Obama wants to raise minimum wage to NINE DOLLARS AN HOUR

[Branden Albert's Huge Balls]

@RyanLizza: Obama will call for raising the federal minimum wage to $9.00/hour.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Agreed as to all that, though I would think (though I can't mathematically prove) that increasing minimum wage isn't offset penny for penny by increasing inflation.

Yeah, I would suspect that there's a dilution effect as the impact spreads. If wages increase 25% for minimum wage workers, they probably increase 20% eventually for middle class workers and 15% for upper class workers. And probably 100% for rich people, because that's how the system works. So perhaps it does create a relative increase in living standards for the lowest-tier workers.

On the subject of minimum wage keeping up with inflation and/or supporting a family on minimum wage, I would propose that the minimum wage isn't necessarily designed to support a family or to be a long-term wage. In a perfect world, minimum wage jobs are entry-level jobs for those who are learning to work, such as teenagers. Those people typically aren't relying on the wage for their livelihood, so it's not a big deal that you can't buy an apartment and car and health insurance. If you're an adult who needs to do that, you probably should think about expanding your skill set so that you're not competing with 16 year-olds.

That said, it seems odd to me that the federal minimum wage doesn't have a built-in cost of living increase every year to match inflation. It would seem quite sensible to do that.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Loneiguana

Walmart is the biggest employer in the U.S. 80 percent of Walmart employees are on Federal assistance. You, the tax payer, are subsiding Walmart so they can pay low wages.

Seriously? You got a link for that?

[KS Smitty]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Seriously? You got a link for that?

http://www.pbs.org/itvs/storewars/stores3.html

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by J Diddy

I've spent the last decade of my life running a business. I can tell you where every dime in that business went, have prepared monthly and yearly p&l's, budgets, and I was doing the same when min wage not only rose 2 times on the fed but also on the yearly level in MO. I have ran a business, successfully, that was small, during one of the worst economic eras and with mainly minimum wage workers.

Why in the hell didn't you pay those minimum wage workers $9.00 an hour?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by KS Smitty

http://www.pbs.org/itvs/storewars/stores3.html

That link confirms low wages and part-time work, which I certainly believe, but I'm looking for a quote from a study that shows 80 percent of Wal-Mart workers getting federal assistance. My initial reaction is that that number seems high, but even if it's 40 percent it still makes for an interesting discussion on whether taxpayers are subsidizing Wal-Mart profits.

[KS Smitty]

The quote is from this article, but I don't know where they got their info.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/1...our-safety-net

[J Diddy]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Why in the hell didn't you pay those minimum wage workers $9.00 an hour?

Because at the time that would have been an enormous increase that only I would be dealing with and before last night $9 was a completely arbitrary number.

[AustinChief]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

That link confirms low wages and part-time work, which I certainly believe, but I'm looking for a quote from a study that shows 80 percent of Wal-Mart workers getting federal assistance. My initial reaction is that that number seems high, but even if it's 40 percent it still makes for an interesting discussion on whether taxpayers are subsidizing Wal-Mart profits.

The 80% number is completely made up bullshit. Also known as a lie.

Here are examples of some realistic numbers...

In Missouri, where Wal-Mart is the largest employer behind state government, the state’s social services department determined Walmart employees outnumbered all others with employees and family members enrolled in MO HealthNet, the state’s Medicaid plan, in the first quarter of 2011. However, at almost 14 percent, it did not represent the highest percentage of workers enrolled or responsible for an enrollee (Dollar General, for instance, was much higher at 42 percent).

In Florida, 1.9 million households receive food stamps, and nearly 500,000 have earned income as of October 2012. Of those with earned income, 9,095 households get paychecks from Wal-Mart, according to a report prepared for PolitiFact by the state Department of Children and Families.

(I doubt Wal-Mart only employs 11,000 people in Florida)

The 80% number is based on fuzzy math that fails to account for multi-income households, part time work, younger employees and seniors, etc etc etc. If every person who works for Wal-Mart is paid like an entry level employee AND has two kids AND is the sole source of income for the family... then yes, 80% might be a realistic number.

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Yeah, I would suspect that there's a dilution effect as the impact spreads. If wages increase 25% for minimum wage workers, they probably increase 20% eventually for middle class workers and 15% for upper class workers. And probably 100% for rich people, because that's how the system works. So perhaps it does create a relative increase in living standards for the lowest-tier workers.

On the subject of minimum wage keeping up with inflation and/or supporting a family on minimum wage, I would propose that the minimum wage isn't necessarily designed to support a family or to be a long-term wage. In a perfect world, minimum wage jobs are entry-level jobs for those who are learning to work, such as teenagers. Those people typically aren't relying on the wage for their livelihood, so it's not a big deal that you can't buy an apartment and car and health insurance. If you're an adult who needs to do that, you probably should think about expanding your skill set so that you're not competing with 16 year-olds.

That said, it seems odd to me that the federal minimum wage doesn't have a built-in cost of living increase every year to match inflation. It would seem quite sensible to do that.

Actually, minimum wage jobs affects teens mostly.

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

The 80% number is completely made up bullshit. Also known as a lie.

Here are examples of some realistic numbers...



(I doubt Wal-Mart only employs 11,000 people in Florida)

The 80% number is based on fuzzy math that fails to account for multi-income households, part time work, younger employees and seniors, etc etc etc. If every person who works for Wal-Mart is paid like an entry level employee AND has two kids AND is the sole source of income for the family... then yes, 80% might be a realistic number.

I had a link put up when I first arrived here, or close to that time, and Wal-Mart pays above Min Wage iirc. Gonna go find it.

[Prison Bitch]

If Wal-Mart doesn't pay enough, don't work there.

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

If Wal-Mart doesn't pay enough, don't work there.

I think most who work there at those wages, don't have the skills to get paid more.

[BucEyedPea]

Here's one post from 2006 on minimum wage.

You know what I read recently on the Mises site which is on economics....the minimum wage is so low nobody pays it anymore. It's about $7-$8 on the market right now. Most wages are above minimum wages...'cept for maybe illegal immigrants. Other than that it mainly affects teen labor.

As the libertarians say routinely, most of these things handle by the market...BEFORE the govt even gets there!

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showp...8&postcount=74

That was when the economy was in better shape. Also, SanFran's minimum wage is $10 something an hour.

[BucEyedPea]

and this:

But of course, the CEO of WalMart is on record for the minimum-wage!

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showp...25&postcount=2

[AustinChief]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

(I doubt Wal-Mart only employs 11,000 people in Florida)

I just checked and ...

Walmart employs 92,657 associates in Florida

so.. 10%... not exactly 80% is it.