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$9/h minimum wage

The very wealthy and businesses who often complain about their tax bills never seem to have twigged that if they paid a decent wage, benefits would drop and so tax could go down. Thats how I would sell increases in the minimum wage, as it goes up corporate tax in particular comes down.
 
theprestige said:
It's almost as if, overnight, the gas station attendant, without working any harder, or any smarter, suddenly started providing an extra $1.75/h in value to that gas station!

Except, of course, they didn't. So why are they getting a 20% pay increase?
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Here's an even better idea. How about we do away with minimum wage altogether so the working poor can be absolutely, bottom of the barrel third world country poor?

It seems to me half of America wouldn't have an issue with this.
 
Wirelight said:
Here's an even better idea. How about we do away with minimum wage altogether so the working poor can be absolutely, bottom of the barrel third world country poor?

It seems to me half of America wouldn't have an issue with this.
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I certainly wouldn't have an issue with it, as I think it is the best approach.

The part about "so the working poor can be absolutely, bottom of the barrel third world country poor" is just the result of a lack of understanding and critical thinking on your part.
 
Nessie said:
The very wealthy and businesses who often complain about their tax bills never seem to have twigged that if they paid a decent wage, benefits would drop and so tax could go down. Thats how I would sell increases in the minimum wage, as it goes up corporate tax in particular comes down.
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Huh???
 
I certainly wouldn't have an issue with it, as I think it is the best approach.

The part about "so the working poor can be absolutely, bottom of the barrel third world country poor" is just the result of a lack of understanding and critical thinking on your part.
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No it's not. I'm simply throwing the idea out there in response to Prestige's post. And it sounds like you wouldn't have a problem with people being paid $1.00 an hour for their services in 2013. Wonder why America is so rife with poor? Attitudes like your's toward them.
 
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Wirelight said:
No it's not. I'm simply throwing the idea out there in response to Prestige's post. And it sounds like you wouldn't have a problem with people being paid $1.00 an hour for their services in 2013. Wonder why America is so rife with poor? Attitudes like your's toward them.
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No other country has poor people?
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
But the stuff they will be buying will cost more.

It's basic economics really.
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Ah, but if their wages only represent a very tiny amount of total wages earned in the country, then their increase would amount to pennies at most at the store. So they get a 20% raise, but only have to pay a penny or two extra for their stuff.
 
many of the USA's poor would be wealthy landowners in 3rd world countries, let's not get into a hyperbole battle about this.
 
Wirelight said:
No it's not. I'm simply throwing the idea out there in response to Prestige's post. And it sounds like you wouldn't have a problem with people being paid $1.00 an hour for their services in 2013.
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I doubt that anyone would accept a position that paid $1.00 an hour in 2013, even if it were legal.

Wonder why America is so rife with poor? Attitudes like your's toward them.
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I'm sure I care about the poor as much or more than you pretend to, so you may want to step down off your moral pulpit. You also seem to be making quite a few assumptions about why and whether America is "rife with poor".
 
sir drinks-a-lot said:
I doubt that anyone would accept a position that paid $1.00 an hour in 2013, even if it were legal.



I'm sure I care about the poor as much or more than you pretend to, so you may want to step down off your moral pulpit. You also seem to be making quite a few assumptions about why and whether America is "rife with poor".
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Ahh now I'm pretending. Even though for the 39 years of my life as a Canadian (you know, the country with a safety net and some empathy so there's at least a chance at trying to stop the cycle of poverty) I'm now on a moral soapbox because I simply think having a sustainable min wage is a good thing.
 
sir drinks-a-lot said:
I doubt that anyone would accept a position that paid $1.00 an hour in 2013, even if it were legal.
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The only reason for that is our welfare system. However, in the absence of such system, which is why 3rd world countries pay $1/h, people would have no choice but to work for $1/h wages.
 
daenku32 said:
The only reason for that is our welfare system. However, in the absence of such system, which is why 3rd world countries pay $1/h, people would have no choice but to work for $1/h wages.
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Agreed. It wouldn't take long for $1.00/hr to become status quo, would it? It's in every corporation/company's mandate to try to pay for the cheapest labour possible, especially in the "unskilled" labour market because there they can get away with it (at least easier) and with the people having no bargaining power and the government sitting back and letting capitalism "run free" the underclass would double in an instant, IMO.
 
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daenku32 said:
I think the jobs themselves are fairly flexible. Most would just end up paying more. Gas station attendants for example, will always be needed. But now they would start at $9 rather than $7.25/h.
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Always be needed? What is to stop the gas stations installing automatic, card payment pumps?
 
daenku32 said:
The only reason for that is our welfare system. However, in the absence of such system, which is why 3rd world countries pay $1/h, people would have no choice but to work for $1/h wages.
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Of course, if we didn't have welfare, alot of those people would decide that it was time for them to get to work and the productivity of the country would increase. But, given the purchasing power of a dollar today I don't think you'd find too may willing to work for such a low wage. You could make more panhandling or dumpster diving, both of which are a bit more on the entrepreneurial side. We don't know what price would be set by the market for minimum wage - it would be lower if there was no welfare, but I doubt there would be many people working for $1 an hour.
 
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