And you know what? That a great way for you to run your business. I don’t need you to tell me (or anyone else) how to run my business.
I know I’m late to the party, but the fact that Obama is proposing this now, and didn’t propose it when he had 60 senators and 250 house members makes me think this is just a bone to throw to liberals to appease their disappointment in him, and he knows it won’t pass. The GOP will filibuster it in the senate and the house will never pass it.
So its all smoke and mirrors to appease liberals and the working class w/o actually having to support the laws themselves (they can blame the failure to get the law passed on republican obstructionism, then run for reelection by saying ‘if you vote out the GOP we will pass the minimum wage’ and hope nobody notices the fact that the dems didn’t raise the minimum wage when they had supermajorities in 2009 and 2010. Obama supported raising the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour *by *2011.
Written December 3rd, 2009
That seems to be the new democrat strategy.
democratic politicians: ‘Well gee, we want to support progressive legislation but the GOP won’t let us. So vote us back into office and we will pass progressive legislation’
cynical public: ‘if that is true, why didn’t you pass those laws when you had 60 senators, Obama in the white house with a mandate and 250 house members? Why didn’t you pass filibuster reform to make it easier to pass these laws’
Either way, someone is telling you how to run your business by telling you how much you must pay them. So you can step down off your Libertarian glass pedestal and save your tough talk.
It was a stupid idea, and adds a ridiculous burden on top of all the other regulations. It is trying to micromanage how employers hire and promote employees. There is nothing “Libertarian” about pointing that out.
Wesley: I think it’s really hard to advocate for raising the MW when the unemployment rate is rising steadily.
I’m pretty far from a libertarian, and I think it’s a silly idea too. Since all it will do is knock tons of minimum wage workers free as their six month limit is reached.
Do you know how many days the Dems had control of both houses and a 60 vote majority?
Do you remember a scuffle about Al Franken?
Do you remember anything else happening about that time? Any huge legislation going through? About medical care, maybe?
Do you know that Joe Lieberman is a human hemorrhoid and probably would have not voted for cloture. I say this not knowing his stance on the minimum wage, but only knowing that he is a human hemorrhoid.
In other words, your position that this could have been done easily, isn’t well founded.
Is there anyone here who is actually in favor of the proposal?
Why wouldn’t you thing they’d be kept on, with a slight increase in pay? Turnover can be a problem for lots of those jobs. iIf I were an employer, and found someone good, I’d be thrilled to keep him at a slightly increased pay instead of rolling the dice again and having to retrain someone.
However stupid it may be, it is less stupid, insulting, and dehumanizing than the minimum wage as it is now instituted.
What a great idea magellan!
So I assume with no minimum wage that employee will earn anywhere from $0-7 an hour for 6 months. Yeah, I’m sure he could live on that. No, he wont have to resort to welfare or stealing just to make ends meet. Brilliant, let me tell ya…
A lot of you people don’t realize the implications of your ideology. You don’t want a minimum wage. You don’t want to pay taxes for social services. You think that we will just have to work harder, even when its clear as day that people are working hard, but its still not enough. What do you think will happen when people get desperate?
Personally, I’d like to play it safe even if it stalls progress.
So, let’s make it even more of a problem?
And what of all the people who are OK, but not worth a raise? Have you done a study to determine how many of each category there are in MW earners before proposing this draconian measure on businesses?
The idea I put forth assumed that the minimum wage was as it is now. I offer it as an alternative to raising it across the board as Obama now proposes.
What ideology is that?
I don’t think it is necessary or good for people, no.
Oh, really? Where did you get that from? I want social services and expect to pay for them through taxes. What are you talking about?
How is it clear that people are working harder? I’m sure some people are. I’m sure some people aren’t. Not to use a brush with 100% of it’s bristles, but those in unions for starters. My brother is dealing with two unions right now, and you wouldn’t believe the shit they pull. That’s because you either get work because you provide a good job for a fair wage, or you belong to a union. But I guess that really deserves its own thread.
Good for you. Guess that makes you an anti-progress progressive? Brilliant, let me tell ya…
I honestly don’t think that would be the result.
It’s no more draconian that what Obama is proposing. Would you rather be forced to give everyone a $1.00 raise or let your MW employees know that there will be a 6-month evaluation, at which time you will be asked to stay, with a $1.00 raise, or you will be replaced.
And no, I haven’t done any studies. So, feel free to dismiss this or any other ideas you find offered on a message board that are similarly lacking. Sigh. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me for deigning to offer something counter to what is offered by The One.
That means that employers pay the minimum wage before they pay the proposed raised minimum wage?
The other comments weren’t directed at you specifically. But, for those leaning right in general.
People are working hard. Maybe a few aren’t, but most people are. I don’t know how to prove it, but it seems pretty damn obvious.
How is a minimum wage not beneficial for the people, in modern america?
I think it muddies the relationship between the job being done and how it aligns with a particular person’s skill set. It crushes each person’s specialness. It prevents to sentient adults from coming to an agreement in regards to what is being bought (labor) and what is being paid (wage). It prevents someone who might take a more longterm view and tell a perspective employer, “Give me a shot I’ll work for a $1.00 an hour for a week. I’m confident you’ll like my work, and if you do, you’ll then pay me $20.00 per hour.”
White collar workers get this opportunity in the shape of internships. Why deprive those at the lower end of the spectrum the opportunity to act boldly to further themselves?
Because the risk for exploitation is too great. The risk for failure is too great. This is a dangerous idea.
Life is not some kind of game. We need to be thinking “cooperation” at this point, not “competition.”
Just wanted to add:
I didn’t get an internship, but on an interview for my first real job, when asked how much I was hoping to make, I said, in all seriousness, “I’ll work for free”. I just wanted a shot. They wound up paying me a pittance, but I was on probation for a month. If it worked out, I’d have a job. If not, they were out their pittance.
Who is getting exploited? How?
What would consider failure?
I guess you must be of the mind that if an employer hires a guy for a MW job and he does work out, that the employer would rather roll the dice again and get in some unknown guy, who he’d have to train and hope worked out, rather than pay the now experienced known entity an extra $1.00, 50 cents, a quarter. That just doesn’t make sense to me. Especially when they alternative is simply “pay all MW workers an extra buck”.
Well, it doesn’t even make sense. If the minimum wage is $9, how are you going to pay them less? The only thing I can think of is that as you originally stated - “There is no minimum wage.” So, imagine someone working for 0-6 months, making $0-7 hr. I’d say there’s a high risk for exploitation in countless ways. The risk for failure pertains to the idea that someone somehow survives on an incredibly low wage for 6 months, and then at the end of it all gets let go. So this person is already flat broke, and now they don’t have a job.
What do you think happens when this person can’t afford to put a roof over their head or feed themselves? I’ll just say that if your the one with money, you might be the one getting robbed.
Furthermore, if these companies like Walmart and McDonalds had a habit of paying their workers higher wages on a consistent basis, we wouldn’t be having this problem.
I’ve had jobs like these. It doesn’t take long to become competent. Anyone can do them. That’s why they don’t give raises. Because anyone can do them.
That’s great magellan. In all seriousness, that’s impressive. However, I don’t see it working out like that on a massive scale. Again, it’s a dangerous idea.