Minimum Wage

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!! Originally Posted by nomuff2tuff

All true sir.....but those same people are too friggin stupid to know it

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. Originally Posted by spear88

Disseminating the cost through out the entire economy is always the way I've thought of a minimum wage hike. We could use a little of the non-existent, ya right, inflation just now anyway. We're damned if we do, and damned if we don't.

I think this is the problem and why the middle class is disappearing.

It's good to be chief executive.
American CEOs saw their pay spike 15 percent last year, after a 28 percent pay rise the year before, according to a report by GMI Ratings cited by The Guardian. Meanwhile, workers saw their inflation-adjusted wages fall 2 percent in 2011, according to the Labor Department.
That's in line with a trend that dates back three decades. CEO pay spiked 725 percent between 1978 and 2011, while worker pay rose just 5.7 percent, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute released on Wednesday. That means CEO pay grew 127 times faster than worker pay.

I think this is the problem and why the middle class is disappearing.

It's good to be chief executive.
American CEOs saw their pay spike 15 percent last year, after a 28 percent pay rise the year before, according to a report by GMI Ratings cited by The Guardian. Meanwhile, workers saw their inflation-adjusted wages fall 2 percent in 2011, according to the Labor Department.
That's in line with a trend that dates back three decades. CEO pay spiked 725 percent between 1978 and 2011, while worker pay rose just 5.7 percent, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute released on Wednesday. That means CEO pay grew 127 times faster than worker pay. Originally Posted by willdooit@yahoo.com

Yeah when you're the guy in charge, who knew you could pay yourself so well!

Every time this subject comes up, I whip out this quote from Nobel laureate Milton Friedman.

Many well-meaning people favor legal minimum wage rates in the mistaken belief that they help the poor. It has always been a mystery to me why a youngster is better off unemployed at $4.75 an hour than employed at $4.25.

I hate it too for some reason people think minimum wage should afford them a great life, kids and all. If anything it should go down, make people strive for more or sleep on the floor. Originally Posted by trey

The people who actually go to college to do better for themselves realize it was a waste like I...