quote:

ORIGINAL: Tkman117

I recently read up on a piece about Walmart and their poor wages, as well as the Koch Brothers publicly criticizing a town for raising the minimum wage to 15$ an hour (Links will be supplied upon request, but beware, it is a very biased Liberal source and should be taken at face value as all "news" sources should). Regardless of the accuracy and bias of these pieces, it did make me think in depth about the minimum wage battle happening in the states between the left and right. If minimum wage is low, and people cannot survive on these wages and simply cannot get a higher paying job, they may be forced to go on welfare and get food stamps, which is consuming valuable tax payer money.

From what I understand of American conservatives, they want to cut food stamps and welfare, gut social security, and at the same time, wanting to keep the minimum wage below livable standards. I realize that conservatives tout about saying "anyone can make it in america and pull themselves up by their bootstraps, make some good money and not depend on handouts," but in a country where higher level workers, like those working at Hostes for example, would rather give themselves massive bonuses while the company goes bankrupt just speaks volumes. There more to this situation than simple motivation, and being a current university student I'm exposed to it on a yearly basis as I struggle to find a summer job (thank god I live with my parents in the summer) and this is in canada, I can't even imagine what it's like in the states for kids like me.

What I'm trying to say is that I don't understand the conservative's position. They want to keep the minimum wage low, and cut social services at the same time. If the wages are low, their tax money is still being spent to keep these people alive. If they raised the minimum wage, it wouldn't affect prices much so long as the upper level CEOs are willing to part with a bit of their monthly income to keep the company prosperous. Sure it's not an easy compromise when industry in the states clearly has such a hold over government policy. But the contradiction is completely ridiculous. The conservatives, and I can easily assume that moderates and liberals as well, don't want to pay more for every day goods. But isn't it kind of redundant when you're paying the same if not maybe more in taxes to keep people alive? Where are you actually saving money? Or are you not? Please help fill me in.

Sincerely,

- A concerned Canadian Neighbor

quote:

ORIGINAL: Tkman117

It just sounds like conservatives don't care about other people and for all they care, they can just go ahead and die poor. Thats the gist of it.

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ORIGINAL: ExoticInterests

Well, let's try this one. How about an employer can offer what they think the job is worth. If the employee is worth more than that, the competition will gladly offer that employee a little more $. If the first employer doesn't raise what he's willing to pay too, he will soon find himself with no competent employees and out of business. This works best for skilled jobs, but lets not forget that the service industry still actually does involve skill, or at least some sense....everyone has had rude, dirty, incompetent cashier's (for example)...did it make you want to go back there? If the competition offers a little bit better pay but only employs people that treat the customer well and make a good impression, and you do not, then you will be left with the bottom of the bucket. Want proof, compare Chick-fil-A and that grease joint with the arches. Which do you enjoy more?

quote:

ORIGINAL: ExoticInterests

Well, let's try this one. How about an employer can offer what they think the job is worth. If the employee is worth more than that, the competition will gladly offer that employee a little more $. If the first employer doesn't raise what he's willing to pay too, he will soon find himself with no competent employees and out of business. This works best for skilled jobs, but lets not forget that the service industry still actually does involve skill, or at least some sense....everyone has had rude, dirty, incompetent cashier's (for example)...did it make you want to go back there? If the competition offers a little bit better pay but only employs people that treat the customer well and make a good impression, and you do not, then you will be left with the bottom of the bucket. Want proof, compare Chick-fil-A and that grease joint with the arches. Which do you enjoy more?

quote:

ORIGINAL: BamaD
The key point you don't seem to understand is that minimum wage is an entry level wage not a living wage.
Point two is that when you bring up the minimum wage everything else comes up, including the wages of many who have a higher pay that minimum. Many unions get a equal percentage wage increase whenever the minimum wage goes up.
In a year 15 an hour will get you the same amount the current minimum gets you today.
Finally the answer to all the problems you mentioned isn't raising the minimum wage, it is creating more jobs that pay better.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Tkman117
people cannot survive on these wages and simply cannot get a higher paying job

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ORIGINAL: DomKen

That theory is disproven daily in this nation.

I was a computer programmer, a very good and very successful one. I, and a lot of people like me, demanded wages reflective of my competence. After a while, when trade laws started allowing it, corporate America outsourced as many programmer jobs as they could to India and Pakistan. They didn't care that quality went down, that projects too longer and costs actually went up. All they cared about was keeping people without an MBA from making a decent living for a skilled job.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lucylastic

Low-wage Workers Are Older Than You Think

The average age of affected workers is 35 years old;
88 percent of all affected workers are at least 20 years old;
35.5 percent are at least 40 years old;
56 percent are women;
28 percent have children;
55 percent work full-time (35 hours per week or more);
44 percent have at least some college experience.
http://www.epi.org/publication/wage-workers-older-88-percent-workers-benefit/

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ORIGINAL: Tkman117

But if employers can hire an equally skilled programer who will work for less, why wouldn't companies take that advantage? Same thing happens with illegal aliens coming across the border.

Makes me think that in order to keep people employed in you or my country, steps need to be taken to ensure companies don't ship out to a 3rd world country in order to sell products to a people who are loosing job opportunities due to foreign competition. Keep the economy working at home, not overseas, which only benefits the higher ups, not the workers.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Tkman117

But if employers can hire an equally skilled programer who will work for less, why wouldn't companies take that advantage? Same thing happens with illegal aliens coming across the border.

Makes me think that in order to keep people employed in you or my country, steps need to be taken to ensure companies don't ship out to a 3rd world country in order to sell products to a people who are loosing job opportunities due to foreign competition. Keep the economy working at home, not overseas, which only benefits the higher ups, not the workers.