Minimum Wage

We'll see how it all plays out. The Department of Whatever to run the punitive piece of legislation that wasn't read by our congressmen hasn't even been set up. We aren't governed by laws so much as by agencies and the little lifer bureaucratic that "interpret" the law and disseminate their idea of "justice" Wait till they get a hold of it, and wait till people have to take time off from their minimum wage jobs to go sign up to opt out of a piece of legislation that set one of the major benchmarks BELOW minimum wage.

BTW, you probably haven't seen me post in the National Sandbox. I think this particular piece of legislation is a bullshit tax on the poor, poorly thought out and doesn't go far enough. I'm for a single payer system and provisions for the rest of us, like me, to opt out with my own insurance. But, no, daddy Obama knows best. I pay $125 / month (paid quarterly) for a concierge-type doctor and anywhere from $300 - $450 / month for catastrophic insurance that has a very high deductible. It's not "good" enough even so it's what I want. And the best part is..........................we don't know how much out of pocket people like you and I are going to have to pay. We're not poor. We're part of the hated bougie class. We'll see...................

Yeah as with all large pieces of legislation, we'll all have to wait and see how things play out in the end.

The ACA doesn't penalize anyone if they have their own insurance (which is the point of the individual mandate - to get as many people as possible into the insured pool to spread costs out and theoretically lower costs for everyone). Again, we'll see if that actually happens - I actually agree that it doesn't go far enough. With all of the exemptions, especially the religious exemption which is a loophole large enough to drive a truck through, we'll see how many employers and uninsured people actually get into the pool.

Part of the issue is that we as a society believe that everyone has a right to healthcare. I don't believe that's a bad thing for a society but we tend to want everyone to have it without managing the costs of it. Today we're already paying for everyone to have health care - we're just doing it in a horribly inefficient fashion. Our classic problem of "everyone wants stuff, but no one wants to pay for it".

While the ACA is clearly not going to solve all the problems, sitting around doing nothing and supporting a status quo that's failing is also clearly not the answer either.

Expecting the government and those in elected office to be efficient and logical in their thinking, is like buying a lottery ticket and expecting to win simply because you purchased the ticket.

There truly isn't a "We the people" when it comes to the government. It issues orders and we follow regardless if we want to or not. Only the rich and powerful truly benefit from the bickering and fighting the many minions in the middle class deal with on a daily basis. After a while one has to realize that it's all by design.


You can only get in where you fit in. Work out what's best for you and your family. Everything else is for corporations and UN Mandates. We can only sit and watch as Congress and all those in government....Rep and Democrat destroy the Consitution and Bill of Rights..........

The funny part about it all.......They have been systematically doing this since 1913, and no one seems to fully realize it. We have been fed a line of BS and the powers that be continue to tell us what we need to hear to be mad at the other group who is getting fucked with the same cock as everyone else is.

By the time the masses realize what is really going on....THe real fix will be solidified and all your bitching and arguing won't mean a damn thing. We all will be in the same damn line to the poor house and it's all by design..........media outlets are on their team as well. Feeding lies and BS to both sides and benefiting from the paranoia and confusing of the masses. The corporations that own the media outlets are on the same team as the politicians and plutocrats that run government...................

The real question to be asked is who are they working for?..................

The ACA doesn't penalize anyone if they have their own insurance (which is the point of the individual mandate - to get as many people as possible into the insured pool to spread costs out and theoretically lower costs for everyone). Originally Posted by jbravo_123

No, my high deductible won't meet their criteria. I have no intention of getting a corporate USA job or getting on board with an HMO. It's going to cost me more money.

With all of the exemptions, especially the religious exemption which is a loophole large enough to drive a truck through, Originally Posted by jbravo_123

Until Obama started TELLING religious based employers and religious nut groups like Chick-filet and Hobby Lobby, whose employees were getting female reproductive healthcare - with no problem all along - that they were going to toe the line, and get on board with Obamacare by providing birth control. Kinda backfired on the administration IMHO and unfortunately now over half the population is at risk of not getting comprehensive reproductive health care.

we'll see how many employers and uninsured people actually get into the pool. Originally Posted by jbravo_123

Employers, especially in the small and mid cap range, will drop insurance like a hot potato.

Part of the issue is that we as a society believe that everyone has a right to healthcare. Originally Posted by jbravo_123

It's not a right. If you want end of life, heroic health care, as an example, you as an individual should pay for it out of a different pool.

Access to basic and quick healthcare, which some insurance plans don't support, is financially beneficial to a society. It'll never happen - especially the quick part - now that it's being "nationalized". Taking your child to the doctor on your lunch hour, not that it could really have been done before, will now take hours. Sure helps strip money out of a minimum wage job.

Our classic problem of "everyone wants stuff, but no one wants to pay for it". Originally Posted by jbravo_123

Insurance companies should offer different types of coverage to different groups. I for one do not want to be in the same pool as smokers or any other preventable health concern.

While the ACA is clearly not going to solve all the problems, sitting around doing nothing and supporting a status quo that's failing is also clearly not the answer either. Originally Posted by jbravo_123

If you think health care was expensive before, wait until it's free.

Ike - Totally +1. We have been stripped of our rights and granted more power to the Executive Branch and the oligarchs since the Lincoln administration - not that I disagree why he did what he did. We are now living under a Nazi style Nact und Neibel decree. The village idiot of Texas - Bush the II started it in true earnest with the Patriot Act and daddy Obama put the nail in the coffin with the NDAA 2012 and the even worse NDAA 2013 Acts. It's an abomination. Anyone that voted for the NDAA 2012 / 13 Acts and / or didn't veto it like they said they would should resign. It's a Constitutional attack on the citizenry of the United States of America.

And some of you know my take on all this bullshit. Freakin politicians, lots of good ones, they are ALL in cemetaries. The only way to right all the wrongs these bastards have imposed on us is not a pretty picture. And when everyone that WORKS for a living, has had it up to their eyeballs, and just says NO FUCKING MORE, nothing will change. Till then, stock up on vaseline, cause we are about to really get it crammed up our ass.

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Ike - Totally +1. We have been stripped of our rights and granted more power to the Executive Branch and the oligarchs since the Lincoln administration - not that I disagree why he did what he did. We are now living under a Nazi style Nact und Neibel decree. The village idiot of Texas - Bush the II started it in true earnest with the Patriot Act and daddy Obama put the nail in the coffin with the NDAA 2012 and the even worse NDAA 2013 Acts. It's an abomination. Anyone that voted for the NDAA 2012 / 13 Acts and / or didn't veto it like they said they would should resign. It's a Constitutional attack on the citizenry of the United States of America. Originally Posted by OliviaHoward

And anyone voting for the new gun laws (on a state or federal level), should be run out of office. The agenda is to reduce America to a third world nation, and unfortunately, the politicians and the media are onboard.

LS

The way I view it is that government, when working properly, is the only entity that represents the people that can combat the power of corporations.

Sadly, in my opinion, the government has been eaten away at (kind of like an aged dog that is finally succumbing to parasites and diseas) and is too worn out now to possibly battle against what corporations have done.

Ideally, the government should represent the people, but corporations and their lobbyists have gotten too much control over it now to really be stopped anymore.

Lasr year I was in Thailand for 14 days. While there, I ran out of one of my meds. I walked tointo a very nice hopital with my passport in hand.
I filled out a half page form and showed them my passport.
They but a wristband on my left wrist and showed me to a waiting room.
A nurse then took me to a room and checked my vitals.
Then I was escorted to a room to aee a doctor (who btw graduated from Berkley
The doctor dpoke very good english and asked a lot of questions
He then gave me a scrip and I was escorted to the hospital pharmacy and gave them my paperwork and they gave me a card with a number on it.
They called my number and I paid by bill which included my hospital admission, doctor visit and meds.
Total time in the hospital.....55 minutes
Total cost of everything.......$65

Then I go to the American embassy. I needed ten minutes of their time to answer some questions I had. First I am told that I need an appointment and I had to go on-line to make it. I tell them I don't have a computer. They tell me to walk 3 blocks down the street to an internet cafe and make the appointment and come back. I'm pissed....I raise hell. I tell them I deserve better because I am an American citizen. I told them I expected to see 2 Marines behind a steel gate and I show them my passport and they welcome me inside. They told me I watch to much TV. I'm getting more pissed and they tell me I am hostile. I'm still on the outside sidewalk the whole time. Then they have 2 security people come outside and tell me that if I don't go away they will arrest me and put me on a plane back to the US. I take 3 steps back and I am standing in the street. I tell them to go fuck fuck themselves and tell them they can't touch me because I am not on American soil. I tell them I have 7 more days of vacation and I will be here everyday for the next 7 days screaming at everyone who comes to the embassy from 9 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon. They leave and I start my yelling...all the time standing in the street. An hour later another security guy comes out to see me. After 45 minutes of talk with me he finally asked me "what's it going to take for you to go away?" I told him the same thing I came there for earlier that morning....10 minutes of someone's time.
After being there more than 6 hours he frinally let me come into the outer security door and handed me a phone and I asked my questions to the person on the line.

When the Vietnam war was going on....I served my country. I have never asked one thing from my county. I deserve more than what I got that day.
This is why as soon as I retire I am leaving the US.

Wow, that's a crazy story tbone and you're right, you do deserve more!




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Lexie...it is crazy...but true.
I work my ass off to get to where I can have enough money to do what I want to do......and I'm forced to deal with more and more taxes and regulations. I don't really enjoy working my ass off so that others don't have to work and get free this and free that. I can't see an end to it. I'm just glad I'm old and won't live to see it 20 years from now. I've had enough.

LS...want to go with me?

Well since I have an Economics degree here is my 2 cents. Since every employer who hires entry level workers is faced with exactly the same minimum wage expense, they can pass nearly 100% of it on in the form of higher prices. This trickles up the chain and bumps everything else up. The pizza boy is no better off than he was before, but he might think he is since he has more $ in his pocket.

This is just a game the lying pandering politicians play. If it has any effect at all it is a negative one as it may cause more people to give cash only jobs to illegal immigrants.

This is why as soon as I retire I am leaving the US. Originally Posted by tbone2u

I am thinking hard about it. But I need to save up a lot more cash.

but IMO it's not just the liberals who are hurting us and the country, it's all of those in Congress, regardless of Party. They have betrayed the country! Originally Posted by PCF41 Lucky Dog

True enough. The repubs are not as hell bent on destroying our private economy as much as the dems. but they are not much better. Except that there are a very small group of libertarian republicans like Rand Paul. but not enough.

Mostly they are in it for themselves. It is economic Fascism. Just like the fascists, the government, the crony capitalists, and big labor make out like bandits, but the small businessman, & the average white or blue collar worker are squeezed.

Lexie...it is crazy...but true.
I work my ass off to get to where I can have enough money to do what I want to do......and I'm forced to deal with more and more taxes and regulations. I don't really enjoy working my ass off so that others don't have to work and get free this and free that. I can't see an end to it. I'm just glad I'm old and won't live to see it 20 years from now. I've had enough.

LS...want to go with me? Originally Posted by tbone2u

Tbone, thanks for the invitation. If I could persuade my family to leave, I would be tempted. The problem is that we are working through the Globalists' agenda, and it's worldwide.

LS

Minimum Wage—I started at Min. Wage for my first job as a teenager. I will NOT go into the history of the Why’s. There are many industries that employee Min Wage workers. Some of the EVERYDAY businesses that we all use – their business models are based on lower cost labor. THIS does not mean cheap labor! There have been many teenagers that started at Min. Wage & have grown with that same company & become CEO, top management & independent owners – worth millions! Some were immigrants to this country! Most are with a High School education – then worked their way thru college (maybe)that the SAME Company paid part of their tuition.
If there is ANYONE that thinks a company will “just absorb the cost” is full of SHIT. The Stock Holders / company demand a certain return. If they cannot compete in the US of A, they move OUT of the US of A… US of A loses. That is one reason California is hurting, many companies have left due to high cost of doing business in that state—AND where other states—such as Texas is employer friendly. Continental Airlines moved from Los Angeles to Houston. Many companies are already working hard to stay completive – with all the foreign markets.
When Min. Wage goes up—so does prices!! Min wage workers are laid OFF or hours cut! So who does this help???!!
It help the Unions – some contracts are based on Min Wage… it goes up so do union wages—thus prices on finished goods.
Look at HEB vs grocery companies on the West Coast with their unions.. Checkers in Calif make $20.+ an hour & have benefits out the ass. And who pays that?
It is ALL ABOUT getting votes & it is the new voters that helped elect this fool in office now. Hey "Vote for Obama & he will get Min Wage raised"—but hell in the end they get shafted in fewer jobs or lower hours or no benefits because wages are killing some companies!!
RANT OVER!!