Interesting Stat O’ The Day

Thanks for making my point, pam.

A down-on-his-luck tycoon is not in the same position as a menial laborer. Business skills, contacts, personal reputation....the stuff he carried in his head was worth more than his debt. As it turns out, the stuff in his head was worth billions.

THATS why 'unemployment' is a bullshit qualifier.

(And yes, he was unemployed. In his own words during an interview.)

And the Donald was never unemployed. By the way Steven, he got himself into that mess and he got himself out of it:razz: See how that works:?:

Neither is that pathetic excuse for an answer.:razz:

Yeah, Chelle. Your unemployment isn't good enough for Steven. :roll:

Temporary unemployment? No. Even Donald Trump was unemployed with a net worth of -$10 million at one point.

Steven, would an out of work individual who doesn't want the min. wage increased do for you?

Ah, yes. Please explain your own situation, and how it leaves you particularly suited to make judgements and observations from which my elevated priviledge excludes me. I can withhold further commentary, if you'd like, in the hopes that a minimum wage worker visits your blog and offers debate. Surely there are a few up there in the Bronx?

That you're arguing against an argument that no one made, and that working for the company you work for leaves you in no position to opine about the middle class, minimum wage, or anything of that nature.

No one said minimum wages were the sole cause of inflation. It's a hyperbolic strawman that adds nothing to the discussion.

Don't worry though, you can try again if you have a point.

Truly the most ironic use of the straw man objection yet. Neatly sidestepped everything presented, and fished into webserver logs for something instead.

So what is your point again? I lost it in your display of cleverness.

Lysium...

So inflation is solely the fault of the minimum-wage ìentitlementî and not the myriad of collective wage increases I listed earlier? Fair enough.

Ever hear of a straw man argument?

And working for Tommy Hilfiger hardly puts you in any position to bemoan the plight of the middle class. Sweatshops? Warehouse people?

Come on man... If it weren't for minimum wage, Tommy would have no one packing boxes onto trucks in your warehouses.

Don't lecture anyone about pulling the ladder up and all that other fun stuff. The stone you're throwing might shatter your glass house.

So inflation is solely the fault of the minimum-wage "entitlement" and not the myriad of collective wage increases I listed earlier? Fair enough.

The minimum-wage worker should just work harder, longer, and do less with his life outside work. Anything else is unpatriotically European. Fair enough. The point of life is work, after all.

The poor, put-upon Small Business Owner has no obligation to streamline operations (a la Walmart) to account for the measly wage increase. He simply *must* pass it off to the consumer, and not reduce the profit margin that goes into his pocket or anything. The SBO abhors innovation. He is *entitled* to cheap labor. Fair enough.

The desire for success is still there. But so is the phenomena called "pulling up the ladder after you." Why advocate for a class of virtual slaves to do all the shit-work for us, because they are "lazy" or "stupid" or they "made poor choices" earlier in life? And we wonder why there is so much violence and crime in the Land of the Opportunity.

Pam's comment:
"many employers donít have the wiggle room to add $2.00/hr x 10+ employeesÖand they will end up passing it on hence her point on inflation."

Or, the employer will lay off however many employees necessary to meet the payroll with the added $2/hr. So, for those employees whose jobs are lost, the bottom line is now $0.00/hour. It doesn't take a calculator to figure out that that's a lot worse than $5.15/hour.

Steve... Use your head for a minute.

How many people getting paid minimum wage pay property tax?

And frankly, if you can't afford your lifestyle, particularly in NYC, you have two options:

1. Alter your lifestyle.
2. Get another job.

I still don't see what the debate here is. Why does minimum wage have to be raised? So that 16% of the people supporting a household on it can continue to do so?

What ever happened to initiative, motivation, and a desire for success? Somewhere along the line we've traded that for gimme gimme gimme. If I don't succeed it's because you won't pay me enough. Not because my skills aren't marketable. Not because I chose a stupid career / job move. Because my choice wasn't reinforced by an earning minimum by the government.

It's just silly.

PS- The average retail job (not counting counter jockies at McDonald's and the like) pays almost $7.00 an hour already. The money is out there to be made. You don't have a right to live in New York City, and $7.00 an hour goes a hell of a lot further in the outer boroughs than it does in, say, Manhattan.

I am from MI, so for any of you that are familiar with NYC; even if the minimum wage were raised to 8.00, could a person afford to live there? Let alone raise a family? I would move to an area that better suit my earning capabilities.

Chelle nailed the matter directly on the head... many employers don't have the wiggle room to add $2.00/hr x 10+ employees...and they will end up passing it on hence her point on inflation.

Steven stop whinning act like a man and take care of business. If it means working two jobs, work two jobs. If it means taking night classes, do it. If it means putting off having a family/car/boat/big screen TV until you can afford it, do it.
If you just want to whine, move to France they love to piss and moan, and they have a 35 hr,. work week.

In NYC, the minimum wage is the *last* mandated increase in the big economic chain. The City hikes up property taxes rather drastically. Postage goes up. The Metro Transportation Authority hikes fares 25%. River crossings go up. The unions force their pay increases through. The taxicab drivers get a big increase. Dairy farmers raise the price of milk. Imported cheese goes up, pizza gets more expensive. Gas prices. The end of that cycle is the minimum wage. Raise the wage floor, move on. Cyclical inflation is nothing new, so why begrudge a pittance at the bottom of the curve? I thought trickle-down was considered a good thing.

Steve, I'd love to be a paper delivery boy. I'd love to be one and make enough money to support my wife and myself, pay the rent, and pay for my car. But since a paperboy job doesn't pay enough, I don't get that job, and instead look for something more appropriate.

See how that works? If a job doesn't pay enough, I don't take said job.

If you don't have the skills to get a $10 an hour job, sorry. Get two jobs.

So. Why do people always, always, always forget about that little thing called inflation and the economic fact that when minimum wage is increased, employers have to find a way to pay for that increase and how do employers do this? By raising the price of their goods and services. That my friends is inflation as a direct result of an increase in minimum wage. Of course it's not the only thing that causes inflation. Raising taxes will do it to. It's like watching a dog chase it's tail. :roll:

You missed the part about not being able to support a *single* person on 5.15. It just isn't enough. I know this as a resident, not as a pundit.

Does the 'right to what the job pays' include being undercut by the largest illegal immigrant population in the United States?

As I said, you don't have a right to earn what you want at a job, you have the right to earn what the job pays.

And as I also said, the constant harping on people struggling to support families on $5.15 an hour is obviously overblown since almost no one is.

Go to a grocery store in NYC and look at the prices. There is simply no way to feed a single person, much less a family, at 5.15; hence the absence of "head of household" filers. I think the panhandlers make more than that. Even $10 or $12 dollars an hour makes a frightening home to grow up in, unless you relish the idea of commuting 2-3 hours for that paycheck.

I take that 16% statistic as a good one -- only the truly insane would raise children so poor.