I have the inclination that had you been hired with, say, 4400 tt and 1500 multi, you would be asserting the minimums should be 4000tt and 1000 multi.

I think a lot of us agree that those numbers are simply too high and unrealistic. During better economic times, people go to Majors or corporate jobs with that close to that kind of time. Definitely the experience of a 500 hour pilot is not enough, but let's face it, after so many hours instructing (single or multi) you're not getting any better. Should the requirement be to fly 135 then? Why not make a military flight background mandatory? I believe that better minimums (ATP mins, as others have mentioned) are pragmatic examples of an acceptable level of experience to enter the cockpit. Going above those minimums is what will make you competitive.

We should set the bar high enough to keep our profession full of professionals, but we should not arbitrarily set minimums of thousands of hours.