Breaking News: Restaurants Closing All Over Seattle As $15 Minimum Wage Mandate Starts April 1st.

[Jarhead]

And btw, this thread is Bullshite anyway. The OP is being an inaccurate drama queen. The only businesses closing, are businesses that should be closing. They were weak and failing long before this.

There is no sudden rash of restaurants closing because of higher wages. It's just not happening. Therefore, i have to call Bullshite on this thread.

My...aren't we judgmental and arrogant....

Lets do a little math.

A man owns a small restaurant...it was his lifelong dream. He wasn't overly ambitious...he just wanted to cook and serve for a living...so he has a small restaurant with 6 employees. He generates about 1000 a week profit. Not a lot, but he loves what he does, his wife is a nurse making another 70K a year, so they are doing just fine...making 120K a year with 3 kids.

Now he is told by his state government that he must pay an extra 5 an hour to each of his 6 employees.....or 30 an hour....an extra 1200 a week.

So now he is losing 200 a week with his lifelong dream restaurant.....so his family is now making 60K total....

His employees lose their job, he loses his restaurant...and another middle class family is in a struggle.

Sounds great.

 

[Sonny Clark]

[

You can't keep government out of business.

You can never stop government tyranny but you sure as hell can minimize it by not electing Liberals that do abusive things like artificially set labor rates.

The only way to stop is to elect pro-America representatives, and stop electing and re-electing professional politicians to serve in government.

 

[boilermaker55]

One question.
Did you read the article?
Or did you just read the headline?
Another question. How many restaurants closed every month/year in Seattle prior to the wage increase.
That information wasn't in the article.
Then compare that to how many restaurants have closed since the wage increase?
Damn!

It’s evident that those Demoncrats don’t have a clue about economics. They never think of the consequences of their “feel good policies.” Neither do they have a clue how a business is run and operated. Seems to me this should be a litmus test for elected officials



Seattle eateries closing as 15 minimum wage approaches Hot Air

 

[BluesLegend]

The idiot liberals in Seattle accomplished nothing, life still sucks for minimum wage earners in Seattle. You would think the bunch of dumb asses would figure out moving up the ladder is the answer not staying at the bottom in an entry level job.

 

[Jarhead]

One question.
Did you read the article?
Or did you just read the headline?
Another question. How many restaurants closed every month/year in Seattle prior to the wage increase.
That information wasn't in the article.
Then compare that to how many restaurants have closed since the wage increase?
Damn!

It’s evident that those Demoncrats don’t have a clue about economics. They never think of the consequences of their “feel good policies.” Neither do they have a clue how a business is run and operated. Seems to me this should be a litmus test for elected officials



Seattle eateries closing as 15 minimum wage approaches Hot Air

ok...

so explain this scenario and tell me where it does not make sense.....

A man owns a small restaurant...it was his lifelong dream. He wasn't overly ambitious...he just wanted to cook and serve for a living...so he has a small restaurant with 6 employees. He generates about 1000 a week profit. Not a lot, but he loves what he does, his wife is a nurse making another 70K a year, so they are doing just fine...making 120K a year with 3 kids.

Now he is told by his state government that he must pay an extra 5 an hour to each of his 6 employees.....or 30 an hour....an extra 1200 a week.

So now he is losing 200 a week with his lifelong dream restaurant.....so his family is now making 60K total....

His employees lose their job, he loses his restaurant...and another middle class family is in a struggle.

 

[HenryBHough]

All that's required to resolve the outmigration of restaurants is some simple local legislation.

1. Prohibit closing of any licensed restaurant.

2. Mandate each resident of Seattle eat at a licensed restaurant at least once each week or pay a fine for not doing so.

See, it's so SIMPLE when you approach the problem from a liberal perspective!

 

[Jarhead]

All that's required to resolve the outmigration of restaurants is some simple local legislation.

1. Prohibit closing of any licensed restaurant.

2. Mandate each resident of Seattle eat at a licensed restaurant at least once each week or pay a fine for not doing so.

See, it's so SIMPLE when you approach the problem from a liberal perspective!

the ironic part is those that deny the report...or argue that the report is inaccurate, believe hat a restaurant that generates a 50K a year profit prior to the mandatory salary increase was a failure to begin with.

Are they not aware that most small businesses are not generating millions of dollars in profit?

To the contrary, many earn the owner a modest living....but a living non the less?

 

[hadit]

Liberals don't understand unintended consequences. They apparently believe that people only change their behavior in response to the cost of the behavior drastically increasing in certain areas. Raise cigarette taxes to stop smoking! Yeah, that'll work! But increasing a business' operating costs by 50% won't impact anything at all! They'll just keep right on with the same number of workers, doing the same amount of business. Everything's just peachy keen.

These are the same people who thought it a great idea to jack the price of yachts to generate new revenue for the government to pig out on. Anyone remember how that one turned out?

 

[hadit]

All that's required to resolve the outmigration of restaurants is some simple local legislation.

1. Prohibit closing of any licensed restaurant.

2. Mandate each resident of Seattle eat at a licensed restaurant at least once each week or pay a fine for not doing so.

See, it's so SIMPLE when you approach the problem from a liberal perspective!

the ironic part is those that deny the report...or argue that the report is inaccurate, believe hat a restaurant that generates a 50K a year profit prior to the mandatory salary increase was a failure to begin with.

Are they not aware that most small businesses are not generating millions of dollars in profit?

To the contrary, many earn the owner a modest living....but a living non the less?

Apparently, they think that every business is a bottomless pit of money, and don't grasp that working with a 5% profit margin means you can't absorb a 50% cost increase without making drastic changes.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Hey look, if you can't or won't pay someone a decent wage, you don't belong in business. Employees are not volunteers. They have bills to pay and children to take care of too. They're not there to do volunteer work so you can become wealthier. They're in it for the same reason you are. It's the $$$. So if you don't wanna pay em, it's time to close up shop.

Everyone in America is in it for themselves. No one's gonna work for shite wages just so you can become wealthy and successful. That's just not gonna happen. The only suggestion would be, to hire family members and hope they do the work for lower wages. Kinda like volunteers helpin a loved one out. Otherwise, you gotta pay. It is what it is.

Very well stated. Thanks. Employers pay what they have to pay, and in most cases, not a penny more. With rare exception, they pay the going rate for location and type of work performed ( job title ).

And if the going rate for stuffing shit in a plastic bag is MW then that's what they pay

If you want to be paid more than MW then learn how to do something that demands a higher wage

It really is that simple

You make an assumption that everyone in the workforce has the ability to promote themselves through education and training. In the real world that just isn't true. Unfortunately their are people with very low IQ's that will never be able to understand even basics needed to obtain better jobs. Fortunately for some, despite low intelligence, they may have eye and hand coordination skills that make it possible to learn skills that require those assets, but perhaps not the intelligence factor. People are also constrained by their location and the opportunities in that location.
The idea that an employer should be allowed to pay whatever the employer wants to pay, without government interference, is a fair one, and one I can agree with, to a point. The point being when the employer accepts any kind of assistance or subsidy to operate their business.

You can't make policy to fit the extremes.

And if those people with low IQ can't understand the basics they won't be living on their own now would they?

That's what the safety net is for not for able bodied people who refuse to work enough to pay their bills

And people can move you know. No one is chained to the spot.

And in most cases the employer is not getting a subsidy it is the people who want to keep a part time MW job then apply for benefits even though they are fully capable of working and paying their own bills

Those are opinions based on judgement's. Lots of intelligence challenged people go to work everyday and hold jobs their entire lives. You just need to promote that idea about able bodied people gaming the system. Unfortunately, no matter how often that is brought up it is never able to really be proven to be the problem you want to claim it is. The old welfare fraud thing never seems to have the factual data to back up the allegation.

So exactly what percentage of workers are low intelligence people that are working and living on their own? And if they are of such low intelligence are they even able to live alone?

Or are you somehow implying that people who settle for MW jobs are of low intelligence and need special treatment from their employers?

If you want to speak to extremes we can do that but in reality global policy deals with the general population not the fringes

 

[Flopper]

Rarely are people paid what they are worth to our society.

Interesting. So, society should dictate the worth of a worker? That reeks of socialism.

No, just statement of fact.

 

[Flash]

[

The only way to stop is to elect pro-America representatives, and stop electing and re-electing professional politicians to serve in government.

Our country is past the point of being able to be fixed at the ballot box.

Nobody gets elected without being bought and paid for by somebody else.

The Democrats promise bad government and delivers bad government.

The Republicans promise good government but delivers bad government.

 

[kiwiman127]

View attachment 38024

[


"Hate is not a Christian value"-Redfish
Actually the Bible states that hate is equivalent to murder. John 1 3:15.
Reading most of the threads/posts/signatures on USMB, indicates we have very, very few true Christians on board here. but we do have a ton of fake Christians.

I don't think Jesus was guaranteed a minimum wage when He worked as a carpenter. Minimum wage is an invention of confused stupid ass bureaucrats.

Remember that greed and thievery are also sins and anybody that elects Liberal politicians to use the government to steal money on their behalf would not meet the definition of Christian values.

I am not liberal nor am I liberal conservative, what I am is Middle Class.
Regarding the minimum wage, I think it's a good idea as it sets a floor for wages.
In this country, we obviously have a greed issue.
The US for decades had the most prosperous Middle Class in the world, but the US middle class has lost ground to other developed nations. Canada now has the world's most prosperous middle class in the world and other nations are set to also pass the US's middle class. For example, since 2000, Canada's middle class saw a 19.7% increase in the median income, so did Britain's, while Ireland's saw 16.2%, the Netherlands 13.9%, the US saw 6.3%. Why?
Regarding upward mobility, America has fallen behind Europe.
"Economic mobility is becoming a more prominent issue in the 2012 Republican presidential race, and will likely be widely discussed in the general election. The GOP’s remaining top-tier candidates — Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich — have all sounded the alarm about American decline, promising to restore the “American Dream” and make the pursuit of happiness seem like more of a worthwhile endeavor (as Romney as consistently hammered on about recently). But what’s shocking is that rather than focusing on the American Dream these days, politicians and academics seem to be talking more about the European Dream."
The Loss of Upward Mobility in the U.S. TIME.com
Now back to the minimum wage, do you realize that raising the minimum wage helps the middle class, more so than those below the poverty line?
Minimum Wage Hike Would Benefit 3X More Middle-Class Workers Than Poor
CNSNews.com) – Three times as many workers from middle-class families would benefit from President Obama's proposal to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour as those living in households below the federal poverty line, according to a new study.
Minimum Wage Hike Would Benefit 3X More Middle-Class Workers Than Poor CNS News
If the conservative Cato Institute thinks this, why would any middle class conservative deny this?
Over three decades of flat wages (in Real Dollars/constant dollars), it's no wonder why the American Middle Class is in such trouble.
Having a steadily weakening middle class hurts the US economy. As the graph below shows, as the middle class has weakened, recession have taken longer to recover. Is it all just a coincidence? Now that's doubtful.View attachment 38017
Someone is making a killing keeping wages flat as profits have hit record highs, yet wages remain flat. Why don't folks take off their ideological hats and stop to think for themselves and their own future is beyond me.

What helps the middle class is a free market for labor and less government restrictions because then business can prosper and that will always drive wages up.

Because this country has been leaning more towards the Left the Middle Class has suffered. Since Obama has took over average family income has declined.

Profits have hit record levels and wages have been flat long before Obama. They have been flat under both Democratic and Republican leadership.
How about thinking without trying to play partisan politics. In this case, both the right and left are guilty as real facts show.
[/ATTACH] View attachment 38021

I suggest you understand studies before you cite them.

During that 60 year span, those profits, on the most part were reinvested into R and D and expansion, allowing for the employment of millions of people....opportunities that allowed many of them to build the capital to go out on their own....

Sure, the business owners reaped the financial rewards...and the rest of us reaped the rewards of long term opportunity...and others reaped the rewards of our success.....and that is how it works.

Know the basis of a study before citing it.

That's an interesting point.
From what I have read, R&D make up anywhere's from 2-3% of the GDP and profits hang around 9-12% of the GDP.
Interesting.

 

[Flash]

All that's required to resolve the outmigration of restaurants is some simple local legislation.

1. Prohibit closing of any licensed restaurant.

2. Mandate each resident of Seattle eat at a licensed restaurant at least once each week or pay a fine for not doing so.

See, it's so SIMPLE when you approach the problem from a liberal perspective!

You got it Bud!

If one government mandate doesn't work throw a couple more on top of it. It is the Liberal way to fix a problem.

 

[Jarhead]

View attachment 38024

I don't think Jesus was guaranteed a minimum wage when He worked as a carpenter. Minimum wage is an invention of confused stupid ass bureaucrats.

Remember that greed and thievery are also sins and anybody that elects Liberal politicians to use the government to steal money on their behalf would not meet the definition of Christian values.

I am not liberal nor am I liberal conservative, what I am is Middle Class.
Regarding the minimum wage, I think it's a good idea as it sets a floor for wages.
In this country, we obviously have a greed issue.
The US for decades had the most prosperous Middle Class in the world, but the US middle class has lost ground to other developed nations. Canada now has the world's most prosperous middle class in the world and other nations are set to also pass the US's middle class. For example, since 2000, Canada's middle class saw a 19.7% increase in the median income, so did Britain's, while Ireland's saw 16.2%, the Netherlands 13.9%, the US saw 6.3%. Why?
Regarding upward mobility, America has fallen behind Europe.
"Economic mobility is becoming a more prominent issue in the 2012 Republican presidential race, and will likely be widely discussed in the general election. The GOP’s remaining top-tier candidates — Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich — have all sounded the alarm about American decline, promising to restore the “American Dream” and make the pursuit of happiness seem like more of a worthwhile endeavor (as Romney as consistently hammered on about recently). But what’s shocking is that rather than focusing on the American Dream these days, politicians and academics seem to be talking more about the European Dream."
The Loss of Upward Mobility in the U.S. TIME.com
Now back to the minimum wage, do you realize that raising the minimum wage helps the middle class, more so than those below the poverty line?
Minimum Wage Hike Would Benefit 3X More Middle-Class Workers Than Poor
CNSNews.com) – Three times as many workers from middle-class families would benefit from President Obama's proposal to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour as those living in households below the federal poverty line, according to a new study.
Minimum Wage Hike Would Benefit 3X More Middle-Class Workers Than Poor CNS News
If the conservative Cato Institute thinks this, why would any middle class conservative deny this?
Over three decades of flat wages (in Real Dollars/constant dollars), it's no wonder why the American Middle Class is in such trouble.
Having a steadily weakening middle class hurts the US economy. As the graph below shows, as the middle class has weakened, recession have taken longer to recover. Is it all just a coincidence? Now that's doubtful.View attachment 38017
Someone is making a killing keeping wages flat as profits have hit record highs, yet wages remain flat. Why don't folks take off their ideological hats and stop to think for themselves and their own future is beyond me.

What helps the middle class is a free market for labor and less government restrictions because then business can prosper and that will always drive wages up.

Because this country has been leaning more towards the Left the Middle Class has suffered. Since Obama has took over average family income has declined.

Profits have hit record levels and wages have been flat long before Obama. They have been flat under both Democratic and Republican leadership.
How about thinking without trying to play partisan politics. In this case, both the right and left are guilty as real facts show.
[/ATTACH] View attachment 38021

I suggest you understand studies before you cite them.

During that 60 year span, those profits, on the most part were reinvested into R and D and expansion, allowing for the employment of millions of people....opportunities that allowed many of them to build the capital to go out on their own....

Sure, the business owners reaped the financial rewards...and the rest of us reaped the rewards of long term opportunity...and others reaped the rewards of our success.....and that is how it works.

Know the basis of a study before citing it.

That's an interesting point.
From what I have read, R&D make up anywhere's from 2-3% of the GDP and profits hang around 9-12% of the GDP.
Interesting.

R and D is just one item. Expansion into new markets...expansion into new product bases...increase in advertising....increase in marketing and branding...

Those profits did not simply go into the pockets of the business owners as your study implies (without actually saying it)......sure, the business owners took a nice piece of the action. Why wouldn't they? But the bulk of those profits were then spent during the FOLLOWING fiscal years to allow for even greater profits...and when you do that you increase employment, increase the uses of other services which increases the employment of those services...and so on.

Bear in mind....when a profit is identified, it is a profit for the current year, but very possibly used for an increase in expenses the following year.

Thus why you see stock prices increase. They do not increase because the profits are taken and saved.

 

[Jarhead]

Rarely are people paid what they are worth to our society.

Interesting. So, society should dictate the worth of a worker? That reeks of socialism.

No, just statement of fact.

Society DOES dictate the worth of a worker.

Government does not need to intervene...society will take care of it.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Rarely are people paid what they are worth to our society.

Interesting. So, society should dictate the worth of a worker? That reeks of socialism.

No, just statement of fact.

So tell me what is a person who spends his entire life stuffing things into a plastic bag worth?

 

[Avatar4321]

It’s evident that those Demoncrats don’t have a clue about economics. They never think of the consequences of their “feel good policies.” Neither do they have a clue how a business is run and operated. Seems to me this should be a litmus test for elected officials



Seattle eateries closing as 15 minimum wage approaches Hot Air

Whoever wrote your stupid article is full of garbage.

The 15 dollar an hour wage isn't fully implemented in April 2015. On April 1, 2015 minimum wage goes up another dollar to 10.32 an hour.

The full 15 dollar wage won't happen until 2017 at the earliest. That's just for businesses that have 500 or more employees. If they have less or offer health insurance it goes up in 2018.

One other fact that isn't in your article is that restaurants are able to count tips toward hourly pay. So most restaurants will not see wages increase because the workers tips are considered and those tips bring their wage above 15 dollars an hour.

The restaurants mentioned in your article don't have 500 or more employees so they won't see wages go up to 15 dollars an hour until 2018. That is IF they go up since tips are counted as part of wages and those tips bring wages above 15 dollars an hour.

You might want to actually learn about the law before you buy into lies.


Seattle raises minimum wage to $15 an hour

No, they understand what's going on very well. You are the one who can't figure it out. Business have plans to make a profit. People have to base their plans on what they expect future business to look like. If everyone knows that the future cost of labor is going to jump up significantly on a certain date, the wise business man is going to be taking that into account into his business plan. And if he can't make it work to earn a profit. He is going to close down his business before the cost increase takes place

As we can see, some are already closing down. Others, who think they can make it or are just crappy businessmen, are going to stay open and see what happens with the labor increase. And they are more likely going to fail or get by with less staff.

The fact that this legislation is already causing restaurants to fail before it's implemented does not make it look like this is going to have a positive effect on people.

Of course, I'm confident that you are just going to ignore this and then about 6 months down the line when even more businesses are closing you are going to pretend it's because evil republicans are greedy or some other nonsense.

 

[Jarhead]

Rarely are people paid what they are worth to our society.

Interesting. So, society should dictate the worth of a worker? That reeks of socialism.

No, just statement of fact.

So tell me what is a person who spends his entire life stuffing things into a plastic bag worth?

there is a better way of asking that question....

Is a 17 year old high school grad any less qualified to stuff a plastic bag than a 35 year old who has been stuffing plastic bags for 18 years?

And of course, the answer is no...so the next question is....why should we pay a 35 year old to continue stuffing plastic bags at a salary of 30 an hour (based on his 18 years of raises), when a 17 year old would do it for 9.25 an hour?

 

[Camp]

One question.
Did you read the article?
Or did you just read the headline?
Another question. How many restaurants closed every month/year in Seattle prior to the wage increase.
That information wasn't in the article.
Then compare that to how many restaurants have closed since the wage increase?
Damn!

It’s evident that those Demoncrats don’t have a clue about economics. They never think of the consequences of their “feel good policies.” Neither do they have a clue how a business is run and operated. Seems to me this should be a litmus test for elected officials



Seattle eateries closing as 15 minimum wage approaches Hot Air

This article is less political and far more accurate. It may answer some of the questions you have mentioned. It explains how the restaurants closed for reasons that have nothing to do with wages. Some of them closed and reopened new ones. I think most of the posters are not interested in accuracy on this topic.

seattlemag.com/article/why-are-so-many-seattle-restaurants-closing-lately