DASHY

Does anybody really care what Big Mike, or anyone else for that matter, thinks about past presidents? Instead of constantly whining about former administrations, how about suggesting something to improve the current situation. I have yet to hear a single suggestion of who the GOP thinks has a chance to win the Whitehouse in 2016. Most people agree that raising the minimum wage will be good for America. How does bashing Mr. Obama for suggesting it help anyone?

Loki Loc: Georgia

By most people, I suppose you mean anyone who agrees with you. The only people I know of who favor raising the minimum are the people who are making it, and many of them don't favor raising it unilaterally, they just want their personal pay raised. As far as mine and Big Mike's opinions, they were solicited, and given. If you are uninterested, by all means feel free not to read them.

Floyd Brown Loc: Milwaukee WI

If we fail to look past the presidents we have had & those that we may have we will never get to the bottom of the problems we have.

We need to know just who is picking who we choose from & dictate to those chosen just what they can say & do if they want & get the job.

The course that this country & the world is at a cross roads that in the near future can bring lasting changes to the way things are done.

We may not be able to do much about what happens but we maybe able to adjust how each of us interacts with the changes to get by.

Dave Loc: Upstate New York

If you have yet to hear what you say you have yet to hear then you are listening to those who would indoctrinate, not inform you.

If it is true that most people agree with raising the minimum wage it is not proof that raising the minimum wage is good for America. As to criticizing the left for wanting to raise the minimum wage, consider a few simple realities. First, importing millions of unskilled and uneducated people tends to suppress wages on the lower end of the scale. Having public schools turn out millions more that are unskilled and undeducated further supresses wages. Then, the more expensive it is to employ people, all else equal, the less the number of people that will be employed. If you are aware of how a private business can pay more to a worker than the value that worker produces, share that secret with the world - it will be a major breakthrough in economics.

cant beleve Loc: Planet Kolob

I asked for his opinion! And no one is ready or willing to endorse anyone this early I believe. Sorry banjo I am talking to the one so offended and [worried [/b] about 2016.

vernon

i dont think the republicans can win again .remember their are 11mil illegals in this country and the will vote demorat.

DASHY

I take your point. You are certainly entitled to your opinion. I doubt your theory can be supported by facts. I think that some private businesses (Walmart comes to mind) care not about the value of a particular worker when setting wage policy. Screw the worker, pile on the profits. Workers are a dime a dozen.
On another note: Who did you say could win the Whitehouse in 2016?

cant beleve Loc: Planet Kolob

O.k. but I created my very own dream act. If obummer can so shall I :lol: :roll: :-D :-D :-D :cry: :cry: :evil:

stan3186

And if that is not enough, they will just fix the vote to elect Hillary like they did for Obama in 2012

Dave Loc: Upstate New York

I get a kick out of you Walmart haters. Here's a few things to think about and let us know where thinking took you. Are you aware of any company that existed to care about workers as their prime purpose? Does Walmart pay less than the retailers that the compete with? Why did Hillary Clinton, champion of the working poor, spend so long on the Walmart board of directors at the time Walmart experience their most explosive growth if Walmart is so bad on the working poor? Why does Hillary Clinton to this day accept Alice Walton (yes of that family) as a major contributor.

On my theory - if you can find an economist anywhere who would suggest that raising the cost of anything, all else being equal, does not decrease the demand for it, please help educate us. Failing that, please explain how a business can operate paying people more than the value of their output, perhaps you know of some accounting trick.

Finally, I do not hold myself out as some great prognosticator of future politic successes or failures and would suggest you may want to exercise a bit of modesty in that regards - unless, of course, you want to tell us that one year into W Bush's 2nd term you forecasted a guy not yet even elected to the US Senate would be his presidential successor.

Bettijo

I agree with Mike. Are the demo-rats so stupide that they don't understand basic economics? There are only so many places the employer can go to in order to cover the extra cost of higher minimum wage:

They can lay off workers
They can charge more for their products or services (maybe loose customers in the process.)
They can absorb the cost so that the owners/stockholders receive less on their investment (which, of course, will just drive them away).

But, what I see as the more serious long-term consequences of raising the minimum wage is that young people just entering the marketplace will be unable to find a job at all. This is particularly troubling as beginning workers need an entry level position so they can be "trained." I started out at $1 an hour, but I got valuable experience and worked until I was 69 years old, successfully moving up the ladder. Todays beginners will be denied that opportunity and therefore, as they get older might find themselves "unemployable."

Also, minimum wage was not designed to support a family; it was designed for the beginning worker who may still be a student living at home.

I, personally, do not think there should be any "minimum wage" at all. I think the "wage" should be what a willing seller (the employee) and a willing buyer (the employer) agree on. That is the true "democratic" way of deciding on the price of anything. Maybe I would rather work for $5 and hour than not be able to work at all. This should be an individual choice. The government has no business in interfering in a contract between a willing buyer and a willing seller.

And, one more thing, the longer a potential employee is denied entry into work force (this applies especially to the currently unemployed) the farther behind they become in skills and techniques which are constantly evolving. Receiving unemployment pay for too long a period of time practically ensures that the worker will remain unemployed or unemployable because his skills have become passé.

vernon

you dont know about wallmart you are just spouting demorat and union bs

vernon

every democrat pres since wilson (all most a 100 yrs) has been a failure they wernt for a free country and never will be.

DASHY

Let's ROLL with some winning Republican ideas. I'm all for it.

BigMike Loc: yerington nv

:lol: Of course folks care! If you don't examine the past you have no experience to draw upon! Is that what you mean by "whining"? If so, tough! Quit whining about our whining! Come up with you own positive suggestion if you're that grown up! If Mr Obama was not the continuation of a bad policy begun by Wilson, then bringing up Wilson's name would not matter. Nothing the President is doing is original, and he is not operating in a vacuum. There is a history to the Progressive movement that needs to be underscored before folks who care understand the scope of that movement's objectives. If we get a little off topic in the discussion, so what? It's not like it won't get brought up again.

So! To my initial question. Are the Democrats using the timing of the minimum wage proposal to buy votes? Yes or no? If they waited this long to bring it up - until an election came along that potentially they could lose - do they really give a shit about the working poor, or are they being manipulative? Tell me.

As for the benefits of raising the minimum wage, look what happens every time it's raised. Some folks who really need it enjoy a little more prosperity for a short time. Others who really need it have their hours cut or lose their jobs. Small business owners say f*** it, close their doors and go to work for someone else, prices go up, the value of the dollar goes down and the market find it's level again. The lucky folks who benefitted for a short time after the raising of the minimum wage - the ones who didn't lose their jobs or have their hours cut - find themselves, relatively speaking, no better off than they were before.

There are a few, though, who truly benefit from the raising of the minimum wage...the politicians who vote for it! Want to really help the working poor? Encourage a policy that brings blue collar jobs back to America. That means getting rid of the Fed's ability to create money out of thin air because that's what is causing the exportation of jobs and devaluing the dollar.