We've been discussing the minimum wage. There are real good reasons for raising it. In particularly, if everyone has more money to spend it will grow the economy. Right now there is a growing disparity between the rich and the rest of us that is only getting worse. I think a raise in the minimum wage would be the easiest, simplest way to increase the benefits for everyone. It would even help the rich by giving them more customers with money to spend. This could easily be financed with a tax increase on those who declare themselves conservative.

Lindsay,
Many people think that "rich" people have all kinds of loop holes that they shelter their money in off shore accounts. That we hoard our fortune and the little guy is always the looser. They also intertwine the notion of rich people and corporations. Well, I pay 38 percent in taxes on my income. I do not have loop holes to take advantage of due to being a widow, having no mortgage, business losses and such. I do have money put away in another country, but before you go gotta; I paid taxes on that money, nothing was or is being hid away.

You claim that income redistribution is not a bad thing. To me it is. My family worked for what they passed on to me, I have worked so I can pass on to my children. We did not rob anyone, we did not ask for handouts/handups even when times were rough. We worked. This is a unique concept in this day and age, but some of us old folks actually went 9 to 5 at a job, put our noses to the grind stones and earned a pay check. In my circle of friends, we make many contributions to include educational and scholarship awards, donations to hospitals, fund organizations that care for the needy, abused children, older Americans, and the list goes on. I personally have paid the tuition of not only my children but on last count 35 full ride scholarships within the last 10 years. I believe, and most of my friends also think that we have given much more of our wealth than the grand majority. Therefore, I must ask the question....how much more do you want to take from us? How much of my wealth do you want to distribute?

I am in no way trying to discourage you or challenge your opinion. But, it would be helpful if you would look at the other side of the situation.

Now then, big corporations is another story. They do have loopholes that the take full advantage. But, again without those corporations how many people would be unemployed? Would the ranks of the poor grow? Do you think it fair for the stock holders to be required to sell their stocks and give the money away?

You do have a point about low wage earners. They do spend every red cent that comes into their hands. Perhaps that is the problem. They spend their money and then look at the government or cast the green eyed monster at people who sacrificed to put 10 percent of their income into investments to make a better life. And you say by redistribution of my wealth that I will receive benefits. Hades, I do not even get thank you notes! And, I do not drink so when I go to the islands, I sip fruit juice and water.


Just food for thought.

Good News: Your new computerator appears to work just fine.
Bad News: Raising the minimum wage will not work just fine. I don't know if you have noticed, but every time the minimum wage goes up, within a few months, consumer prices have risen enough to cancel out the raise, while the majority of Americans who make more than minimum and got no raise end up with less discretionary income. All it does is give a temporary boost to people who have no job skills, and in many cases, no desire to acquire any. Who was it who said that if you redistributed income to the point where everyone had the same amount, before long, the same people would be wealthy, and the same people would be poor once more? You stated that you paid people more than the minimum to get better help. So did I. If you want more than minimum wage, do something to make yourself worth more than minimum. Learn new skills, something that makes you more valuable to your employer or your customer.

Both theories are valid, rest assured that the solution will be identified by those that control the money. It will most likely benefit them.

My opinion on wages:
Educate Americans so their services are most effective. This way the most qualified and efficient labor is readily available. Thus making us more desirable as the work force.

Once we are indispensable, we can demand the wage that we are worth.

However, some jobs require people to have a skill set thus should not be minimum wage jobs, but are. This might be rectified by having more jobs available, so qualified people are not desperate for work. Unfortunately, large corporations do not want this to happen as it would cut into profits. Right now, they have over qualified workers at low wages.

Corporate control/laws/taxes were supposedly set up to protect us from "big" corporations but have accidentally stifled the small ones. If we go back to controlling/taxing heavy on the big ones, we might be able ease the pain on the smaller ones...startups. Thus potentially creating more jobs.

Just my 1.5 cents

I still have to disagree; reason being as I stated, you are only putting more money, temporarily, into the hands of the lowest wage earners. How much of that goes to catch up things like utilities, car and insurance payments that are in arrears? This isn't much of a stimulus. Also bear in mind that far more people make a little more than minimum, than actually make the minimum. These people did not receive a raise. Their buying power, as soon as consumer prices rise, (which they will, within three or four months) will be diminished. You are temporarily boosting one group to the detriment of a far larger segment of the population. There are lots of people who make $8.50/hour, which is, realistically, about the same as minimum. There are more of them than minimum wagers, and they are the ones who will get screwed. Hell, in 2001, I paid my dishwashers more than that as starting pay. As GM/Executive Chef, would you care to hazard a guess who gets to wallop pots till after midnight if your dishwasher quits to work for someone who pays worth a damn? I would not hire at minimum wage, because if that is all you're worth, I don't want you on my staff. My sous chef/chef d'affair had, in retrospect, a better job than me. He made a very respectable wage, and did not have to listen to the owner's bullshit at the end of a 12 hour or longer day.

I can see your point of view and I admire your generosity.... but we have here apples and oranges in content.... Is it Hard working people who push to get ahead of the game?... just the fact that you could invest 10% of income to savings is a key factor... The working poor today in America can not afford the basic cost of living, the increase in the minimum wage has lagged well behind the cost of living for at least 20 years. If you look at just the basics like fuel, food and medical costs which I consider basic may help to understand... The average American worker has less than 2 weeks of assets stored for survival... One lag in income flow puts them behind the 8 ball for years or is unrecoverable ... just because some people are poor does not mean they don't work very hard with pride and good ethics... There has been a shift in the ethics of corporate America over this same time period where profits over people have taken over.... A quick look at the DJ @ 1600+ and the unemployment rate explains a lot.... Gold is a good investment... most poor people cant afford the 350 dollar doctor visit when they get sick or have to go the dentist... So for the wealthiest nation on the planet... In my opinion I think that we could do better.... If you look up the definition of small business in America and think about it... you may see the trends. If you look at the all aspects of Capitalism... there are a few snags... not everyone shares profits... just some...

Good News: Your new computerator appears to work just fine.
Bad News: Raising the minimum wage will not work just fine. I don't know if you have noticed, but every time the minimum wage goes up, within a few months, consumer prices have risen enough to cancel out the raise, while the majority of Americans who make more than minimum and got no raise end up with less discretionary income. All it does is give a temporary boost to people who have no job skills, and in many cases, no desire to acquire any. Who was it who said that if you redistributed income to the point where everyone had the same amount, before long, the same people would be wealthy, and the same people would be poor once more? You stated that you paid people more than the minimum to get better help. So did I. If you want more than minimum wage, do something to make yourself worth more than minimum. Learn new skills, something that makes you more valuable to your employer or your customer.

Both theories are valid, rest assured that the solution will be identified by those that control the money. It will most likely benefit them.

My opinion on wages:
Educate Americans so their services are most effective. This way the most qualified and efficient labor is readily available. Thus making us more desirable as the work force.

Once we are indispensable, we can demand the wage that we are worth.

However, some jobs require people to have a skill set thus should not be minimum wage jobs, but are. This might be rectified by having more jobs available, so qualified people are not desperate for work. Unfortunately, large corporations do not want this to happen as it would cut into profits. Right now, they have over qualified workers at low wages.

Corporate control/laws/taxes were supposedly set up to protect us from "big" corporations but have accidentally stifled the small ones. If we go back to controlling/taxing heavy on the big ones, we might be able ease the pain on the smaller ones...startups. Thus potentially creating more jobs.

Just my 1.5 cents

We've been discussing the minimum wage. There are real good reasons for raising it. In particularly, if everyone has more money to spend it will grow the economy. Right now there is a growing disparity between the rich and the rest of us that is only getting worse. I think a raise in the minimum wage would be the easiest, simplest way to increase the benefits for everyone. It would even help the rich by giving them more customers with money to spend. This could easily be financed with a tax increase on those who declare themselves conservative.

One has to understand Small Business is largely responsible for providing jobs to those American workers who consider themselves to be “The Average American”. This is significant, because the same people who vote for Obama are also voting against small business.

Democrats would have you believe that all Republicans are rich people who made their money off the backs of the less fortunate. But the truth is that most Republicans are small business owners and their non union employees. These people, employers and employees, “keep their noses to the grindstone”, have next to no political voice, and have no desire to be singled out. They simply want to be allowed to work and allowed to achieve. Small business owners do not seek subsidies. Instead, they claim that over-regulation is strangling their businesses, and this a major factor in the creation of, or lack of, small business. For example small medical practices are struggling with Health Information Systems. The regulation demands that all private medical practices utilize “health information systems” by 2015. This regulation is just one more financial hurdle required in order to set up a private medical practice. The result is that small, private practices are no longer being created. This is one of many examples of regulation strangling small business.

A Democrat generally believes that to stimulate the economy, more capital must be put in the hands of the consumer. The belief is that the consumer will go out and spend more, which is supposed to increase retail sales. Increased retail sales, in turn, increases orders going to factories. The factories will then hire more people, and so on. Hence, any program that puts money in the hands of the unemployed and low income citizens is, in the opinion of the Democrats, good for the economy.

Putting money into the hands of the unemployed can be good if the purpose is to sustain that person between jobs. However, what if the unemployed do not mind being unemployed? What if an unemployed person views this unemployment money received as a convenient, paid vacation?

Manufacturing, home builders, retailers, and such claim that they do not have enough qualified applicants to fill jobs. So, has the Democrat's ideas worked for the past 5 years? Or have some people grown so accustomed to being paid for doing nothing that they would rather tax payers support them, their habits, and their ever increasing broods of children?

Over-regulation is the phrase. Son started mold polishing business in 2005 at a lot of expense on equipment and supplies but by 2008 had hired three people all at $24 an hour and was making a good living. Then 2010 hit with new regulations on taxes of the costs of waste materials that had to be shipped to a disposal site, $12 a 55 gallon drum to $115 and taxes on a new supplies per barrel went up 6 1/2 times of what it had been. At 35 55 gallon drums a month that pretty much folded the company just with tax increases.

This government cares nothing as long as they get their cut, it forces small business to either cut people, lay off or go out of business. My son sold his business which was resold and resold and finally the whole thing went overseas.

I can see your point of view and I admire your generosity.... but we have here apples and oranges in content.... Is it Hard working people who push to get ahead of the game?... just the fact that you could invest 10% of income to savings is a key factor... The working poor today in America can not afford the basic cost of living, the increase in the minimum wage has lagged well behind the cost of living for at least 20 years. If you look at just the basics like fuel, food and medical costs which I consider basic may help to understand... The average American worker has less than 2 weeks of assets stored for survival... One lag in income flow puts them behind the 8 ball for years or is unrecoverable ... just because some people are poor does not mean they don't work very hard with pride and good ethics... There has been a shift in the ethics of corporate America over this same time period where profits over people have taken over.... A quick look at the DJ @ 1600+ and the unemployment rate explains a lot.... Gold is a good investment... most poor people cant afford the 350 dollar doctor visit when they get sick or have to go the dentist... So for the wealthiest nation on the planet... In my opinion I think that we could do better.... If you look up the definition of small business in America and think about it... you may see the trends. If you look at the all aspects of Capitalism... there are a few snags... not everyone shares profits... just some...

Over-regulation is the phrase. Son started mold polishing business in 2005 at a lot of expense on equipment and supplies but by 2008 had hired three people all at $24 an hour and was making a good living. Then 2010 hit with new regulations on taxes of the costs of waste materials that had to be shipped to a disposal site, $12 a 55 gallon drum to $115 and taxes on a new supplies per barrel went up 6 1/2 times of what it had been. At 35 55 gallon drums a month that pretty much folded the company just with tax increases.

This government cares nothing as long as they get their cut, it forces small business to either cut people, lay off or go out of business. My son sold his business which was resold and resold and finally the whole thing went overseas.