what about providing for yourself. And not waiting for someone to provide for you.

Hey better yet instead of a minimum wage lets just pay everyone the same amount no matter what type of work that they do. That is where this is heading.

__________________
People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp92vkXcC0w

thats going to be more expensive now to. Your gonna have higher unemployment taxes and because you did the firing youu will have to carry some of the load along with the govenment until this ex employee finds another job.

From you stats seems like its only kids working for minimum wage

Hmmm Probably a lot of students......They probably are working on career goals...just starting out Ya know?

BTW I am a 23 year old student with a full time job.......and don't make minimum wage 5.15 is fine but in my state it's 6.75

One thing you are not taking into consideration is the number of people who work of 10 20 or even 50 cents an hour above the min.For many years I worked for a few pennies above the min. as a nurse aide , before I went to nursing school. It is one of the hardest and most thankless jobs in the world taking care of other people's grannies and granddads. Also, lowest paid to this day.

I feel you, I am in the military, lets not talk about lack of pay.

However, my question still stands; if minimum wage is the key, let's stop going for peanuts. Raise that sucker to between $15-$30 an hour! That way the working poor are provided with the financial means to live substantially better.

__________________
"A committee is a group of people who individually can do nothing but together can decide that nothing can be done."
Fred Allen

"A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul."
George Bernard Shaw

"Politics is the art of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable."
John Galbraith

And what is your job? And are you single? And is your goal to continue making minimum wage?

You are in school, so one can assume that you do plan on RAISING your earnings potential.

__________________
"A committee is a group of people who individually can do nothing but together can decide that nothing can be done."
Fred Allen

"A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul."
George Bernard Shaw

"Politics is the art of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable."
John Galbraith

July 28, 2006


Raising Minimum Wage Sounds Good, But It's Not


Joe Bell The notion of raising the federal minimum wage surfaces periodically. It’s a bad idea. On his web site Senator Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., says, “…raising the minimum wage is one of the most effective mechanisms for lifting people out of poverty.” History proves Kennedy is wrong.

A July 1996 report by the Congressional Joint Economic Study Committee analyzed a variety of economic issues, including the minimum wage. The study concluded “very little good has resulted from minimum wage increases, at least for the poor.”

The committee said less than 10 percent of the poor have full-time jobs; slightly more than 30 percent work part-time and three-fifths are not employed.

The report informed, “A majority of minimum wage workers are either young persons living in non-poor families or they are second or third earners in a household – not the primary breadwinner. Many come from relatively prosperous middle-class families.”

In 1974 the minimum wage was increased from $1.60 an hour to $2 an hour and by 1981 it stood at $3.35 an hour. Yet during those years, the study said, the poverty rate climbed from 11.1 percent of the population to 14 percent. There were no more increases until 1990 and the poverty rate fell during those years to 12.8 percent. The report observed that raises in the minimum wage in 1990 and 1991 (to $4.25 an hour) were accompanied by an increase in the poverty rate to 14.5 percent.

Advocating a raise in the minimum wage sounds good. Consequently, politicians who promote such a policy are applauded as champions of working families while those who do not are labeled insensitive. House Majority Leader John Boehner said he does not believe raising the minimum wage is good economic policy (he’s right) and in June said Republican leadership would likely not permit a vote on the issue (that’s wrong). Just because an issue is difficult does not mean it should not be addressed. Boehner has since backtracked on his position.

A Congressional Research report from July 2000 said younger workers, between the ages of 16 and 24, continue to be the majority of those who receive a minimum wage paycheck. CRS said 50.8 percent of persons earning the minimum wage fall into that age group. In addition, researchers from Miami University of Ohio report minimum wage earners are more than five times more likely to be new to the job market. Clearly, those who begin at a minimum wage job generally move upward.

Dr. David Macpherson, from Florida State University, found that only 10 percent of all minimum wage earners are the sole earner of a family with children; 56 percent are under the age of 24, and 45.9 percent live with their parents.

The “Minimum Wage Competitiveness Act of 2005” would raise the minimum wage incrementally to $7.15 an hour by January 2007. If one believes that is the right policy, why stop at $7.15 an hour? Why not raise it to $7.50 an hour, matching the minimum wage in Oregon? Why not raise it to $7.65 an hour, matching the minimum wage in Vermont? And if the desire is to really elevate the poor, why not raise the minimum wage to $20 an hour; or $30 an hour?

The reality is, raising the federal minimum wage to $7.15 an hour is not going to have a great impact on the income of the low wage earner. An individual working 40 hours a week would work 2,080 hours a year (assuming he or she worked all 52 weeks of the year). Such an employee would earn $14,872 annually. If the individual were supporting a spouse that wage would put him only $1,672 above the poverty level for two, which is $13,200. If the individual were supporting a spouse and child it would keep him below the poverty level for three, which is $16,600.

In addition to calling for a raise in the minimum wage why don’t lawmakers submit legislation that would dictate the price for which a company may sell its products? Proponents of a raise in the minimum wage are quick to point out that it has been eight years since there has been an increase, yet they do not point out how prices have risen over the years, forcing people to pay more for items that once cost much less. In 1964, a McDonald’s hamburger cost 15 cents; by 1997 the price had risen to 55 cents. If government can impose a minimum wage on business it should have no misgivings about imposing a ceiling on the price customers must pay for merchandise.

Intentionally or not, a minimum wage increase is a bludgeon that government uses to batter the free market. In a free market system an employer will offer a certain monetary compensation in order to invite someone into his workforce. If an entry-level position is for $X an hour, potential candidates will either find the terms acceptable or not. If the employer does not offer a sufficient wage the position will have to go unfilled and his business will suffer. When the government steps in the system is disrupted. Even if the employer and employee agree on the compensation, unless Washington concurs the deal cannot be made.

The best steps government can take on behalf of businesses and workers is to 1.) stop wasting money on projects the federal government should have no hand in (like $400,000 for the Institute of International Sport at the University of Rhode Island, which promotes good sportsmanship; and $400,000 for a parking lot and pedestrian safety access for a town in Alaska that has roughly 800 residents); and 2.) continue to lower taxes so families keep more of their own paychecks and so businesses can invest in themselves and create more jobs.

Just because government spends without regard to consequences doesn’t mean it should compel others to do likewise.
http://www.opinioneditorials.com/gue..._20060728.html

__________________
People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp92vkXcC0w

Excellent article!! Couldn't have said it better myself (actually, I did).

Bold emphasis mine. Good points; the federal government should reign itself in and stop the pork project spending, and they need to blow up the current tax code and go with a flat tax.

There are numerous nations around the globe either looking at the flat tax or have already implemented one; China is even said to be EXTREMELY interested in the flat tax. Those that have implemented the flat tax are beginning to reap rewards.

Of course, our leaders in the District of Corruption would never dream of destroying their cash cow, and they are continuing o rely on the educational stupidity of americans to ensure that they don't call for the destruction of the current tax code.

__________________
"A committee is a group of people who individually can do nothing but together can decide that nothing can be done."
Fred Allen

"A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul."
George Bernard Shaw

"Politics is the art of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable."
John Galbraith

Money in general is a mental construct. There is no physical, I.E. Gold standard.

Nixon insured that.

There's this great argument for market forces but what is that market?

Is it based on the Ideas of Adam Smith?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_smith

Well not really. It should be but...There's a problem.
It's called the Monopoly factor, it works against natural free markets.
Checks & balances are the currency between unmitigated top down greed, or the celebration of the individual (Corporate monopoly) vs. the balance of the collective potential.
All a minimum wage dollar amount does is try to give a “hopefully“ inflation base line for people starting out in the economic game.
At the end of the day all money is, is quite simply a game of what's agreed to being worth. There is no mythical 'Gold standard'. Just agreed to GDP Worth.

If governments weren't involved then another group of people whom agree to the social structure would be.

Or

errr a government.

So simple yet abstract.

Damn it gotta blame someone!!!!

LIBERALS SUK!!!!!

Boring Binary arguments unite!

Form of reactionary!



Just having some fun.