Who works for minimum wage?

[Bern80]

I used to make minimum wage. then I got a raise. all I did was put my heart, soul and ambition into it. now I do not worry about anything

Just think, if minimum wage would have kept up with costs you'd have made a couple hundred more per week for years.

And, we wouldn't have the huge welfare rolls.

I'll never understand why some people can't see the obvious cause and effect.

On that we agree. Here's another cause and effect; acquire an in demand skill set and that pays enough to support you.

You mentioned in a post that these people need to get paid what they deserve. For most of us we understand they already are getting paid what they deserve. They get paid for the skill the provide to their employer. The wages of which are established through the free market. You seem to think 'what they deserve' is based on something else. What is that exactly? Who should get to determine what you deserve to make if not the free market?

 

[Bern80]

because the American taxpayer makes up the difference, THAT'S why

That isn't the only alternative. That's the problem with libs. You refuse to allow people to deal with consequences of their choices. As a result you end up enabling behavior that produces a negative and have the nerve to wonder why that condition persists.

The alternative to paying a living wage is not the tax payers make up the difference. Another alternative is that the tax payers doesn't make up the difference. Necessity is the mother of invention and an amazing motivator.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Minimum Wage Workers Largely Live In The South, Are Women (GRAPHIC)

Before someone attacks the source, note where the info came from stated at the bottom of the graphic.

Also note that the graphic is larger (easier to read) at the link.

And less than 3% of the entire workforce earns the federal minimum wage.

That means more than 97% of all workers already earn more than MW so what's your point?

 

[Sunshine]

Yea it is so much better for the unskilled worker to get food stamps and housing assistance paid for by the general public rather than have their employer pay them enough that they can live.

WTF?

And according to the right wingers, very few people actually work for minimum wage. SO how come those hamburgers don't cost 9 dollars right now. How could that be? Hell managers make much more than minimum wage. Is it their fault hamburgers don't cost a dollar?

NO. it's better that they use those jobs as starter jobs as they build work experience and better themselves with education and skills. Oh wait.. pay them enough so there is no incentive to do that.. right ?

Why is it that the left is always about dependency? Sorry bud... I don't want to pay more for my fast food burger because your type don't understand the difference between the unskilled starter employee and the manager.

The rate of teenagers working at any kind of job has dropped dramatically in the past 15 years. Fact.

The numbers of adult people working low pay jobs has increased dramatically in the past few years because those were the only jobs available. Maybe their company moved or closed down. They got laid off. And to keep people like you for coming down on them as worthless and shiftless, they took the only job they could find. One that paid something around minimum wage.

I really like the part about "building work experience while they get education and skills"
You have any idea how many people with college degrees are working coffee shops and fast food and book stores. A lot. Because that was the only job available to them.

And dude, you don't like the price of your fast food burger? Makes my think you are working for minimum wage if you can't afford a little more for a burger.

Wow. This whole thing went over your head like a 747. It isn't a matter of 'affording' a burger. When a burger costs as much as a prime rib, no one is going to eat burgers. I hardly ever eat them now and it has nothing to do with cost. I just rarely eat fast food.

 

[Sunshine]

I used to make minimum wage. then I got a raise. all I did was put my heart, soul and ambition into it. now I do not worry about anything

Every successful poster on this forum has, at some time, worked for minimum wage. We just didn't want to settle for that or for the tiny increment above that. And a raise in minimum wage will never be more than a tiny increment. If you want to live well, you have to have more ambition than just a raise in your minimum wage. Kudos to the businesses that have figured out how to beat Obama care. Did he really think business owners where completely stupid? No need to answer. Of course he did.


.

You know what? I know plenty of people with ambition. You know what they are lacking? Opportunity. You think opportunity has ANYTHING to do with success in the work place?

You wouldn't know an opportunity if it bit you on the ass. If you want to succeed, you have to make your own opportunities.

 

[zeke]

Every successful poster on this forum has, at some time, worked for minimum wage. We just didn't want to settle for that or for the tiny increment above that. And a raise in minimum wage will never be more than a tiny increment. If you want to live well, you have to have more ambition than just a raise in your minimum wage. Kudos to the businesses that have figured out how to beat Obama care. Did he really think business owners where completely stupid? No need to answer. Of course he did.


.

You know what? I know plenty of people with ambition. You know what they are lacking? Opportunity. You think opportunity has ANYTHING to do with success in the work place?

You wouldn't know an opportunity if it bit you on the ass. If you want to succeed, you have to make your own opportunities.

Was my question to hard for you susnshine? Couldn't make an intelligent comment about opportunity being necessary for advancement in the work place....so you just made a little bitchy comment. Par for you from what I've read.

 

[Sunshine]

You know what? I know plenty of people with ambition. You know what they are lacking? Opportunity. You think opportunity has ANYTHING to do with success in the work place?

You wouldn't know an opportunity if it bit you on the ass. If you want to succeed, you have to make your own opportunities.

Was my question to hard for you susnshine? Couldn't make an intelligent comment about opportunity being necessary for advancement in the work place....so you just made a little bitchy comment. Par for you from what I've read.

Do you seriously think anyone in Kentucky has 'opportunities?'

 

[Bern80]

Yea it is so much better for the unskilled worker to get food stamps and housing assistance paid for by the general public rather than have their employer pay them enough that they can live.

WTF?

And according to the right wingers, very few people actually work for minimum wage. SO how come those hamburgers don't cost 9 dollars right now. How could that be? Hell managers make much more than minimum wage. Is it their fault hamburgers don't cost a dollar?

NO. it's better that they use those jobs as starter jobs as they build work experience and better themselves with education and skills. Oh wait.. pay them enough so there is no incentive to do that.. right ?

Why is it that the left is always about dependency? Sorry bud... I don't want to pay more for my fast food burger because your type don't understand the difference between the unskilled starter employee and the manager.

The rate of teenagers working at any kind of job has dropped dramatically in the past 15 years. Fact.

The numbers of adult people working low pay jobs has increased dramatically in the past few years because those were the only jobs available. Maybe their company moved or closed down. They got laid off. And to keep people like you for coming down on them as worthless and shiftless, they took the only job they could find. One that paid something around minimum wage.

I really like the part about "building work experience while they get education and skills"
You have any idea how many people with college degrees are working coffee shops and fast food and book stores. A lot. Because that was the only job available to them.

And dude, you don't like the price of your fast food burger? Makes my think you are working for minimum wage if you can't afford a little more for a burger.

This post highlights a few modern day myths about jobs and the economy.

Myth 1: Having a college degree all but guarantees you will get a decent job.
Fact: It doesn't. Simply getting a degree is no guarantee of employment any longer. If that degree is something like social justice or some other such 'skill' the job market see no real value in then your degree isn't worth squat. This brings us to.....

Myth 2: There aren't any jobs.
Fact: There are all kinds of jobs out there. Jobs that can't be filled because of the difficulty in finding people qualified for them. If you doubt me, put your resume on a career sight of some type like Career Builder or Monster. You will be inundated with dozens of job openings on an almost daily basis. The problem with the job market right now is by no means a lack of actual jobs. The problem is a lack of people with the skills to fill those jobs.

Again it isn't enough to just get a degree. Part of the solution is for those entering college to start taking a bigger view and not looking at college as an end game. You need to have a plan after college. This is not some daunting task either. With only some minor research you can find out what skills are currently in demand. You then go to school or take some type of training to acquire those skills. Then get a job doing that. Stop complaining about the poor college grads you can't get work. Those that got an education in skills that are in demand aren't having an issue. If on the other you decided to 'follow your dream' of being an art major, or have passion for social justice or the like I have no sympathy for your inability to find a job.

 

[HomeInspect]

Yea it is so much better for the unskilled worker to get food stamps and housing assistance paid for by the general public rather than have their employer pay them enough that they can live.

WTF?

And according to the right wingers, very few people actually work for minimum wage. SO how come those hamburgers don't cost 9 dollars right now. How could that be? Hell managers make much more than minimum wage. Is it their fault hamburgers don't cost a dollar?

Unskilled workers would STILL get those benefits even if you raised minimum wage to 30 bucks an hour. Other prices and other wages would adjust to reflect the new minimum but the VALUE of that commodity would still be EXACTLY the same. Those minimum wage earners would still make peanuts; it would just be peanuts with bigger numbers and more pieces of paper to hold onto.

The minimum wage is not keeping pace because the VALUE of that commodity is DROPPING as we enter into a smaller world with international product and slave wages. The VALUE of that commodity is DROPPING as we automate the more menial tasks and jobs. The VALUE of that commodity is DROPPING as we increase its availability and decrease the need for it.

All the people here are doing is advocating on putting a bandage on a problem that they do not understand or care to. This is not a straight numbers game – you can’t demand that a hot dog is actually worth 50 dollars and expect that to mean anything. In the same manner, you can’t demand that labor is worth at least 20, 30, 50 or a million dollars an hour and expect that to actually make that particular labor mean anything.

Really? You think the hated federal government would change the qualifying income levels for housing and food assistance when people are making 30 dollars (your number) an hour.

Why would that happen?

Labor rates will change (increase) when the demand for labor outstrips the supply. Like you said, labor is a commodity. If that never happens again, which may be the case, then entry level labor rates would be dropping IF the Federal government didn't impose mandatory minimums .Supply and demand.

Why is that so hard for right wingers to understand?

And why do you right wingers always go to such extremes when discussing minimum wage? Has anyone suggested 30 dollars an hour. Or a million dollars an hour, besides you right wingers?

But to think that you right wingers want the Federal government to subsidize low wage employees (not welfare recipients, but employees) with my tax dollars is outrageous . Just so the corporations you love and worship can make more and more money for the corporations. You all are crazy.

Why do you lefties think minimum wage should be, or was every intended to be a living wage? Why do you think more educated people are working in coffee shops? Let's start with the corporate tax rate here, and how many businesses have fled this country due to your lefty loving "tax anyhting successful" attitude. Forcing businesses to pay unskilled labor more than they're worth, is just another example of spread the wealth.

 

[zeke]

Unskilled workers would STILL get those benefits even if you raised minimum wage to 30 bucks an hour. Other prices and other wages would adjust to reflect the new minimum but the VALUE of that commodity would still be EXACTLY the same. Those minimum wage earners would still make peanuts; it would just be peanuts with bigger numbers and more pieces of paper to hold onto.

The minimum wage is not keeping pace because the VALUE of that commodity is DROPPING as we enter into a smaller world with international product and slave wages. The VALUE of that commodity is DROPPING as we automate the more menial tasks and jobs. The VALUE of that commodity is DROPPING as we increase its availability and decrease the need for it.

All the people here are doing is advocating on putting a bandage on a problem that they do not understand or care to. This is not a straight numbers game – you can’t demand that a hot dog is actually worth 50 dollars and expect that to mean anything. In the same manner, you can’t demand that labor is worth at least 20, 30, 50 or a million dollars an hour and expect that to actually make that particular labor mean anything.

Really? You think the hated federal government would change the qualifying income levels for housing and food assistance when people are making 30 dollars (your number) an hour.

Why would that happen?

Labor rates will change (increase) when the demand for labor outstrips the supply. Like you said, labor is a commodity. If that never happens again, which may be the case, then entry level labor rates would be dropping IF the Federal government didn't impose mandatory minimums .Supply and demand.

Why is that so hard for right wingers to understand?

And why do you right wingers always go to such extremes when discussing minimum wage? Has anyone suggested 30 dollars an hour. Or a million dollars an hour, besides you right wingers?

But to think that you right wingers want the Federal government to subsidize low wage employees (not welfare recipients, but employees) with my tax dollars is outrageous . Just so the corporations you love and worship can make more and more money for the corporations. You all are crazy.

Why do you lefties think minimum wage should be, or was every intended to be a living wage? Why do you think more educated people are working in coffee shops? Let's start with the corporate tax rate here, and how many businesses have fled this country due to your lefty loving "tax anyhting successful" attitude. Forcing businesses to pay unskilled labor more than they're worth, is just another example of spread the wealth.

Gee you right wing whacks are strange. IF a minimum wage job was the only type of job I could find, then of course my minimum wage job would have to cover my living expenses.
That means it would be helpful IF the minimum wage was a living wage.

Maybe you would like it better if low wage people were on food stamps and housing assistance. ....oh wait a minute......many already are. You good with that?

And what are you talking about concerning taxes? We now have some of the lowest effective tax rates ever paid by Americans. Where have you been or what do you read?


And how is it that you think people are "forcing" business's to pay workers more than they are worth"? They already don't pay any more than they have to and in many cases, wages for skilled work is going down BECAUSE there are more people CLAIMING that they can do skilled jobs. Of course the employer finds out the truth eventually but the employer still is not willing to pay for skilled labor what they once would.

This is just part of the continuing decline in the standard of living of Americans brought to us by the plutocrats of the Republican and Democratic parties.

 

[Bern80]

Gee you right wing whacks are strange. IF a minimum wage job was the only type of job I could find, then of course my minimum wage job would have to cover my living expenses.
That means it would be helpful IF the minimum wage was a living wage.

Of course it would be helpful. Unfortunately to be helpful to you and accomodate your standard of leaving is not the reason an employer compensates and employee.

Maybe you would like it better if low wage people were on food stamps and housing assistance. ....oh wait a minute......many already are. You good with that?

Not sure how many times I've seen this argument or how many times it has to be explained how bogus it is. It basically goes, 'employers may as well pay a living wage otherwise the tax payer is gonna pay it'. Those aren't the only two options. One would be cut off public assistance after a certain amount of time. Sooner than we do now. Or don't pay it all. Neccessity is the mother of invention and one hell of a motivator.

And what are you talking about concerning taxes? We now have some of the lowest effective tax rates ever paid by Americans. Where have you been or what do you read?


And how is it that you think people are "forcing" business's to pay workers more than they are worth"? They already don't pay any more than they have to and in many cases, wages for skilled work is going down BECAUSE there are more people CLAIMING that they can do skilled jobs. Of course the employer finds out the truth eventually but the employer still is not willing to pay for skilled labor what they once would.

This is just part of the continuing decline in the standard of living of Americans brought to us by the plutocrats of the Republican and Democratic parties.

You say that likes it's some revelation that employers pay as little as they can. Don't employees try to negotiate for as much as they can? What makes the employer's persepective wrong and the workers perspective the right one?

 

[HomeInspect]

Really? You think the hated federal government would change the qualifying income levels for housing and food assistance when people are making 30 dollars (your number) an hour.

Why would that happen?

Labor rates will change (increase) when the demand for labor outstrips the supply. Like you said, labor is a commodity. If that never happens again, which may be the case, then entry level labor rates would be dropping IF the Federal government didn't impose mandatory minimums .Supply and demand.

Why is that so hard for right wingers to understand?

And why do you right wingers always go to such extremes when discussing minimum wage? Has anyone suggested 30 dollars an hour. Or a million dollars an hour, besides you right wingers?

But to think that you right wingers want the Federal government to subsidize low wage employees (not welfare recipients, but employees) with my tax dollars is outrageous . Just so the corporations you love and worship can make more and more money for the corporations. You all are crazy.

Why do you lefties think minimum wage should be, or was every intended to be a living wage? Why do you think more educated people are working in coffee shops? Let's start with the corporate tax rate here, and how many businesses have fled this country due to your lefty loving "tax anyhting successful" attitude. Forcing businesses to pay unskilled labor more than they're worth, is just another example of spread the wealth.

Gee you right wing whacks are strange. IF a minimum wage job was the only type of job I could find, then of course my minimum wage job would have to cover my living expenses.
That means it would be helpful IF the minimum wage was a living wage.

Maybe you would like it better if low wage people were on food stamps and housing assistance. ....oh wait a minute......many already are. You good with that?

And what are you talking about concerning taxes? We now have some of the lowest effective tax rates ever paid by Americans. Where have you been or what do you read?


And how is it that you think people are "forcing" business's to pay workers more than they are worth"? They already don't pay any more than they have to and in many cases, wages for skilled work is going down BECAUSE there are more people CLAIMING that they can do skilled jobs. Of course the employer finds out the truth eventually but the employer still is not willing to pay for skilled labor what they once would.

This is just part of the continuing decline in the standard of living of Americans brought to us by the plutocrats of the Republican and Democratic parties.

You might want to do some homework on world corporatre tax rates

 

[HomeInspect]

Why is it that I see minimum wage employees with smart phones, tatoos and piercings, big screen TV's, driving nice cars, and smoking outside of Walmart on their breaks ? Are these the people that can't pay their rent?

 

[Bern80]

Why is it that I see minimum wage employees with smart phones, tatoos and piercings, big screen TV's, driving nice cars, and smoking outside of Walmart on their breaks ? Are these the people that can't pay their rent?

In all fairness I can't say I've observed all of those to be true. There are two there that typically are present though and drive me nuts. Smoking and smart phones. If you aren't willing to sacrifice those things to get yourself better off or are spending money on what are essentially luxuries you simply can't afford, stop complaining.

 

[FA_Q2]

Yea it is so much better for the unskilled worker to get food stamps and housing assistance paid for by the general public rather than have their employer pay them enough that they can live.

WTF?

And according to the right wingers, very few people actually work for minimum wage. SO how come those hamburgers don't cost 9 dollars right now. How could that be? Hell managers make much more than minimum wage. Is it their fault hamburgers don't cost a dollar?

Unskilled workers would STILL get those benefits even if you raised minimum wage to 30 bucks an hour. Other prices and other wages would adjust to reflect the new minimum but the VALUE of that commodity would still be EXACTLY the same. Those minimum wage earners would still make peanuts; it would just be peanuts with bigger numbers and more pieces of paper to hold onto.

The minimum wage is not keeping pace because the VALUE of that commodity is DROPPING as we enter into a smaller world with international product and slave wages. The VALUE of that commodity is DROPPING as we automate the more menial tasks and jobs. The VALUE of that commodity is DROPPING as we increase its availability and decrease the need for it.

All the people here are doing is advocating on putting a bandage on a problem that they do not understand or care to. This is not a straight numbers game – you can’t demand that a hot dog is actually worth 50 dollars and expect that to mean anything. In the same manner, you can’t demand that labor is worth at least 20, 30, 50 or a million dollars an hour and expect that to actually make that particular labor mean anything.

Really? You think the hated federal government would change the qualifying income levels for housing and food assistance when people are making 30 dollars (your number) an hour.

Why would that happen?

Labor rates will change (increase) when the demand for labor outstrips the supply. Like you said, labor is a commodity. If that never happens again, which may be the case, then entry level labor rates would be dropping IF the Federal government didn't impose mandatory minimums .Supply and demand.

Why is that so hard for right wingers to understand?

And why do you right wingers always go to such extremes when discussing minimum wage? Has anyone suggested 30 dollars an hour. Or a million dollars an hour, besides you right wingers?

But to think that you right wingers want the Federal government to subsidize low wage employees (not welfare recipients, but employees) with my tax dollars is outrageous . Just so the corporations you love and worship can make more and more money for the corporations. You all are crazy.

Did you even bother to read the post? It explains why. Labor rates will increase period if you increase the min wage – that is a simple fact. There is no ‘may never happen.’ That is a pipe dream that you liberals tell yourself so that you can feel comfortable thinking that minimum wage increases actually help anyone.

Interesting to the bold part though because no ‘right wingers’ want that at all. That is what those like YOU want. You are the side that continually fights for government programs to give everyone financial help from buying cheese to heat to rent. You just tried to blame the right for programs that the left champions. Are you all right?

edit: The numbers used were illustrating that they are utterly irrelevant. You guys were using 22. I don’t care what the number is; the argument is EXACTLY the same. I notice that you attacked the numbers (though 30 is not far off) but failed to address a single point.

 

[FA_Q2]

Why is it that I see minimum wage employees with smart phones, tatoos and piercings, big screen TV's, driving nice cars, and smoking outside of Walmart on their breaks ? Are these the people that can't pay their rent?

In all fairness I can't say I've observed all of those to be true. There are two there that typically are present though and drive me nuts. Smoking and smart phones. If you aren't willing to sacrifice those things to get yourself better off or are spending money on what are essentially luxuries you simply can't afford, stop complaining.

Almost universally the difference with poor and middle class/weathy people is fundamentally how they view the world. You find that the poor do not look at things in that manner at all. I have a few good examples.

I met a woman at the store selling cell phones. My wife and I became pretty quick friends as we have had similar experiences with our children and illness. A few months later, she was having a rough time with her finances and we offered to help her and her daughter out. Essentially, we set her up at our home with rent, utility and board for the low price of nothing. We paid all her base essential expenses minus her car and insurance for six months so that she could save for first, last and deposit on a new apartment and get some side cash. Theoretically, she should have had a pretty extensive savings right away as even at minimum wages (which she was making more than) but for some reason when ended up with exactly what she started with – nothing.

It was never, and will never be, a matter of what she makes. She creates chaos unwittingly to force herself back to square one. I would never have believed it if I did not see it firsthand. To help her out, we went over her finances after the first month to find where her money had gone because she simply did not see what was happening. We purchase for ourselves gourmet coffee beans. I drink coffee VERY rarely so there is no reason to not have the best when I do. She felt the need to go to Starbucks daily at a monthly cost of around 300 dollars. She also felt the need to buy food that was ‘conveniently’ wrapped. Kraft singles mac and cheese, shrink wrapped apples and the like. Also a very expensive habit. She continued that habit even though we provided all the equivalent in fresh fruit and boxed goods. The claim was that she did not have ‘time’ to cook as well though why she had no time is beyond me – there was nothing else that she needed to take care of. Smoking was another vice that was costing her quite a bit.

After tabulating all this, do you know how many habits she changed? Zero.

It was her life and she had rights to do whatever she wanted but I was clear – we gave her six months and that is what she got. Currently, she is right where we left her (though living off someone else atm) and all I have to say is that will never change. The job, the pay or even her situation is utterly meaningless – she creates the strife and conditions that ensure where she is herself. The sad reality is that most people that are in that situation are there for the exact same reason.

 

[beagle9]

Gee you right wing whacks are strange. IF a minimum wage job was the only type of job I could find, then of course my minimum wage job would have to cover my living expenses.
That means it would be helpful IF the minimum wage was a living wage.

Of course it would be helpful. Unfortunately to be helpful to you and accomodate your standard of leaving is not the reason an employer compensates and employee.

Maybe you would like it better if low wage people were on food stamps and housing assistance. ....oh wait a minute......many already are. You good with that?

Not sure how many times I've seen this argument or how many times it has to be explained how bogus it is. It basically goes, 'employers may as well pay a living wage otherwise the tax payer is gonna pay it'. Those aren't the only two options. One would be cut off public assistance after a certain amount of time. Sooner than we do now. Or don't pay it all. Neccessity is the mother of invention and one hell of a motivator.

And what are you talking about concerning taxes? We now have some of the lowest effective tax rates ever paid by Americans. Where have you been or what do you read?


And how is it that you think people are "forcing" business's to pay workers more than they are worth"? They already don't pay any more than they have to and in many cases, wages for skilled work is going down BECAUSE there are more people CLAIMING that they can do skilled jobs. Of course the employer finds out the truth eventually but the employer still is not willing to pay for skilled labor what they once would.

This is just part of the continuing decline in the standard of living of Americans brought to us by the plutocrats of the Republican and Democratic parties.

You say that likes it's some revelation that employers pay as little as they can. Don't employees try to negotiate for as much as they can? What makes the employer's persepective wrong and the workers perspective the right one?

Now when an employee wants to negotiate anything, many see that as a big bad thing in which is seen as acting out in a unionized manor, and we know how people hate any unionizing at the bottom, so negotiate how like you are suggesting ?

 

[beagle9]

Why is it that I see minimum wage employees with smart phones, tatoos and piercings, big screen TV's, driving nice cars, and smoking outside of Walmart on their breaks ? Are these the people that can't pay their rent?

In all fairness I can't say I've observed all of those to be true. There are two there that typically are present though and drive me nuts. Smoking and smart phones. If you aren't willing to sacrifice those things to get yourself better off or are spending money on what are essentially luxuries you simply can't afford, stop complaining.

Almost universally the difference with poor and middle class/weathy people is fundamentally how they view the world. You find that the poor do not look at things in that manner at all. I have a few good examples.

I met a woman at the store selling cell phones. My wife and I became pretty quick friends as we have had similar experiences with our children and illness. A few months later, she was having a rough time with her finances and we offered to help her and her daughter out. Essentially, we set her up at our home with rent, utility and board for the low price of nothing. We paid all her base essential expenses minus her car and insurance for six months so that she could save for first, last and deposit on a new apartment and get some side cash. Theoretically, she should have had a pretty extensive savings right away as even at minimum wages (which she was making more than) but for some reason when ended up with exactly what she started with – nothing.

It was never, and will never be, a matter of what she makes. She creates chaos unwittingly to force herself back to square one. I would never have believed it if I did not see it firsthand. To help her out, we went over her finances after the first month to find where her money had gone because she simply did not see what was happening. We purchase for ourselves gourmet coffee beans. I drink coffee VERY rarely so there is no reason to not have the best when I do. She felt the need to go to Starbucks daily at a monthly cost of around 300 dollars. She also felt the need to buy food that was ‘conveniently’ wrapped. Kraft singles mac and cheese, shrink wrapped apples and the like. Also a very expensive habit. She continued that habit even though we provided all the equivalent in fresh fruit and boxed goods. The claim was that she did not have ‘time’ to cook as well though why she had no time is beyond me – there was nothing else that she needed to take care of. Smoking was another vice that was costing her quite a bit.

After tabulating all this, do you know how many habits she changed? Zero.

It was her life and she had rights to do whatever she wanted but I was clear – we gave her six months and that is what she got. Currently, she is right where we left her (though living off someone else atm) and all I have to say is that will never change. The job, the pay or even her situation is utterly meaningless – she creates the strife and conditions that ensure where she is herself. The sad reality is that most people that are in that situation are there for the exact same reason.

And you use her situation to what, paint most with a broad brush maybe ? Hmm, are you suggesting we use her situation as an excuse to beware of the big bad wolf maybe, you know the one for whom lurks around every corner now, just waiting to take everyone to the cleaners anymore ? We are smart enough to know who is in need and can be helped, and who has a history of what you just told in your story, so what it all comes down to is we all need to do the hard work of separating, and then helping the right people, while dealing with the wrong people in ways that somehow get them on the right track, and if they won't get on the right track, then let their family kick in and deal with it, but the government doesn't need to hold these kinds of people up, nor should anyone else for that matter.

They will learn or be hungry, and I bet they will learn then.

 

[beagle9]

Why is it that I see minimum wage employees with smart phones, tatoos and piercings, big screen TV's, driving nice cars, and smoking outside of Walmart on their breaks ? Are these the people that can't pay their rent?

These are people that are usually being subsidized by the government in some or many ways, and so they live it up because of the ease in which the government has caved to them in the past, and still will cater to them as long as they can somehow make it to that voting machine.

Incentivizing the poor was a democrat scam from way back it appears now, and the reason it was a scam is because far more are poor now than ever before (swollen in their ranks), as well as being far to dependent, and they are part of the backbone of the democrat party when it comes to voting now, so it fits just like a glove, and not like the OJ glove but more of a perfect fit on this one I think.

 

[zeke]

Seems like it shouldn't be so hard to figure out what a minimum hourly wage would have to be to keep the person with the minimum wage job from qualifying for government assistance.

Is the number 8.50? 10 bucks?

If you apply inflation to the time period minimum wage has been in effect, the number should be around 15.
That's high, but eh you can't argue inflation. Look at the wage inflation for CEOs.

And of course, a higher minimum wage will give a push to wages for more experienced and valued employees. And that's a bad thing how? Since wages and earnings have been flat or declining for years.

Why you all against the hourly wage working man or woman? Just curious on that. I have worked either on 100% commission or bid my own jobs and made what I could. But I sure know a lot of people working for an hourly wage and they haven't had it so good for a while. No unions to represent their interest. No shortage of people looking for a job. Tough job environment.

Why you all so opposed to hourly people getting a little more money in their pockets? It,s not likely they will become your neighbors with a .75 cent raise. Unless you all live in a trailer park?