Excuses? I merely pointed out that the CBO report counters l2flare's opinion. Based on the projections provided (could be more or less), one could conclude that the higher the minimum wage is raised, the more jobs would be lost. Granted, it's not a massive number, but people need to inform themselves on all sides of an issue and be honest about it.

 

Raising minimum wage is like taking Tylenol for a broken arm. It may dull the pain but it doesn't fix the underlying issue.

The underlying issue is a severe reduction in middle wage jobs over the past ~30 years. Quite a few manufacturing jobs were outsourced overseas. The jobs that filled in the void have primarily been customer service type jobs, with limited earning potential and upward mobility.

There really is no way to move manufacturing back over here and pay middle class wages, the jobs that are coming back are fairly low end $10-$14/hr assembly line jobs (if you're lucky).

The biggest issue I have with raising min wage (which I do tend to support as an overall boost to the economy) is eventually at some point wages will get so high that those the hike intends to help will be displaced. Either by people coming back into the job market (like educated retirees) or technology. For example, there are now kiosk ordering stations at multiple fast food locations, automated checkout machines, etc.

 

I've had several discussions on this with some of my friends over the past decade or so. As the world becomes more automated and more jobs lost, there will be less and less opportunities for the general population to make money. Virtually all customer service jobs will be extinct. With an automated car, plane, and train, all transportation jobs will be extinct. Payroll, automated. Administration functions, automated. Computer programmers, automated. So, what do you do with the rest of the citizens when all the jobs are overseas or robotic?

Capitalists will say that the market will evolve and they'll have to retrain into something else. At that point, even the higher paying jobs will be threatened by a glutton of labor.

Socialists say that we should tax the corporations and everyone gets a standard basic income. We all know how people will respond to that idea.

 

I would be willing to bet many of us effectively pay greater than 50% in "tax" considering all the services we pay for to achieve the things provided in those socialist countries. Retirement - self funded; health-care - self funded. Property tax, ad velorum yearly on a vehicle. Etc. Just because it's not a government tax doesn't mean you're not spending as much, if not more, than a European on stuff we consider to be the basics.

 

FWIW, every job I have had since I was 14 (and maybe a bit younger, if you count my family's SMB) depended on rich people or business customers in order to exist. Not saying that we owe rich folks anything, but not every person with money just hoards it all. Most reinvest in ventures they believe will make a profit. In other words, they create jobs. This idea that business is a self-serving money vacuum is only partially correct. It is self-serving. But it is not a money vacuum.

 

20% off of virtually nothing is a very small number. In other words unemployment was already really low. It didn't need to fall much lower to drop 20%.

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We won the war, and had the largest population growth in history with the baby boomers. That grew the size of the power house.
Your talking about what something should be but isn't. Why can't someone who's job it is to sir the Mac&cheese at the Shoneys buffet, apply themselves harder. Power companys hire pole climbers and pay in the high $20's, same with cable company's running cable lines out of a bucket truck.
Your not answering why an individual earning min wage can't earn more on the own.
The problem with younger people is since the late 90's Staford unsubsidized college loans were made to anyone, and they all now think to highly of themselves to work for a living. They just choose to live at a min wage position.

 

Voting closes in 90 minutes!

 

70% for???? or higher??


Good luck you guys have lived in work rules hell for years.

 

I just bought 1623 shares of RJET stock.