic deflection of “well Obama didn’t do it! Derp, derp, derp!”

Now granted Obama achieved little in improving the lives of the middle class and poor besides a few policies. These policies include 1) helping to reverse the Great Recession he inherited from Bush 6 months into his presidency and producing job growth EVER SINCE. 2) Expanding OT pay eligibility for thousands of US workers 3) guaranteeing people receive healthcare from pre-existing conditions, 4) passing the biggest middle class tax cut since Reagan

He also TRIED to invest education and raise the minimum wage but was blocked by republicans.

The point I am making is that republicans do fucking NOTHING to help the poor and middle class but democrats at least make an attempt despite failing on a significant scale. This nuance matters whether you like it or not.

Holy shit! You single handedly discovered the reason room mates were invented!

 

[WEATHER53]

So? Work more than 40 hours. Most people do anyway.

When I was younger, me and most of my friends had more than one job, or a job that worked six or seven days a week with a lot of hours.

Our priorities were different than today though. Number one was a roof over your head, then food, and of course utilities.

Today I think people would rather be homeless than to give up their smart phone. We spend a lot of money buying fast food, taking vacations, much of it on technology for entertainment and convenience, late model cars that most lease today.

I moved from my parents home at the age of 20 back in 1980. I paid less for my first apartment back then than I do my cable/ cell phone bill today. Actually a hundred dollars less.

When you and I were younger, there was much less extraneous expensive stuff to spend our money on. TV was still mostly free, and even cable was less than 10 bucks a month. Most extra money went too booze or women! I do remember saving up for a kicking store and speakers for my car!

I have worked since I was 15, never more than 3.5 months in all that time without a job, and only that long once.

The funny thing about us Americans, we are taking less vacations than ever.

One American Vacation Behavior That Simply HAS to Stop

According to the U.S. Travel Association, Americans left 705 million vacation days unused in 2017. To be clear, that means only 52 percent of American employees took advantage of the vacation time available to them. On top of that, of the 705 million vacation days, 212 million did not roll over or could not be paid out to employees. Per CNN, “the average employee actually donated $561 in ‘free’ work to their employer by not using their vacation time.”

We give more to our employers and get less back every year...
View attachment 272560

I haven't been on a vacation in over 30 years, but I still use my vacation time. But for the people that do travel for vacation, they spend quite a bit doing so.

If my father had any time off during the summer because work was slow, he took us fishing or perhaps camping for a few days. We brought our own food, fished, and pretty much everything else was no cost. He and his brothers chipped in for a camper in New York that we all used.

I know people that spend a week in Vegas, Mexico, Europe, and various other places that are quite expensive. To be totally honest, I'm nearly 60 years old and never seen an ocean in my life outside of television or an airplane window.

When I was growing up until a teen when I had my own money, McDonald's and like was a rare treat. Today many people eat out three or more times a week. Today's video game systems are close to a thousand dollars, and that's not including the games you need to buy to play them.

So the question is do we have less money today, or are we spending the money we have on unnecessary things?

Ray you and I worked our way up. Started with very little, money was scarce until the 70’s. Mowed lawns and shoveled snow starting in 2nd grade then pedal to the metal adult career for 40 years, never took more than 1 week off ever, grew the business and now reap the rewards in my deaccelerated life. You are talking to a bunch that think debt forgiveness is a great idea, illegals on Medicare paid from our social security is kindly, and that guys who worked like you and I did are saps because there’s so much potential in taking other people’s money from them via “social justice”

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

In the early 60's in california, a guy could buy a car and rent an apartment in a decent neighborhood on wages from working in a gas station or restaurant. And his wife could stay home and take care of the baby. What changed? A great part of it is the inequality of wealth between those at the top and those at the bottom. Lots of posters will say that those jobs at the bottom are only meant for people starting out in careers. Not so. There are many Americans that aren't capable of going beyond minimum wage jobs. Then there's the cost of education as a means to a higher paying career. Way higher than before.

As I stated earlier, the reason for failures in our society are drugs--not wealthy people. If you took every dime from every wealthy person in this country, it only makes government richer, but it doesn't change your life one iota.

However if you can kick the dope, your opportunities are tenfold. You can work anywhere you want for the wage you're willing to work for. But it won't come knocking at your door dressed as a politician or bureaucrat.

Also it helps to defeat representatives that want to usher in more foreigners that will work our jobs for much less money.

 

[Pumpkin Row]

'A national problem': U.S. housing affordability is out of whack with minimum wage

Obviously this should bother republican voters, but they have this fantasy mindset that Trump will turn this country into some kind of utopia despite the fact that he had two years to do so with a republican Congress. Their only response when presented with this is the usual pathetic deflection of “well Obama didn’t do it! Derp, derp, derp!”

Now granted Obama achieved little in improving the lives of the middle class and poor besides a few policies. These policies include 1) helping to reverse the Great Recession he inherited from Bush 6 months into his presidency and producing job growth EVER SINCE. 2) Expanding OT pay eligibility for thousands of US workers 3) guaranteeing people receive healthcare from pre-existing conditions, 4) passing the biggest middle class tax cut since Reagan

He also TRIED to invest education and raise the minimum wage but was blocked by republicans.

The point I am making is that republicans do fucking NOTHING to help the poor and middle class but democrats at least make an attempt despite failing on a significant scale. This nuance matters whether you like it or not.

Well, first, that's 2.3% of workers. Second, Regulations are shown to increase the cost of living, 150 are being passed every day, on average, and the purchasing power of the US Dollar has been dropping because the lack of a supply cap and a lack of incentive to actually trade in it makes it totally worthless.

Secondly, the Government does not produce jobs, demand produces jobs, and the Government cannot create demand, they only restrict what people can do with their own private property(Something inherently unethical). The absolute best they can do is repeal regulations, which would allow competitors to enter the market, allowing them to fulfill demand and compete with the pseudo-monopolies the Government creates.

Well, yes, Republicans do nothing, because they're exactly the same as Democrats. Government does what's in the interest of Government, and everyone who gets into Government works on its behalf. What's in the interest of Government is necessarily against the interests of the people, otherwise force would not be required. This isn't apparent to you, because you refuse to think outside of identitarian terms.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

So? Work more than 40 hours. Most people do anyway.

When I was younger, me and most of my friends had more than one job, or a job that worked six or seven days a week with a lot of hours.

Our priorities were different than today though. Number one was a roof over your head, then food, and of course utilities.

Today I think people would rather be homeless than to give up their smart phone. We spend a lot of money buying fast food, taking vacations, much of it on technology for entertainment and convenience, late model cars that most lease today.

I moved from my parents home at the age of 20 back in 1980. I paid less for my first apartment back then than I do my cable/ cell phone bill today. Actually a hundred dollars less.

When you and I were younger, there was much less extraneous expensive stuff to spend our money on. TV was still mostly free, and even cable was less than 10 bucks a month. Most extra money went too booze or women! I do remember saving up for a kicking store and speakers for my car!

I have worked since I was 15, never more than 3.5 months in all that time without a job, and only that long once.

The funny thing about us Americans, we are taking less vacations than ever.

One American Vacation Behavior That Simply HAS to Stop

According to the U.S. Travel Association, Americans left 705 million vacation days unused in 2017. To be clear, that means only 52 percent of American employees took advantage of the vacation time available to them. On top of that, of the 705 million vacation days, 212 million did not roll over or could not be paid out to employees. Per CNN, “the average employee actually donated $561 in ‘free’ work to their employer by not using their vacation time.”

We give more to our employers and get less back every year...
View attachment 272560

I haven't been on a vacation in over 30 years, but I still use my vacation time. But for the people that do travel for vacation, they spend quite a bit doing so.

If my father had any time off during the summer because work was slow, he took us fishing or perhaps camping for a few days. We brought our own food, fished, and pretty much everything else was no cost. He and his brothers chipped in for a camper in New York that we all used.

I know people that spend a week in Vegas, Mexico, Europe, and various other places that are quite expensive. To be totally honest, I'm nearly 60 years old and never seen an ocean in my life outside of television or an airplane window.

When I was growing up until a teen when I had my own money, McDonald's and like was a rare treat. Today many people eat out three or more times a week. Today's video game systems are close to a thousand dollars, and that's not including the games you need to buy to play them.

So the question is do we have less money today, or are we spending the money we have on unnecessary things?

Ray you and I worked our way up. Started with very little, money was scarce until the 70’s. Mowed lawns and shoveled snow starting in 2nd grade then pedal to the metal adult career for 40 years, never took more than 1 week off ever, grew the business and now reap the rewards in my deaccelerated life. You are talking to a bunch that think debt forgiveness is a great idea, illegals on Medicare paid from our social security is kindly, and that guys who worked like you and I did are saps because there’s so much potential in taking other people’s money from them via “social justice”

Exactly. Being a son of a bricklayer, I know about working as a child; something loathed by the left today.

It started one day when I asked my father for five dollars. He asked "what makes you think I have five dollars to give you?" I told him he worked and made money, that's how I knew! He replied "If that's the way I make my money--that's the way you're going to make yours. Now hop in the van!"

My father worked full-time, but did side jobs after work and on weekends. The construction season is short up north, so you work as many hours as you can.

So I worked with my father since the age of 12; carrying clamps of bricks to him, mixing cement and taking it to the job area, carrying 8" block for basements, erecting scaffolding for second and third story jobs. We worked until nightfall and even then, my father had me hold a light bar so he could continue working. I came home a filthy mess; sand and cement in my hair, jeans that were almost unrecognizable, all for one dollar an hour. I couldn't wait to shower and hit the sack.

 

[WTH_Progs?]

You're an emotional wreck OP. People like yourself are unable to apply critical thought, you just talk. I wonder if any of the following contributes to expensive housing?

1. Relaxed immigration laws. The most expensive areas are often sanctuary cities. Go figure.
2. High taxes
3. Entitlements
4. Free healthcare
5. Overpopulation
6. Dot.coms
7. Forced minimum wage

All run by and supported by progressives.

 

[WEATHER53]

In the early 60's in california, a guy could buy a car and rent an apartment in a decent neighborhood on wages from working in a gas station or restaurant. And his wife could stay home and take care of the baby. What changed? A great part of it is the inequality of wealth between those at the top and those at the bottom. Lots of posters will say that those jobs at the bottom are only meant for people starting out in careers. Not so. There are many Americans that aren't capable of going beyond minimum wage jobs. Then there's the cost of education as a means to a higher paying career. Way higher than before.

As I stated earlier, the reason for failures in our society are drugs--not wealthy people. If you took every dime from every wealthy person in this country, it only makes government richer, but it doesn't change your life one iota.

However if you can kick the dope, your opportunities are tenfold. You can work anywhere you want for the wage you're willing to work for. But it won't come knocking at your door dressed as a politician or bureaucrat.

Also it helps to defeat representatives that want to usher in more foreigners that will work our jobs for much less money.

You and my ilk believe life is about commitments and responsibilities. Liberals under 50 think it’s about feelings and causes.

 

[Uncensored2008]

So? Work more than 40 hours. Most people do anyway.

When I was younger, me and most of my friends had more than one job, or a job that worked six or seven days a week with a lot of hours.

Our priorities were different than today though. Number one was a roof over your head, then food, and of course utilities.

Today I think people would rather be homeless than to give up their smart phone. We spend a lot of money buying fast food, taking vacations, much of it on technology for entertainment and convenience, late model cars that most lease today.

I moved from my parents home at the age of 20 back in 1980. I paid less for my first apartment back then than I do my cable/ cell phone bill today. Actually a hundred dollars less.

When you and I were younger, there was much less extraneous expensive stuff to spend our money on. TV was still mostly free, and even cable was less than 10 bucks a month. Most extra money went too booze or women! I do remember saving up for a kicking store and speakers for my car!

I have worked since I was 15, never more than 3.5 months in all that time without a job, and only that long once.

The funny thing about us Americans, we are taking less vacations than ever.

One American Vacation Behavior That Simply HAS to Stop

According to the U.S. Travel Association, Americans left 705 million vacation days unused in 2017. To be clear, that means only 52 percent of American employees took advantage of the vacation time available to them. On top of that, of the 705 million vacation days, 212 million did not roll over or could not be paid out to employees. Per CNN, “the average employee actually donated $561 in ‘free’ work to their employer by not using their vacation time.”

We give more to our employers and get less back every year...
View attachment 272560

What a steaming pile of shit.

At minimum wage, how many hours of labor were required in 1979 (40 years ago) to buy the least expensive car? What if that car had power steering, power breaks, AM/FM stereo, and power windows? How many hours does it take today to buy a Kia Sonata with those features?

How many hours did it take to buy 1 pound of Top Sirloin Steak? How many today?

How many hours did it take to buy a 19" color TV? An inexpensive stereo? A pair of jeans? A pair of prescription glasses?

See, the thing about you Marxists is that you lie. You put up graphs from ThinkProgress or DailyKOS which are dishonestly stamped "source: St. Louis Federal Reserve" which is just a fucking lie, you got your graph from a Soros hate site, and we ALL know it.

The leftist hate sites attempt to deceive by using metrics that are not equivalent. So I challenge my leftist indoctrinated students to use a consistent metric, how many hours of labor at minimum wage?

 

[Billy000]

'A national problem': U.S. housing affordability is out of whack with minimum wage

Obviously this should bother republican voters, but they have this fantasy mindset that Trump will turn this country into some kind of utopia despite the fact that he had two years to do so with a republican Congress. Their only response when presented with this is the usual pathetic deflection of “well Obama didn’t do it! Derp, derp, derp!”

Now granted Obama achieved little in improving the lives of the middle class and poor besides a few policies. These policies include 1) helping to reverse the Great Recession he inherited from Bush 6 months into his presidency and producing job growth EVER SINCE. 2) Expanding OT pay eligibility for thousands of US workers 3) guaranteeing people receive healthcare from pre-existing conditions, 4) passing the biggest middle class tax cut since Reagan

He also TRIED to invest education and raise the minimum wage but was blocked by republicans.

The point I am making is that republicans do fucking NOTHING to help the poor and middle class but democrats at least make an attempt despite failing on a significant scale. This nuance matters whether you like it or not.

Well, first, that's 2.3% of workers. Second, Regulations are shown to increase the cost of living, 150 are being passed every day, on average, and the purchasing power of the US Dollar has been dropping because the lack of a supply cap and a lack of incentive to actually trade in it makes it totally worthless.

Secondly, the Government does not produce jobs, demand produces jobs, and the Government cannot create demand, they only restrict what people can do with their own private property(Something inherently unethical). The absolute best they can do is repeal regulations, which would allow competitors to enter the market, allowing them to fulfill demand and compete with the pseudo-monopolies the Government creates.

Well, yes, Republicans do nothing, because they're exactly the same as Democrats. Government does what's in the interest of Government, and everyone who gets into Government works on its behalf. What's in the interest of Government is necessarily against the interests of the people, otherwise force would not be required. This isn't apparent to you, because you refuse to think outside of identitarian terms.

I don’t understand why this is so hard for you people to get. This minimum wage is hardly the entire issue. We are talking about 10% of all counties. You do realize that people can’t live off 8 or 9 per hour full time right?

 

[Billy000]

'A national problem': U.S. housing affordability is out of whack with minimum wage

Obviously this should bother republican voters, but they have this fantasy mindset that Trump will turn this country into some kind of utopia despite the fact that he had two years to do so with a republican Congress. Their only response when presented with this is the usual pathetic deflection of “well Obama didn’t do it! Derp, derp, derp!”

Now granted Obama achieved little in improving the lives of the middle class and poor besides a few policies. These policies include 1) helping to reverse the Great Recession he inherited from Bush 6 months into his presidency and producing job growth EVER SINCE. 2) Expanding OT pay eligibility for thousands of US workers 3) guaranteeing people receive healthcare from pre-existing conditions, 4) passing the biggest middle class tax cut since Reagan

He also TRIED to invest education and raise the minimum wage but was blocked by republicans.

The point I am making is that republicans do fucking NOTHING to help the poor and middle class but democrats at least make an attempt despite failing on a significant scale. This nuance matters whether you like it or not.

FACTS... where are yours? NOT one source substantiating your dumb ass UNINFORMED comments!

Among those paid by the hour, 542,000 workers earned exactly the prevailing federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. About 1.3 million had wages below the federal minimum.
Together, these 1.8 million workers with wages at or below the federal minimum made up 2.3 percent of all hourly paid workers.
Age
Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they made up about half of those paid the federal minimum wage or less. Among employed teenagers (ages 16 to 19) paid by the hour, about 8 percent earned the minimum wage or less, compared with about 1 percent of workers age 25 and older.
Marital status. Of those paid an hourly wage, never-married workers, who tend to be young, were more likely
(4 percent) than married workers (1 percent) to earn the federal minimum wage or less. (See table 8.)

Full- and part-time status. About 6 percent of part-time workers (persons who usually work fewer than 35 hours per week) were paid the federal minimum wage or less, compared with about 1 percent of full-time workers. (See table 1.)

Characteristics of minimum wage workers, 2017 : BLS Reports: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

So less than 1.8 million worked part time, weren't married, and therefore didn't NEED a 2 bedroom apartment!

BUT idiots that support that stupid $15 Federal minimum wage... don't seem to comprehend the concept..
"ONE SIZE doesn't fit all"!
It makes no sense to force a $15.00 minimum wage for Mississippi where if these part-time jobs were paying
$15.00... that either forces the employer to raise prices or cut hours or use robots!

I don’t understand why this is so hard for you people to get. This minimum wage is hardly the entire issue. We are talking about 10% of all counties. You do realize that people can’t live off 8 or 9 per hour full time right?

 

[WEATHER53]

I’m waiting for a social justice thread about the anguish of so few illegals driving Mercedes.

 

[WEATHER53]

'A national problem': U.S. housing affordability is out of whack with minimum wage

Obviously this should bother republican voters, but they have this fantasy mindset that Trump will turn this country into some kind of utopia despite the fact that he had two years to do so with a republican Congress. Their only response when presented with this is the usual pathetic deflection of “well Obama didn’t do it! Derp, derp, derp!”

Now granted Obama achieved little in improving the lives of the middle class and poor besides a few policies. These policies include 1) helping to reverse the Great Recession he inherited from Bush 6 months into his presidency and producing job growth EVER SINCE. 2) Expanding OT pay eligibility for thousands of US workers 3) guaranteeing people receive healthcare from pre-existing conditions, 4) passing the biggest middle class tax cut since Reagan

He also TRIED to invest education and raise the minimum wage but was blocked by republicans.

The point I am making is that republicans do fucking NOTHING to help the poor and middle class but democrats at least make an attempt despite failing on a significant scale. This nuance matters whether you like it or not.

Well, first, that's 2.3% of workers. Second, Regulations are shown to increase the cost of living, 150 are being passed every day, on average, and the purchasing power of the US Dollar has been dropping because the lack of a supply cap and a lack of incentive to actually trade in it makes it totally worthless.

Secondly, the Government does not produce jobs, demand produces jobs, and the Government cannot create demand, they only restrict what people can do with their own private property(Something inherently unethical). The absolute best they can do is repeal regulations, which would allow competitors to enter the market, allowing them to fulfill demand and compete with the pseudo-monopolies the Government creates.

Well, yes, Republicans do nothing, because they're exactly the same as Democrats. Government does what's in the interest of Government, and everyone who gets into Government works on its behalf. What's in the interest of Government is necessarily against the interests of the people, otherwise force would not be required. This isn't apparent to you, because you refuse to think outside of identitarian terms.

I don’t understand why this is so hard for you people to get. This minimum wage is hardly the entire issue. We are talking about 10% of all counties. You do realize that people can’t live off 8 or 9 per hour full time right?

It’s a false assumption that employment is designed for, or obligated to, provide you a $1,500 per month place all to yourself.
Weep elsewhere young man.

 

[lennypartiv]

I don’t understand why this is so hard for you people to get. This minimum wage is hardly the entire issue. We are talking about 10% of all counties. You do realize that people can’t live off 8 or 9 per hour full time right?

Not my problem. If you can't afford to buy a house, rent an apartment. If you can't afford the rent, buy a tent.

 

[Pumpkin Row]

'A national problem': U.S. housing affordability is out of whack with minimum wage

Obviously this should bother republican voters, but they have this fantasy mindset that Trump will turn this country into some kind of utopia despite the fact that he had two years to do so with a republican Congress. Their only response when presented with this is the usual pathetic deflection of “well Obama didn’t do it! Derp, derp, derp!”

Now granted Obama achieved little in improving the lives of the middle class and poor besides a few policies. These policies include 1) helping to reverse the Great Recession he inherited from Bush 6 months into his presidency and producing job growth EVER SINCE. 2) Expanding OT pay eligibility for thousands of US workers 3) guaranteeing people receive healthcare from pre-existing conditions, 4) passing the biggest middle class tax cut since Reagan

He also TRIED to invest education and raise the minimum wage but was blocked by republicans.

The point I am making is that republicans do fucking NOTHING to help the poor and middle class but democrats at least make an attempt despite failing on a significant scale. This nuance matters whether you like it or not.

Well, first, that's 2.3% of workers. Second, Regulations are shown to increase the cost of living, 150 are being passed every day, on average, and the purchasing power of the US Dollar has been dropping because the lack of a supply cap and a lack of incentive to actually trade in it makes it totally worthless.

Secondly, the Government does not produce jobs, demand produces jobs, and the Government cannot create demand, they only restrict what people can do with their own private property(Something inherently unethical). The absolute best they can do is repeal regulations, which would allow competitors to enter the market, allowing them to fulfill demand and compete with the pseudo-monopolies the Government creates.

Well, yes, Republicans do nothing, because they're exactly the same as Democrats. Government does what's in the interest of Government, and everyone who gets into Government works on its behalf. What's in the interest of Government is necessarily against the interests of the people, otherwise force would not be required. This isn't apparent to you, because you refuse to think outside of identitarian terms.

I don’t understand why this is so hard for you people to get. This minimum wage is hardly the entire issue. We are talking about 10% of all counties. You do realize that people can’t live off 8 or 9 per hour full time right?

I already replied to this, but much like every time I've spoke to you before, you're not reading my post, you're skimming through the first paragraph, then giving me one of your canned responses for the 'Republicans' or 'conservatives' that you believe everyone who disagrees with you to be.

Once again, costs are driven up by regulations, there are currently hundreds of thousands of regulations, and 150 more are being passed on average every day. Home - Monday, August 5th

Lastly, once again, the US Dollar is losing purchasing power on a constant basis, this means they can purchase less than they could before, because a lack of a supply cap and manipulation by a centralized entity makes them unreliable. You understand that the only reason anyone trades with them is because the Government demands it, right?

 

[JoeMoma]

If the title to the thread is correct, then where are all these poor people living? They can't afford to live in 90% of the counties!!!!!

I see a whole lot of people living in some very nice and large houses in my community.

 

[Andylusion]

'A national problem': U.S. housing affordability is out of whack with minimum wage

Obviously this should bother republican voters, but they have this fantasy mindset that Trump will turn this country into some kind of utopia despite the fact that he had two years to do so with a republican Congress. Their only response when presented with this is the usual pathetic deflection of “well Obama didn’t do it! Derp, derp, derp!”

Now granted Obama achieved little in improving the lives of the middle class and poor besides a few policies. These policies include 1) helping to reverse the Great Recession he inherited from Bush 6 months into his presidency and producing job growth EVER SINCE. 2) Expanding OT pay eligibility for thousands of US workers 3) guaranteeing people receive healthcare from pre-existing conditions, 4) passing the biggest middle class tax cut since Reagan

He also TRIED to invest education and raise the minimum wage but was blocked by republicans.

The point I am making is that republicans do fucking NOTHING to help the poor and middle class but democrats at least make an attempt despite failing on a significant scale. This nuance matters whether you like it or not.

The problem is, you are an idiot.

If you try and rent a two-bed room apartment, when you are working for minimum wage...... that makes you a moron. Good grief, I knew better than this when I was in high school. Can't you do math? Are you that retarded?

If you want to rent an apartment, you need to get a job that pays more. Not whine and cry like a toddler about the minimum wage.

You people say the most stupid idiotic things.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

'A national problem': U.S. housing affordability is out of whack with minimum wage

Obviously this should bother republican voters, but they have this fantasy mindset that Trump will turn this country into some kind of utopia despite the fact that he had two years to do so with a republican Congress. Their only response when presented with this is the usual pathetic deflection of “well Obama didn’t do it! Derp, derp, derp!”

Now granted Obama achieved little in improving the lives of the middle class and poor besides a few policies. These policies include 1) helping to reverse the Great Recession he inherited from Bush 6 months into his presidency and producing job growth EVER SINCE. 2) Expanding OT pay eligibility for thousands of US workers 3) guaranteeing people receive healthcare from pre-existing conditions, 4) passing the biggest middle class tax cut since Reagan

He also TRIED to invest education and raise the minimum wage but was blocked by republicans.

The point I am making is that republicans do fucking NOTHING to help the poor and middle class but democrats at least make an attempt despite failing on a significant scale. This nuance matters whether you like it or not.

FACTS... where are yours? NOT one source substantiating your dumb ass UNINFORMED comments!

Among those paid by the hour, 542,000 workers earned exactly the prevailing federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. About 1.3 million had wages below the federal minimum.
Together, these 1.8 million workers with wages at or below the federal minimum made up 2.3 percent of all hourly paid workers.
Age
Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they made up about half of those paid the federal minimum wage or less. Among employed teenagers (ages 16 to 19) paid by the hour, about 8 percent earned the minimum wage or less, compared with about 1 percent of workers age 25 and older.
Marital status. Of those paid an hourly wage, never-married workers, who tend to be young, were more likely
(4 percent) than married workers (1 percent) to earn the federal minimum wage or less. (See table 8.)

Full- and part-time status. About 6 percent of part-time workers (persons who usually work fewer than 35 hours per week) were paid the federal minimum wage or less, compared with about 1 percent of full-time workers. (See table 1.)

Characteristics of minimum wage workers, 2017 : BLS Reports: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

So less than 1.8 million worked part time, weren't married, and therefore didn't NEED a 2 bedroom apartment!

BUT idiots that support that stupid $15 Federal minimum wage... don't seem to comprehend the concept..
"ONE SIZE doesn't fit all"!
It makes no sense to force a $15.00 minimum wage for Mississippi where if these part-time jobs were paying
$15.00... that either forces the employer to raise prices or cut hours or use robots!

I don’t understand why this is so hard for you people to get. This minimum wage is hardly the entire issue. We are talking about 10% of all counties. You do realize that people can’t live off 8 or 9 per hour full time right?

It's probably the factor less of income than it is what people spend their income on today.

How many of those people have cable or satellite television? How many of those people have smart phones with expensive plans? How many are driving cars older than five years of age? How many buy pay-per-view movies and how many a month? How many times do they dine out instead of eating at home a month?

People have different priorities today than people years back.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

I haven't been on a vacation in over 30 years, but I still use my vacation time. But for the people that do travel for vacation, they spend quite a bit doing so.

Makes me sad to see that, but as long as you are happy. Vacations can be expensive, that is for sure. Last year we rented a house on the beach close to were my daughter lives. It was not cheap, but we planned for it and set aside extra money for more than a year so that there would be no debt added.

I cannot image how people did such things before the internet, I guess that is what travel agents were for.

I know people that spend a week in Vegas, Mexico, Europe, and various other places that are quite expensive. To be totally honest, I'm nearly 60 years old and never seen an ocean in my life outside of television or an airplane window.

Wow, hard for me to imagine. I moved to a foreign country when I was in the 3rd grade due to my father's job. By the time we moved back 4.5 years later I had been to a dozen countries. I think that is part of why I joined the Marines, I needed to move around. The 10 years I have been in this town is the longest I have been any one place in my whole life.

When I was growing up until a teen when I had my own money, McDonald's and like was a rare treat. Today many people eat out three or more times a week. Today's video game systems are close to a thousand dollars, and that's not including the games you need to buy to play them.

This is very true, eating out even at fast food was a big deal back in the day.

So the question is do we have less money today, or are we spending the money we have on unnecessary things?

I think the answer is both.

 

[Andylusion]

'A national problem': U.S. housing affordability is out of whack with minimum wage

Obviously this should bother republican voters, but they have this fantasy mindset that Trump will turn this country into some kind of utopia despite the fact that he had two years to do so with a republican Congress. Their only response when presented with this is the usual pathetic deflection of “well Obama didn’t do it! Derp, derp, derp!”

Now granted Obama achieved little in improving the lives of the middle class and poor besides a few policies. These policies include 1) helping to reverse the Great Recession he inherited from Bush 6 months into his presidency and producing job growth EVER SINCE. 2) Expanding OT pay eligibility for thousands of US workers 3) guaranteeing people receive healthcare from pre-existing conditions, 4) passing the biggest middle class tax cut since Reagan

He also TRIED to invest education and raise the minimum wage but was blocked by republicans.

The point I am making is that republicans do fucking NOTHING to help the poor and middle class but democrats at least make an attempt despite failing on a significant scale. This nuance matters whether you like it or not.

Maybe bringing in more millions of illegals will reduce housing costs, health care and increase wages. How about it?

Net migration from Mexico has been decreasing since 2008. There is no such thing as a border crisis unless you think any level of illegal immigration through out history was a crisis.

You dodged my points.

You want affordable housing and "living" wages while simultaneously supporting unlimited immigration, legal or otherwise, and you demand welfare for the 23 million illegals (and growing) that are here and everyone else that follows them here. Either you want the former or you want the latter but you cannot have both.

Remember this is an idiot who supports AOC who supports a living wage for people who don't want to work. That's how stupid these people are. You are trying to use logic, on a person with less intelligence than an Ant. Ants actually work to survive.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

'A national problem': U.S. housing affordability is out of whack with minimum wage

Obviously this should bother republican voters, but they have this fantasy mindset that Trump will turn this country into some kind of utopia despite the fact that he had two years to do so with a republican Congress. Their only response when presented with this is the usual pathetic deflection of “well Obama didn’t do it! Derp, derp, derp!”

Now granted Obama achieved little in improving the lives of the middle class and poor besides a few policies. These policies include 1) helping to reverse the Great Recession he inherited from Bush 6 months into his presidency and producing job growth EVER SINCE. 2) Expanding OT pay eligibility for thousands of US workers 3) guaranteeing people receive healthcare from pre-existing conditions, 4) passing the biggest middle class tax cut since Reagan

He also TRIED to invest education and raise the minimum wage but was blocked by republicans.

The point I am making is that republicans do fucking NOTHING to help the poor and middle class but democrats at least make an attempt despite failing on a significant scale. This nuance matters whether you like it or not.

Well, first, that's 2.3% of workers. Second, Regulations are shown to increase the cost of living, 150 are being passed every day, on average, and the purchasing power of the US Dollar has been dropping because the lack of a supply cap and a lack of incentive to actually trade in it makes it totally worthless.

Secondly, the Government does not produce jobs, demand produces jobs, and the Government cannot create demand, they only restrict what people can do with their own private property(Something inherently unethical). The absolute best they can do is repeal regulations, which would allow competitors to enter the market, allowing them to fulfill demand and compete with the pseudo-monopolies the Government creates.

Well, yes, Republicans do nothing, because they're exactly the same as Democrats. Government does what's in the interest of Government, and everyone who gets into Government works on its behalf. What's in the interest of Government is necessarily against the interests of the people, otherwise force would not be required. This isn't apparent to you, because you refuse to think outside of identitarian terms.

I don’t understand why this is so hard for you people to get. This minimum wage is hardly the entire issue. We are talking about 10% of all counties. You do realize that people can’t live off 8 or 9 per hour full time right?

It’s a false assumption that employment is designed for, or obligated to, provide you a $1,500 per month place all to yourself.
Weep elsewhere young man.

The left believes that businesses open up or stay open as a social obligation. In the OP, it was suggested something be done about rental properties. Like what? Is government now going to prohibit landlords from charging market value of their rental properties?

My second obligation when making real estate investments was to give people a place to live. My first priority was an investment I hope that pays off some day.