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Friday, January 17, 2014

This Is Why We Need A Minimum Wage Hike

The Argument for Obama’s $10.10 Minimum Wage Hike, Explained in Dialogue Form:

Worker: “Hi, I’d like to work for you.”

Employer: “Sorry, the government says we have to pay everyone at least 10.10 an hour. We don’t have any money in our budget to hire more workers at that rate.”

Worker: “Well, I still need a job. I’ll gladly work for 6 dollars an hour. Deal?”

Government: “Hold on! You can’t do that. You’re not allowed to sell your services for less than 10.10 an hour!”

Worker: “But… I’d rather make under 10.10 than be unemployed. Why can’t I enter into a private employment contract with this establishment if we both feel that the arrangement benefits us? We are both consenting parties, aren’t we?”

Government: “Because that isn’t fair.”

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12 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're not "both consenting parties" when one has the other over a barrel.

Don't be fooled. Those businesses against a living wage know they can't raise prices to cover all of the increase so where will it come from - their profits, of course.

There's a reason that GREED is one of the seven deadly sins.

Anonymous said...

12:52...you obviously don't run a business in a down economy or just chose to keep the blinders on. There are many businesses out there that are struggling because of the current political defacto that are changing the way we live. Just because somebody actually makes a profit doesn't mean they have hoards of cash to dole out. Anyway, I think I just wasted my time trying to get you to understand....

Anonymous said...

Being a liberal is a sin also.

Andy Berges said...

12:52 - Some businesses will be able to afford the wage hike, but many won't and will cut staff which defeats the purpose.

Other businesses such as retail stores & restaurants will pass the problem onto its customers by raising the price of their merchandise & menu items, which will cause many businesses to lose their customers and force them to shut their doors.

DRILL BABY DRILL said...

We can put the major blame for all high prices on what we pay for oil...Oil runs this Country.

Anonymous said...

12:52 funny! you actually think they have you at a disadvantage.
If you had an education and were smarter you might find the employer at the disadvantage.

Anonymous said...

When I was in high school and just graduated high school when you worked you started at the bottom and worked your way up. You talk about supporting families on minimum wage. Well most of the minimum wage jobs were held by high school students that lived with mom and dad. Do you really think a teenager that has never worked before should be flipping burgers and making $10.00 an hour. When I graduated high school I worked forty hours a week at $1.60 an hour that was $64.00 a week and after taxes I cleared $48.00 a week and I had a wife and baby and lived in a one bedroom apartment . But as you are there longer and show improvement you get more money. This is crazy to pay kids living with their parents %10.00 an hour that is why they are so lazy they never had to work because their parents gave them everything. You just don't start out with no experience in anything making 50 grand a year. But it seems that this is what kids today expect.

Jessica Adkins said...

Everyone should read Ayn Rand's, "Atlas Shrugged".....it's even been made into a movie now. It feels like where America is heading.

Who is John Galt?

Anonymous said...

7:36 At 10 bucks an hour your take home is 1200 monthly. A one bedroom apartment in the "bury" is 600. Heat and electric minimally is another 100. A car with insurance another 150 a month. Diapers and formula for an infant easily another 100. Get crazy with the cheapest tv package and a trac phone 50. a tank of gas a month 50. Washing powders, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, fem hygiene products, toothepaste, soap, deoderant 50. That leaves 100 for you and the misses to eat a month. Hopefully you don't pay too much for healthcare or get caught by a speed camera. IN 2014 $10 an hour ain't squat and your couldn't even by the pot to pee in

Anonymous said...


"Employers with operations in Mexico need to be aware of new minimum-wage requirements that became effective Jan. 1.

Mexico’s National Commission on Minimum Wages approved a 3.9 percent increase in the minimum wage, covering geographic zones A and B, the two areas into which the country is divided for purposes of minimum-wage calculations. Zone A comprises all of Mexico’s major cities and entry ports, while Zone B covers all other municipalities.

The increase raised the minimum wage in Zone A to $67.29 Mexican pesos (approximately $5.18 USD) per day. In this zone are Mexico City and its metropolitan area; the states of Baja California...

The minimum wage in Zone B increased to $63.77 Mexican pesos (approximately $4.91 USD) per day."

Folks, this is the reality; it's why manufacturing jobs left Cambridge and certainly some Dresser components are now made there, too.

A lower minimum would permit employers to put more folks on staff, to provide more actual services which would draw and hold customers; it could/would create a positive, growing cycle as opposed to continuous cuts that diminish service.

Most bosses aren't Scrooge, and most recall scratching to advance. They are happy to help their staff succeed as long as the business is healthy. When incentives disappear so do the jobs.


Anonymous said...

Having been with a Fortune 500 co. for over 28 yrs I can share this one anecdote - To pay the CEO 14.5 million per year is not moral. I've given my whole life to this co. and they take away something every year - health benefits, insurance, etc. My pay increaes are below the cost of living increases and I'm treated like a dog. Only in America !

Anonymous said...

6:57......you don't have to take it. Go work somewhere else. I did it. People all over the country do it. Quit your crying. There are many people who would love to have your job.