Got news for you OP, the "minimum wage" has NOTHING, again, NOTHING to do with a "living wage", "fair wage", or any other entitlement OWS crybaby nonsense. It is simply a tax revenue tool. Based on average unemployment stats over a given period of time, that number is "plugged in" so that the Fed/state tax collectors could figure out their baseline tax revenue from all employed wage earners.
As unemployment goes up, the economy suffers, less tax revenue. Instead of boosting the economy with tax breaks, what do they do? Raise the min. wage to make up for the shortfall.
Democrats LOVE to sell this idea as "compassionate" and "fairness". Yeah, let's stick it to the "rich" and middle class. Those that have worked hard and acquired skills so they WONT GET STUCK in entry level jobs end up paying for those waiting for someone to give them a life.
PLEASE OP, start your own business. Put in thousands of hours WITH very little pay, reinvest your profits back into your company to grow. Then when you absolutely can't do it by yourself any more, start hiring people like you. I GUARANTEE you will change your tune.
Self employed people, at least the vast majority that I have the pleasure of knowing, have not a drop of "entitlement" blood in their system. Same goes for those that have honed either their education or their skills to be not just employable, but highly sought after. This is what creates a strong economy, not those that want MORE for NOTHING.
quote:
Originally posted by PauHana
When you start your own business the market determines what you get paid, not you. You can demand what ever you want but you will only get what the market is willing to pay.
This is America, you are allowed to organize so you have the opportunity to better your life and make your own way.
You also have the right to petition the Government for the redress of grievances.
Yes democracy even in Puna!
The United States (even Puna) is a Democracy? I'd better get out of here, I don't like mobs.
Wonderful post 4dognight, Really sheds light to a much more positive side of life. Your opinions I can not differ with for it appears to be fair to perfect for everyone, If everyone wanted the same things in their short lives. I can only make my opinions off what I have seen or experienced. Money is something my family never had, not even back in their settling days. Any and everything I have ever owned I have had to proudly work for including paying my own way through three years of college. Now I feel very fortunate to have worked and paid for my home as well. I have never asked, borrowed, or ever been in debt. I have never even owned a credit card.(sad I know).
Times have changed so fast here in Puna it's hard to explain. 20 years ago my wife and I were newlyweds both working and going to the UHH university. After buying our house and acre for 25,000. We decided to have our first of 4 boys. Jobs tended to come and go in this area, if you DONT own your own business. All I now know though is inflation has doubled if not tripled for everything here in the last 20 years and its hard to keep up. We use to think our jobs were good being massage therapists and insurance agents. Less and less folks out here Qualified because of Welfare. After 1000's of hours at very little pay we BOTH waited tables, sales, built rockwalls, even taught.
Well then let me wrap this up by just saying plenty of things are contributing to the way I or many feel about these economic times. Including futures for my children. It's hard changing gears and direction at the same time with fewer opportunities yet the same wages as 20 years ago. Also hard watching our childhood friends work 2 jobs each to try and live or raise their kids here at home. Most end up going crazy, losing faith, getting divorced, and now their kids Christmas presents are under our tree until Santa comes. We really thought we were doing our best. Maybe your right though and life's virtues and priorities are MORE in what we own, than who we share it with?. You are right about a lot 4dognight, life was never going to be easy. Anything in life worth having ,is certainly worth working for.
quote:
Originally posted by 4dognight
Got news for you OP, the "minimum wage" has NOTHING, again, NOTHING to do with a "living wage", "fair wage", or any other entitlement OWS crybaby nonsense. It is simply a tax revenue tool. Based on average unemployment stats over a given period of time, that number is "plugged in" so that the Fed/state tax collectors could figure out their baseline tax revenue from all employed wage earners.
As unemployment goes up, the economy suffers, less tax revenue. Instead of boosting the economy with tax breaks, what do they do? Raise the min. wage to make up for the shortfall.
Democrats LOVE to sell this idea as "compassionate" and "fairness". Yeah, let's stick it to the "rich" and middle class. Those that have worked hard and acquired skills so they WONT GET STUCK in entry level jobs end up paying for those waiting for someone to give them a life.
PLEASE OP, start your own business. Put in thousands of hours WITH very little pay, reinvest your profits back into your company to grow. Then when you absolutely can't do it by yourself any more, start hiring people like you. I GUARANTEE you will change your tune.
Self employed people, at least the vast majority that I have the pleasure of knowing, have not a drop of "entitlement" blood in their system. Same goes for those that have honed either their education or their skills to be not just employable, but highly sought after. This is what creates a strong economy, not those that want MORE for NOTHING.
There is a HUGE problem with this argument.
The people that make the most money in this country. Those that make $550 million a year. The 1%, those people rarely worked for anything. Yes, they may have gone to college, but the 1%, the people in charge they didn't work for anything. The vast majority of them were born into that money, or brotherhooded into those positions (Bloodlines fraternity etc.)
Its not like the CEO of walmart, worked his way up with a single mother raising 5 kids in a suburb in NYC, got educated and worked his way up from the mailroom. It doesn't work like that, though some extremist people would make you believe that the uber rich actually worked ofr their money.
The cold truth is, the Rothchilds, the Morgans,etc... they have been and will be in charge of this country, and trust me, those people earned their money being crooks, and still earn their money being crooks.
So lets not pretend any other way different.
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quote:
There is a HUGE problem with this argument.
The people that make the most money in this country. Those that make $550 million a year. The 1%, those people rarely worked for anything. Yes, they may have gone to college, but the 1%, the people in charge they didn't work for anything. The vast majority of them were born into that money, or brotherhooded into those positions (Bloodlines fraternity etc.)
Its not like the CEO of walmart, worked his way up with a single mother raising 5 kids in a suburb in NYC, got educated and worked his way up from the mailroom. It doesn't work like that, though some extremist people would make you believe that the uber rich actually worked ofr their money.
The cold truth is, the Rothchilds, the Morgans,etc... they have been and will be in charge of this country, and trust me, those people earned their money being crooks, and still earn their money being crooks.
So lets not pretend any other way different.
I don't understand what this has to do with the minimum wage.
I don't think people understand that a worker costs far more than their hourly wage. You have to pay workers compensation insurance, unemployment insurance, you have to employ an accountant to navigate the payroll tax withholding issues, and you need to buy umbrella insurance to protect workers from taking your home if they sue you. When its all said and done, a $10/hour employee costs closer to $20/hour, and that's assuming they don't have any benefits. Throw in a health care, sick leave, or retirement benefit, and a $10/hour employee is costing $30/hour. Using a conservative estimate of $2.00 per square foot for a commercial lease a modest 1000 square foot store costs $3500/month after taxes and utilities. Add three workers making $10/hour (real cost $20 per hour) 12 hours a day, 7 days a week and your labor costs are over $21,000 a month. Your tiny store costs a minimum of $25,000 a month to keep open, and that doesn't include buying inventory, advertising, landscaping, shoplifting losses etc and your biggest cost is labor. Let's say your selling jeans and you make $5 per pair of jeans, you need to sell 5,000 pairs of jeans each month just to keep your doors open.
Minimum wage isn't a "living wage", nor was it intended to be. As a former employer paying part-time workers only $10/hour I didn't have any illusions that the workers could live off it. It was a second job or "fun money" for all of them and they worked in our store because they wanted to. My wife and I initially worked for free, then later we paid to work there, and then we closed the store and laid them all off. Paying the workers $10/hour wasn't sustainable. Cutting those checks on the months when we only broke even was painful, cutting them on the months when we lost money even more so.
I've been on both sides of the minimum wage issue. I've been the employee making minimum wage, and I've been the employer paying it (well, over it but just barely). I've been the employer dipping into my savings so that I could pay it. It has absolutely nothing to do with the 1%. Until you're working for free and deciding which bills you aren't going to pay that month so that you can pay your employees on time, you'll probably never understand.
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Whatever portion of the minimum wage issue that involves the small business owner, the aim of much of the pressure to increase the minimum wage is aimed at the large corporations, like our local Walmart, McD and BK, that certainly can afford to pay more if they are just willing to cut into profits and dividends. The amount of money that flows through these big companies is astonishing. I found this a little while ago (the issue was MSFT shareholders want to dump Gates from their BOD for not raising dividends):
quote:
But its share price has been on a plateau for more than a decade, because for a giant corporation that generates a mountain of free cash flow, Microsoft is viewed by many on Wall Street as being too stingy in rewarding shareholders.
Free cash flow is the money from core operations that's left over after it's reinvested to maintain and grow the business.
Titans such as Coca-Cola, Colgate Palmolive and Johnson & Johnson, which throw off a lot of free cash flow on a consistent basis, typically pay their fair share of U.S. taxes and send sometimes as much as 60% or 70% of free cash flow back to shareholders in the form of dividends.
Even with a recent boost in dividends, Microsoft will convert about 40% of free cash into dividends.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/...t/2907235/
So after running their operation and making capital investments, these "titans" of industry still have 60%-70% of their income to push to the rentier class. No wonder the fast food strikers are upset.
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Problem is we still have a couple of back ward states with no minimum wage and several progressive states with a $9.00 - 10.00 plus minimum wage - there is no continuity or consensus on the issue.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm
Some more advanced industrial societies have thought it through and have tiers based on age and specialty... progressing to a living wage by the time the worker enters their 30's.
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this may be an option for higher wages...http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2013/05/29/industrial-hemp-a-win-win-for-the-economy-and-the-environment/
plant, harvest, process, sell...requires legal blessing (billy could do this) to grow, land for planting, capital, energy (geothermal) and people willing to work.
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to add, Puna has the people, land, energy and the NEED for this venture...
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If you really want your kids to get ahead, tell them to become plumbers, auto mechanics and welders. All so called blue collar jobs but this is what is the upcoming shortages. But no reason you cant do a blue collar job and be educated.
The problem I see is the everyone turns up their noses at blue collar jobs.
My niece just graduated with a business degree, and then promptly went to beauty school. Her goal - to own her own chain of shops one day. But instead of thinking she is going to fall into a VP job at Redken or Super cuts with little experience and some education, she is truly starting at the bottom, getting real experience, and working her way up. She is saving her money so when the owner gets ready to retire in a few years, she can buy it, and have the beginning of her chain. For her there is no minimum wage as she is essentially self employed.
One more question - if Cost Co is such a great employer - how do they do it? What is their model and why dont more employers follow it ? They seem really successful AND offer good wages and benefits..... and why dont they come to East hawaii?
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