Nationally, the minimum wage has not been raised in over nine years — adjusted for inflation the current $5.15/hour is now at a half-century low. In 2006 a full time minimum wage worker will earn only $10,712, about $6,000 below the poverty line.
So of course today, self-proclaimed “moderate” Rep. Dave Reichert once again voted against raising the minimum wage, joining his party in blocking a vote on H.R. 2329 for the fifth time in a month. The bill would have raised the wage $2.10 an hour over two years, to a whopping $7.25… well below WA state’s minimum wage of $7.63/hour.
Here’s a fact: Dave Reichert is a Republican, and both nationally and locally the Republican Party opposes a living minimum wage. How can I be so sure? Well, apart from counting their votes, I can also read their platform:
Really?
Wavy bye-bye Davey! Time for you to go!
It’s just this sort of Rubber Stamping of the cheap labor conservative agenda that spells out why Reichert needs to go.
And it shows a disturbing lack of compassion. Watching him on that Mak video yesterday, he looks like a male model. Is that mean? It is as if he cares more about his hair than his constituency.
MINIMUM WAGE, MAXIMUM FOLLY, APRIL 26, 2006
“ The U.S. Department of Labor reports: “According to Current Population Survey estimates for 2004, some 73.9 million American workers were paid at hourly rates, representing 59.8 percent of all wage and salary workers. Of those paid by the hour, 520,000 were reported as earning exactly $5.15.” (http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2004.htm#2) “
“ Workers earning the minimum wage or less tend to be young, single workers between the ages of 16 and 25. Only about two percent of workers over 25 years of age earn minimum wages. “
“ According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Sixty-three percent of minimum wage workers receive raises within one year of employment, and only 15 percent still earn the minimum wage after three years. Furthermore, only 5.3 percent of minimum wage earners are from households below the official poverty line; forty percent of minimum wage earners live in households with incomes $60,000 and higher; and, over 82 percent of minimum wage earners do not have dependents. “
“ The U.S. Department of Labor also reports that the “proportion of hourly-paid workers earning the prevailing Federal minimum wage or less has trended downward since 1979.” “
“ Another issue that’s not often taken into consideration is there’s a difference between what a worker takes home in pay and his total compensation. Employers must pay for legally required worker benefits that include Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, health and disability insurance benefits, and whatever paid leave benefits they offer, such as vacations, holidays and sick leave. It’s tempting to think of higher minimum wages as an anti-poverty weapon, but such an idea doesn’t even pass the smell test. After all, if higher minimum wages could cure poverty, we could easily end worldwide poverty simply by telling poor nations to legislate higher minimum wages. “
“ Poor people are not poor because of low wages. For the most part, they’re poor because of low productivity, and wages are connected to productivity. The effect of minimum wages is that of causing unemployment among low-skilled workers. If an employer must pay $5.15 an hour, plus mandated fringes that might bring the employment cost of a worker to $7 an hour, does it pay him to hire a person who is so unfortunate as to have skills that permit him to produce only $4 worth of value per hour? Most employers would view hiring such a person as a losing economic proposition. “
***
MINIMUM WAGE, MAXIMUM FOLLY MARCH 23, 2005
“ …The idea that minimum wage legislation is an anti-poverty tool is simply sheer nonsense. Were it an anti-poverty weapon, we might save loads of foreign aid expenditures simply by advising legislators in the world’s poorest countries, such as Haiti, Bangladesh and Ethiopia, to legislate higher minimum wages. Even applied to the United States, there’s little evidence suggesting that increases in the minimum wage help the poor. Plus, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 2.2 percent of working adults earn the minimum wage. “
“ The crucial question for any policy is not what are its intentions but what are its effects? One of its effects is readily seen by putting yourself in the place of an employer and asking: If I must pay $6.25 or $7.25 an hour to whomever I hire, does it make sense for me to hire a worker whose skills enable him to produce only $4.00 worth of value per hour? Most employers would view doing so as a losing economic proposition. Thus, one effect of minimum wages is that of discriminating against the employment of low-skilled workers. “
“ For the most part, teenagers dominate the low-skilled worker category. They lack the maturity, skills and experience of adults. Black teenagers not only share those characteristics, but they are additionally burdened by grossly fraudulent education, making them even lower skilled. “
“ Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment data confirms the economic prediction about minimum wage effects. Currently, the teen unemployment rate is 16 percent for whites and 32 percent for blacks. In 1948, the unemployment rate for black teens (16-17) was lower (9.4 percent) than white teens (10.2 percent). Plus, black teens were more active in the labor force. “
“ How might we explain that? How about arguing that there was less racial discrimination in 1948, or back then black teens were more highly educated than white teens? Of course, such arguments would be nonsense. The fact of the matter is that while there was a minimum wage of 40 cents an hour prior to 1948, it had been essentially repealed by the post-World War II inflation; however, with successive increases in the minimum wage, black teen unemployment rose relative to white teens to where it has become permanently double that of white teens. “
“ If the minimum wage law has these effects, then how does it pass political muster? The current Social Security debate over private accounts gives us a hint. In the political arena, you dump on people who can’t dump back on you. Few politicians owe their office to the youth vote. Despite the “concern for the children” malarkey they spout, it’s voting age adults to whom politicians are beholden. It turns out that adults benefit from the discriminatory effects of minimum wages, and older adults benefit from Social Security intergenerational transfers. “
“… Research out of Michigan State University found that increases in the minimum wage attract more highly skilled applicants to traditionally low-skill jobs. The study’s author, Dr. David Neumark, concluded: “[I]ncreases in the minimum wage . . . raise the probability that more-skilled teenagers leave school and displace lower-skilled workers from their jobs.” Employers prefer to hire talented young people over less-skilled adults to offset the increased labor costs brought on by a minimum wage hike. “
“ Another study, from the University of Wisconsin, revealed that this displacement of adults by teenagers following a minimum wage increase was especially pronounced among women on welfare. “Mothers on welfare in states that raised their minimum wage left welfare for work 20 percent less than welfare recipients in states where the minimum wage was not raised,” the study’s author, Dr. Peter Brandon, found. The teenagers who are competing with these women usually live with working parents and their need for employment is arguably not as great. “
“ Even wage hike proponents acknowledge this displacement effect. Wage mandate activist and union organizer David Reynolds says that high minimum wages cause businesses to “attract and retain the best workers” — who take the jobs of the less-skilled. The union-backed Economic Policy Institute has admitted that higher minimum wages “will attract good workers” — meaning less-skilled workers need not apply. “
“ Yet while less-skilled workers do not benefit from a minimum wage increase, academic research demonstrates they can get a raise without one. Economists at Miami University of Ohio and Florida State University found 65 percent of minimum wage workers increase their wage between one and 12 months on the job. This refutes the out-dated notion of minimum wage workers perpetually dependent on government for a raise. “
“ More than undermining their prospects for employment, raising the minimum wage imperils an important benefit that helps less-skilled workers escape poverty. The federal earned-income tax credit is a successful anti-poverty program that supplements the income of the working poor. But it disappears the moment employees lose their job, forcing the least skilled among us to depend on welfare for as long as those benefits last. “
“ Exchanging the ability to provide for oneself with welfare checks has unfortunate consequences that reach far beyond the newly unemployed person’s pocketbook. Research by Dr. Casey Mulligan of the University of Chicago found that for every extra year a mother spent on welfare, her child spent an additional 274 days on welfare as an adult. Sadly, raising the minimum wage not only harms the job prospects of those whose alternative is welfare but also their ability to pass a strong work ethic onto their children… “ -Craig Garthwaite, The Oregonian 12/29/03
***
San Francisco ‘Living Wage’ May Kill Business
March 31, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO — “ Waiters and waitresses are among the few laborers left in San Francisco who still earn minimum wage, but a newly-enacted law that raises the hourly rate from $6.75 to $8.50 may end up causing those workers to wait on the unemployment line. “
“ “A lot of restaurants are barely hanging on as it is, and this is definitely going to be the nail in the coffin for a lot of places,” said Craig Stoll, co-owner of Delfina Restaurant. “
“ Stoll said the $1.75 increase in the hourly wage that he must pay his workers will cost him $30,000 this year, leaving little to raise the pay of cooks and cleaners. “
***
The Wages of Politics
***
Minimum Wage, Maximum Folly June 2, 1999
***
Minimum Wage Maximum Folly – March 20, 1995
“ …Minimum wage proponents say higher minimum wages won’t cause unemployment. The first fundamental law of demand, to which there are no exceptions, says when prices rise people tend to buy less and when they fall people tend to buy more. When beef prices rise we buy less. When interest rates rise we take out fewer mortgages. After all if people didn’t respond that way sellers could charge any price they wanted and we’d still buy it. Labor services are no different. When its price exceeds its value – what labor can produce – employers will buy less of it and seek substitutes. Among those substitutes are automation, moving to a lower wage country and customer self-service. “
“ …Put yourself in the place of an employer and ask: if I must pay Clinton’s minimum wage of $5.15 per hour, does it pay me to hire a worker so unfortunate as to have skills enabling him to produce only $3.00 an hour worth of value? Most employers would see that as a losing economic proposition and wouldn’t hire such a worker. Therefore, a major impact of the minimum wage law is to discriminate against the employment of low skilled workers. The denial of a job makes the disadvantages of low skilled workers more permanent. After all one of the most important means to higher skills is to be employed in the first place and receive on-the-job training and learn about other opportunities. “
“ Among academic economists there is little or no debate over the unemployment effects of minimum wages. Our only debate is the magnitude of unemployment. Close to 90 percent of academic economists agree minimum wages cause unemployment especially for teenagers, particularly black teenagers. Check it out yourself: introductory college textbooks in most sciences represent a distillation of what constitutes a broad consensus in the field. Virtually all economic textbooks, that say something about minimum wages, conclude it causes unemployment.
“
Outstanding post, HCYBPTBAKAAA! My respects, JCH Kennedy
I really hope he losses this election
Next horsesass headlines: “Patty Murray Doesn’t Like George Bush”. “Gregoire thinks Rossi Lost Election”. “Democrats Control Seattle City Council”.
Do you think the voters in the 8th District are stupid? We’ve elected a Republican, fully cognizant of that fact, to Congress for decades. Reichart had an (R) by his name when he beat Ross. We knew what we were voting for.
Barnyard Ass,
Your assertion regarding “most economists” is pure bunk. The actual studies done in this area do not support your hysterical assertion that raising the minimum wage “causes unemployment”. See also here:
It’s Time For A Raise
Moonbat economics at work. Let me explain:
If you want to make big money, you need what are known as “marketable skills”. These are skills that are
1) Valuable (essential to core value producing processes)
2) Scarce
3) Not easily substitutable
The less valuable, scarce or substitutable your skills, the lower your wages will be. Get used to it because that’s the way the world works. You can bitch about it, but it’s not going to change anything. So here’s MTR’s friendly advice: Stop fucking around at the bottom of the pool and make an investment in yourself. You can attend taxpayer subsidized colleges and universities and get a good education where you can then make some real money. Wouldn’t that be easier in the long run than relying on some bullshit job and having politicians and moonbats hold your life in their hands?
If you’re working at job you can learn in a few hours and a couple of days, then you’re on thin ice. Make an investment in something that takes a long time to learn. Since most people lack the moral character to stick with anything for very long, then this automatically moves you up the food chain.
Free at last
Free at last
Free at last.
“In the political arena, you dump on people who can’t dump back on you.”
This must explain the incessant need for republicans to dump on poor and working people.
howcanyou be PROUDtobeaKennedyandanASS and Mark The Redneck Kennedy
at 5 and 10
You have excellent posts!!
Interesting Proud, that your ADVERTISEMENT from a leftwing group proudly boasts “hundreds” of economists.
I wonder though, what percentage of the total number economists does “hundredS” represent?
June 21, 2006
Testing the Logic of Minimum-Wage Legislation
New Illustration of the Folly of the Minimum Wage
Bryan Caplan (June 24, 2006)
Goldy: I don’t know where you get your $17k poverty line, but according to the census bureau the poverty threshold for an individual adult was $9,827 in 2004. (That’s the latst year for which they give figures.) If you work full-time an minumum wage you will earn that.
The poverty threshold for a household of two adults and two children is $19,157. But I thought that the idea of a single wage-earned supporting a spouse and two children went out of fashion for the left about 30 years ago.
We need to hear more about REP Pat “BitchSlap” Kennedy, DEMOCRAT, RI, Cindy “BitchSlap” McKinney, DEMOCRAT, GA, and last but not least, William J. “IceBox” Jefferson, DEMOCRAT, LA! hehe, JCH Kennedy
Tokyo – North Korea could be preparing for new launches of mid-range missiles after last week’s tests, with activity detected at its bases, a report said today citing Japanese government sources. US and Japanese satellite photos show that mid-range Rodong missiles had been set up on launch pads at a base in southeastern North Korea, but were later removed, /break/ fuel tanks could be seen near the launch pads. […………………………………………………………………………………..A closer “SATVIEW” shows Jim McDermott, Roger Rabbit, and Ted Kennedy pushing the North Korean missiles into launch position!]
OH..HO… you want more McKinney…
McKinney Fails To Show Up At Two Debates
Tue Jul 11 2006 11:10:09 ET
Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D) failed to appear at two televised debates over the weekend, fueling criticism from two opponents who are challenging the controversial incumbent in a July 18 primary in the Georgia’s 4th District.
CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY reports: DeKalb County Commissioner Hank Johnson and architectural firm project manager John Coyne, who are challenging McKinney, debated Saturday on WSB-TV and also participated in a second debate Friday that was sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club and which will air tonight at 7 p.m. Johnson’s campaign said that McKinney’s absence was a “slap in the face” to her constituents.
http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.....UIQ–
Pretty dumb move by Reichert. Voting against a living wage in this swing district will hurt him big time this fall. He could’ve voted for it in one of his manufactured “I’m a moderate” feints but couldn’t even stomach doing that.
It will be good to have Darcy Burner in there fighting for the common folk beginning in January.
Barnyard Ass,
You don’t know shit about economics, and it shows. The minimum wage, in real terms, was higher in the 60’s and 70’s than it is today. This fact alone undermines your whole lunatic point (cf. black teen unemployment). Obviously, something else is at work here, but that does not apparently stop you from a dorky Larry Kudlow-like display of mendacious ignorance.
Then you cite facts that are totally at odds with your hypothesis. Why not apply the famous Vagina Lips chi-square analysis (hehe)? Using the MTR logic, the fact that you did not, proves you are an idiot. But you best speak with Vagina Lips on that issue–it’s his “theory”, not mine.
Furthermore, there have been, like actual STUDIES, attempting to isolate this so-called effect of minimum wage levels and the level of unemployment. There has yet to emerge a consensus as to whether or not there is any demonstable effect (see MaxSpeak.org).
Cordially,
Hey Ass, isn’t it time for you to go to church? Come back and let me know what your gawd Algore is up to.
So do you have faith that current temps ARE out of the ordinary? Really, tell me why.
Fucking idiot…
Also, if you’re so fucking worried about solar warming, then why don’t YOU put your money where your mouth is and get off the grid. Totally. No car. No electricty. No nat gas. No running water. No store bought food. Nuthin. If our current technology environment is so bad, then unhook yourself. Fucking hypocrite moron.
As usual, liberals ignore basic economics when they argue for minimum wages. When government increases the cost of labor it simultaneously decreases the amount of labor demanded. Even liberal economists acknowledge this fact implicitly when they advocate a minumum wage of seven or eight dollars/hour. If wages could be increased by government fiat without causing unemployment or inflation why not then set the minimum wage to a “living wage” of twenty or thirty dollars/hour?
23, americafirst, Very well stated. I look forward to dumb ass libs attempting to disagree. Best regrads, JCH
Did you know that just over the last 11 quarters, dating back to the June 2003 Bush tax cuts, America has increased its entire economy 20 percent? In less than three years, the U.S. economic pie has expanded by $2.2 trillion, an output add-on roughly as large the total Chinese economy, and much larger than the total economic size of nations like India, Mexico, Ireland and Belgium.
Not bad for being the “worst economy in 70 years.” [SEN John Fing Kerry, DEMOCRAT, MASS]
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....ng11m.html
Well what a surprise. Another public school teacher bites the dust.
Yep I posted that earlier… it’s headless lucy.
So what’s your point, Bill? Going to trot out that old lie, twisting the union’s refusal to go along with the release of names of those accused BUT NOT convicted as defence of sex offenders?
Of course those who prey on students should be punished.
Typical lazy, deceptive arguements.
Before you jump onto teachers, tell me how much time you’ve spent in classrooms, who many PTA hours you’ve spent.
Employment outcomes have generally been more favorable in the higher minimum wage states
…when considered in the aggregate…employment outcomes have generally been more favorable in the higher minimum wage states than in all other states. Consider these examples:
* Total employment in the higher minimum wage states increased by 6.2 percent from January 1998 to January 2004, 50 percent greater than the combined job growth of 4.1 percent for the other states where the federal minimum wage prevailed; and
* Retail employment grew by 6.1 percent in the minimum wage states versus 1.9 percent in the other states.
And in looking at the growth in establishments, employment and payrolls for small employers with fewer than 50 employees, a similar picture emerges: small employers in this diverse set of higher minimum wage states generally fared better than small employers in other states between 1998 and 2001 (1998 and 2001 are the years for which the government’s County Business Patterns data make a comparison possible). (Small employers with less than 50 employees accounted for 95 percent of all establishments and 41 percent of total employment.)
The results for small employers included:
* In the under 50 employee size range across all industries, the number of establishments increased by 3.1 percent for the higher minimum wage states compared to a 1.6 percent increase for the balance of the states; and
* Within the retail industry, the number of establishments increased by 0.6 percent for the higher minimum wage states (compared to 0.3 percent for all other states), the number of employees increased by 3.7 percent (versus 2.4 percent), total annual payroll increased by 17.9 percent in the higher minimum wage states and average payroll per worker increased by 13.7 percent (versus, 14.7 percent and 12.0 percent, respectively, for the other states
Before you jump onto teachers, tell me how much time you’ve spent in classrooms, who many PTA hours you’ve spent.
Commentby K [K, NEA “teachers”: bottom of the barrel…….work 9 months a yr and demand “pay equality” for thos e in the private sector who work 12.]
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories.....2246.shtml
Homeland Aide Faces Cyber-Sex Charges
“Homeland Security officials said Brian J. Doyle, the fourth-ranking spokesman at the department, was put on “non-pay status” following the charges late Tuesday.”
Another Republican bites the child-porn dust.
31..cont, always Democrat because they would NEVER consider working in the “risky” private sector.
Skagit, William J. Jefferson, DEMOCRAT, LA hehe, JCH
BOSTON –At least 12 tons of concrete fell from the ceiling of one of Boston’s Big Dig tunnels, crushing a woman in a car and again raising concerns about the integrity of the massive highway project that is the central artery through the city.
A steel tieback that held a 40-foot ceiling section over Interstate 90 eastbound gave way late Monday night in the tunnel, a main access way to Boston’s Logan International Airport. The tunnel was closed indefinitely as crews worked to remove about 30 ceiling slabs in a 200-foot section where the collapse occurred, DEMOCRAT Authority Chairman Matthew Amorello said Tuesday. […………………………………………………………………………………..This is a lie!!!! This project [DEMOCRAT Tip O’Neil Tunnel] was pushed by Democrats, designed by Democrats, bid at 4 billions and spent 14 billion by DEMOCRATS, and built by Democrat unions!! DEMOCRATS Kerry and Kennedy PERSONALLY
built this tunnel!! Any and all problems are Republican hate attacks!!!!!!!]
The difference between the opinion of a syndicated columnist and the Fiscal Policy Institute is the FPI actually has some numbers to back up their assertions, not the flippant and irrelevant guesses of Williams.
BTW, your guy has been writing the same column for ten years, he couldn’t get paid for flipping the same burger at McDonald’s. He’d have to get a raw patty out of the ‘fridge.
Harry Tuttle, I like you! Glad you came back, Harry!
Harry, when your resume comes even close to that of Walter Williams you may speak with some authority. Until then you’re just an annoying undereducated little turtle.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dr. Walter E. Williams holds a B.A. in economics from California State University, Los Angeles, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from UCLA. He also holds a Doctor of Humane Letters from Virginia Union University and Grove City College, Doctor of Laws from Washington and Jefferson College and Doctor Honoris Causa en Ciencias Sociales from Universidad Francisco Marroquin, in Guatemala, where he is also Professor Honorario.
Dr. Williams has served on the faculty of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, as John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics, since 1980; from 1995 to 2001, he served as department chairman. He has also served on the faculties of Los Angeles City College, California State University Los Angeles, and Temple University in Philadelphia, and Grove City College, Grove City, Pa.
He has made scores of radio and television appearances which include “Nightline,” “Firing Line,” “Face the Nation,” Milton Friedman’s “Free To Choose,” “Crossfire,” “MacNeil/Lehrer,”
“Wall Street Week” and was a regular commentator for “Nightly Business Report.”
Excuse me, … that would be DR. Williams, PhD, JD
So what’s your point, Bill? Going to trot out that old lie, twisting the union’s refusal to go along with the release of names of those accused BUT NOT convicted as defence of sex offenders?
Of course those who prey on students should be punished.
Typical lazy, deceptive arguements.
Commentby K— 7/11/06@ 9:25 pm
Why cant we treat them like the Catholic priests? I hope the public wakes up and opens up education to competition. We will never change things the way the system is set up now.
RubberStampReichert is a CHEAP LABOR CONSERVATIVE. It’s not hard to figure out what he’s all about:
“When you cut right through it, right-wing ideology is just ‘dime-store economics’ …. ‘Cheap labor’. That’s their whole philosophy in a nutshell … cheap-labor conservatives are defenders of corporate America – whose fortunes depend on labor. … The more desperately you need a job, the cheaper you’ll work …. If you are a wealthy elite … your wealth, power and privilege is enhanced by a labor pool, forced to work cheap.
“Cheap-labor conservatives don’t like social spending or our ‘safety net’ … (because) they want you ‘over a barrel’ …
Cheap-labor conservatives don’t like the minimum wage, or other improvements in wages and working conditions. Why. These reforms undo all of their efforts to keep you ‘over a barrel’. … Cheap-labor conservatives don’t like unions. Why. Because when labor ‘sticks together’, wages go up. … (C)heap-labor conservatives like unemployment, poverty and ‘cheap labor’. …
“Cheap-labor conservatives opposed virtually all of the New Deal …. Cheap-labor conservatives have hated Social Security and Medicare since their inception. Many cheap-labor conservatives are hostile to public education. … Cheap-labor conservatives hate the progressive income tax …. Cheap-labor conservatives like budget deficits ….
“The ugly truth is that cheap-labor conservatives just don’t like working people. They don’t like ‘bottom up’ prosperity … cheap-labor conservatives believe in social hierarchy and privilege, so the only prosperity they want is limited to them. They want to see absolutely nothing that benefits the guy – or more often the woman – who works for an hourly wage.”
http://www.conceptualguerilla......php?id=103
So there you have it — RubberStampReichert’s vote against the minimum wage solidly establishes his credentials as a CHEAP LABOR CONSERVATIVE, and you know exactly what to expect from him:
Reichert will support privatizing (destroying) Social Security and Medicare.
Reichert will oppose labor laws, worker safety laws, and other laws that help workers.
Reichert will vote for bills that enhances the ability of employers to exploit workers.
Reichert will vote for tax breaks for the wealthy, will vote for abolishing the estate tax, and will vote for eliminating taxes on corporations and capital gains.
Reichert will vote for shifting more of the tax burden from the wealthy to wage earners.
Reichert will vote for school vouchers, and against federal aid to public education and student financial aid programs.
In short, Reichert will rubberstamp anything and everything that helps CHEAP LABOR CONSERVATIVES achieve their objective of destroying America’s middle class and forcing us all to work for Third World wages.
Before you jump onto teachers, tell me how much time you’ve spent in classrooms, who many PTA hours you’ve spent.
Commentby K— 7/11/06@ 9:27 pm
Now here is example of a typical lazy deceptive argument. Who the fuck cares? Public education should be contracted out to the public and not run by a govenment bureaucracy. Until that happens the results will be the same.
ROGER RABBIT’S CONGRESSIONAL PAY INITIATIVE
Hey, if Eyman can circulate bullshit petitions, so can Roger Rabbit! Why should a liar like Eyman have an initiative monopoly? Wingnuts want monopolies on every fucking thing. Here is Roger Rabbit’s initiative:
“The people of the State of Washington hereby resolve that Congressman Dave Reichert shall be paid a salary equal to the minimum wage he voted for in Congress.”
If Reichert thinks nursing home orderlies, restaurant workers, convenience store clerks, and janitors should live on $5.15 an hour, then it’s only fair that Reichert should live on $5.15 an hour, too.
It’s going to be really hard for RubberStampReichert to sell the lie that he cares about the working man while voting to cut his pay! I have an idea. Let’s cut Sheriff Davie’s pay to ZERO and send the prick back where he came from!
39
“Excuse me, … that would be DR. Williams, PhD, JD” Commentby howcanyou be PROUDtobeaKennedyandanASS— 7/11/06@ 10:16 pm
Excuuuuse ME, but Williams does NOT have a JD, nor is he a lawyer. His biography on the Grove City College web site states,
“Williams holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from California State University – Los Angeles, and master’s and Ph.D. degrees in economics from the University of California at Los Angeles. He also holds Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degrees from Grove City College (1992) and Virginia Union University and a Doctor of Laws honorary degree from Washington and Jefferson College.”
https://www1.gcc.edu/news/biographies/williams/default.htm
Did you notice it says he has “a Doctor of Laws HONORARY degree?” An honorary degree is not a JD, does not qualify him to take a bar exam, or entitle him to practice law.
39 (continued)
In short, Williams is a guy with a Ph.D. in economics. Those guys are a dime a dozen. Every community college has one.
39 (continued)
Tell me, ProudAss, is Williams respected in the academic community? Does he publish peer-reviewed work in economics? Has he written any textbooks? Or is he just a guy who took a lot of econ courses, collected the degrees, and found employment as a pundit?
One more thing … let’s suppose you’re a black guy with a Ph.D. in economics who wants to make a lot of money, have some fun doing it, and doesn’t want to put up with the grind of a career in academe. Think media, think political commentary. Wouldn’t shilling for CHEAP LABOR CONSERVATIVES be a smart career move? I mean, how many black guys with Ph.D.s in economics are propagandists for the slave-owning class? He’d been in high demand by employers with lots of money and have no competition.
This guy has MERCENARY written all over him.
39 (continued)
And if you’re a paid shill for CHEAP LABOR CONSERVATIVES, you can’t be FOR the minimum wage, can you? The hand that feeds you wouldn’t like that.
My point is, Williams isn’t a professional economist rendering an objective opinion based on sound research. He’s a shill who says whatever gets his paycheck signed.
ArtFart posted on the “Drinking Liberally” thread:
Roger, you and Ann have a wonderful time. No, I don’t want to see the pictures.” Commentby ArtFart— 7/11/06@ 3:22 pm
Roger Rabbit’s reply: I did not post that comment, an imposter did, and Goldy deleted it at my request.
PUBLIC NOTICE – IDENTITY THEFT
Someone has been posting scurrilous comments under the name “Roger Rabbit”. This is the second time in the last two weeks. All I can say is, THANK YOU GOD for letting me piss off trolls so much they stoop to impersonating me! Now if only this imposter would come to my burrow with a gun, so I can claim self-defense …
PAY ATTENTION DUMB BUNNY…
Dr. Williams is the author of over 150 publications which have appeared in scholarly journals such as
Economic Inquiry,
American Economic Review,
Georgia Law Review,
Journal of Labor Economics,
Social Science Quarterly, and
Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy
and popular publications such as
Newsweek,
Ideas on Liberty,
National Review,
Reader’s Digest,
Cato Journal, and
Policy Review.
He has authored six books:
America: A Minority Viewpoint,
The State Against Blacks, which was later made into the PBS documentary “Good Intentions,”
All It Takes Is Guts, South Africa’s War Against Capitalism, which was later revised for South African publication,
Do the Right Thing: The People’s Economist Speaks, and
More Liberty Means Less Government.
Dr. Williams serves on several boards of directors:
Grove City College,
Reason Foundation and
Hoover Institution.
He serves on numerous advisory boards including:
Cato Institute,
Landmark Legal Foundation,
Institute of Economic Affairs, and
Heritage Foundation.
Dr. Williams has received numerous fellowships and awards including:
Foundation for Economic Education Adam Smith Award,
Hoover Institution National Fellow,
Ford Foundation Fellow,
Valley Forge Freedoms Foundation George Washington Medal of Honor,
Veterans of Foreign Wars U.S. News Media Award,
Adam Smith Award,
California State University Distinguished Alumnus Award,
George Mason University Faculty Member of the Year, and
Alpha Kappa Psi Award.
Dr. Williams has participated in numerous debates, conferences and lectures in the United States and abroad. He has frequently given expert testimony before Congressional committees on public policy issues ranging from labor policy to taxation and spending.
I REALIZE THAT YOUR LITTLE MAIL ORDER JD MAKES YOUR FEEL SUPERIOR, BUT….
AWWW YOUR MAIL ORDER JD LINK WENT MIA
PUBLIC NOTICE – IDENTITY THEFT
Someone has been posting scurrilous comments under the name “Roger Rabbit”. This is the second time in the last two weeks. -Commentby Roger Rabbit— 7/11/06@ 11:34 pm
That is pretty despicable.
I would love to see a constitutional amendment that every person running for election has to live for one year on only the minimum wage in the area where they are running for office.
What a great campaign they could wage.
They park the mercedes, turn their home and finances over to an independant auditor (who keeps their real-life bills paid for a year) who cuts them their first minimum-wage weekly check (minus income tax and FICA), then it’s off to find housing in their district.
A big part of it would be that they really have to live in that price range (no houses rented to them cheap by friends or special interests, no monetary gifts, etc).
Once they have found housing, they can go out and find clothing, food, transportation, health care, etc. Reporting to the auditor as they go.
This would test how serious they were about public service, their fiscal responsibility, how creative they are in overcoming adversity, and whether they have the moral fiber to do what they say they are going to do, without cheating. (Did they somehow forget to leave the big screen tv at home? How did they get tickets to the bahamas?)
They would report to the auditor once a week for their next check and to turn over receipts.
And of course, since minimum wage earners make so much, the politicians could show them how to pare the budget down even further.
Who does this sound like?
… They say he wants to close media outlets, crush small independent businesses, tame the judiciary and shackle oppositionpoliticians…
Well it sure sounds like George Bush and the GOP to me. Problem is it’s Putin, the Russian!
#5
An excellent example of troll behavior.
Although on topic, this is still destructive behavior.
This troll posts a massive cut-and-paste job, when a link with relevant comments would not only serve the same purpose, but be far more likely to be read.
Of course, it’s a judgement call about where to draw the line on the size of a cut-and-paste.
But mindlessly passing along the work of others without comment demonstrates a lack of intellectual curiosity, and does nothing to stimulate discussion or debate among those posting.
Giant cut-and-pastes like #5 mostly just take up space on the thread.
#14 by the same poster.
This time links only. But still no comments to suggest to a reader how the links are specifically related to the topic of the thread, or why the poster thinks they are of interest to the reader. This could be considered spam. They might just as well be links to websites promoting penis cream (and probably are).
Still destructive behavior.
@ 42
Who the fuck cares? Public education should be contracted out to the public and not run by a govenment bureaucracy. Until that happens the results will be the same.
I’m honestly hoping you can provide us all with a few examples where private contractors have locally demonstrated success in educating a widely diverse population of school age students (including disabled students) with an average annual per student expenditure of only $6500.
As far as the minimun wage goes and automatic increases if it are concerned, it would be in the government’s best interest for the minimum wage to increase regularly.
Government is a debtor, by and large. Debtors benefit from inflation. If we assume annual inflation of just 2% per year, $1 in purchasing power today would have a purchasing power of just 4.4 cents at the end of 40 years. This is a long term debtor’s dream: using today’s purchasing power for immediate needs and goals with borrowed money, yet having to pay-back ever diminishing amounts of purchasing power over the terms of bonds.
Increasing the minimum wage over time does a lot to insure constant inflation and waning purchasing power. It also makes politicians who support the increases popular with the vast majroity of the electorate.
Yep, increasing the minimum wage is an outstanding way to indirectly support the most powerful special interst group around – the government!
Libertarian above,
Where the hell do you get such weird-shit ideas?
No Yoda… they aren’t “weird-shit ideas”… adults call them FACTS.
But hey raise the minimum: put the low skilled out of work, back on welfare or in the case of kids that mostly take the MW jobs, out roaming the streets, raise prices and SEND A FEW MORE JOBS OVERSEAS.
Helss bells, yoda… is that why you blog? Too unskilled for even the minimum wage job?
howcanyou be PROUDtobeaKennedyandanASS,
So I take it you agree with Libertarian??
If you want to have an easy job paying more than the minimum wage, then proclaim that you are a Democrat and threaten to run against Maria Cantwell in the primary.
Cantwell has hired every one of her announced Democrat primary opponents at generous (and as of yet undisclosed) salaries, so that she wouldn’t have any primary opposition. This includes first-time Democrat Mark Wilson, who only recently declared he was a Democrat, after seeking office under two other party banners in the previous two elections.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/.....ate12.html
You wingnuts have an interesting notion about what a fact is. Facts are things that can be measured in the real world. Statements from economists that restate theories or true believers who really, really think something is so, aren’t facts.
The wingnuts who post here are cheap labor conservatives who believe that a race to the bottom is good for them because it will make the value of their stock portfolio rise.
Implementation of them as increased poverty and reduced the standard of living for most Americans. Gas costs more, health care costs more, wages are stagnant, air quality is worse — who cares if the DOW Jones is high if it causes you to die?
The answer, of course, is that it is good for a appallingly wealthy 5% of the population whose avarice would shame Midas.
Reduced standard of living? Are you certifiably crazy?
I’ll address this with FACTS, you know those indesputable black and white but no gray pieces of information when I get back to my own computer. In the meantime, I suggest you do a bit of research on how “badly” the poor in America have it today… don’t forget to figure in the “essentials: their dishwashers and microwaves, 2nd cars, iPODS, computers and DVD player they have managed to acquire in “poverty”.
The following are facts about persons defined as “poor” by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:
46% of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
76% of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36% of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning. There are a plenty folks in the general Puget Sound area living in homes valued between 500K and a million with no AC… are we “poor”? >
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person. The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.
97% of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
78% have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
73% own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.
As a group, America’s poor are far from being chronically undernourished. The average consumption of protein, vitamins, and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and, in most cases, is well above recommended norms. Poor children actually consume more meat than do higher-income children and have average protein intakes 100 percent above recommended levels. Most poor children today are, in fact, supernourished and grow up to be, on average, one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier that the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 13 percent of poor families and 2.6 percent of poor children experience hunger at some point during the year. In most cases, their hunger is short-term. 89% of the poor report their families have “enough” food to eat, while only 2 percent say they “often” do not have enough to eat.
Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family’s essential needs. While this individual’s life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians.
shoot. I missed a tag. I apologize.
In 1995, 41 percent of all “poor” households owned their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as “poor” is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio. Over three-quarters of a million “poor” persons own homes worth over $150,000; nearly 200,000 “poor” persons own homes worth over $300,000.
The good news is that the poverty that does exist in the United States can readily be reduced, particularly among children. There are two main reasons that American children are poor: Their parents don’t work much, and their fathers are absent from the home.
In both good and bad economic environments, the typical American poor family with children is supported by only 800 hours of work during a year–the equivalent of 16 hours of work per week. If work in each family were raised to 2,000 hours per year–the equivalent of one adult working 40 hours per week throughout the year–nearly 75 percent of poor children would be lifted out of official poverty.
As noted above, father absence is another major cause of child poverty. Nearly two-thirds of poor children reside in single-parent homes; each year, an additional 1.3 million children are born out of wedlock. If poor mothers married the fathers of their children, nearly three-quarters of the nation’s impoverished youth would immediately be lifted out of poverty.
False high wages, such as an increase in minimum wage… or ANY minimum wage, for that matter, harms business and eliminates jobs… especially in the false wages of union thuggery where the jobs just go to NON-union thuggery places.
Lower taxes give more money to those who start businesses, expand businesses and CREATE jobs.
71
What a load of rightwing crap!
Union wages BUILT the middle class in this country — and investors prospered, too. The middle class standard of living created by the union movement did NOT come at the expense of the rich — we have more millionaires and billionaires today than ever before. Everyone prospered together.
If CHEAP LABOR CONSERVATIVES get their way, our economy will become a race to the bottom, and America’s standard of living will revert to 19th century poverty. And — here is the point always missed by rightwing idiots like ProudAss — without middle class consumer spending, the capitalists won’t prosper either, because they will be selling their goods and services in a vastly shrunken market, and will sell fewer of them.
Republican opposition to raising the $5.15 minimum wage is not only shameful, it’s welfarism at its worst! The federal minimum wage, adjusted for inflation, as at a 50-year low. No one can live on $5.15 an hour in today’s economy. Minimum wage workers can survive only with government housing, food, and health care subsidies. In many states, full-time minimum wage workers qualify for public housing, food assistance, and Medicaid. In short, the GOP’s refusal to raise the minimum wage to a minimum subsistence level subsidizes low-paying employers by shifting part of their wage costs to taxpayers.
And Republicans bitch about welfare? They’re the biggest promoters of welfare of all!
Cite your reference on the 46% own their own home. I’m curious about that.
I’ve been looking and googling and I can’t find anything . . . still awaiting that address.
74.
You’ll wait a long time. Ass is an ass.
Well, then, Ass is a fraud. Thanks, Harry.
Chart of the week: mean vs median
Family values (NYT) Daniel Gross asks in today’s New York Times why so few people think the US economy is doing well, despite a string of robust-looking statistics: When Sweet Statistics Clash With a Sour Mood (free registration required). But it was the accompanying chart which really made the point.
To see how typical workers are doing, it’s better to look at median wages and incomes — the midpoint that separates the top 50 percent from the lower 50 percent. And median income, which was stagnant during President Bush’s first term, is struggling to keep pace with inflation. “Median household income has gone nowhere since the turn of the decade,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com.
…This dichotomy accurately describes the economy. From 2001 to 2004, the average net worth of an American family rose 6.3 percent, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances. But not everybody grew richer. For the bottom 40 percent of families by income, the median net worth fell. “It just doesn’t resonate with people when the Treasury secretary says everything is fine,” Mr. Zandi said. “It’s fine for half the population, and it’s clearly not for the other half.”
76.
Anytime Ass posts anything, take a real good look at it, and look at the dates, too.
No biggy. Just a typical wingnut liar, same a Puttybrains, Mark the Reddick and Jughead.
Sorry sweetcheeks, as I’ve repeatedly said, I don’t do welfare for lazy bloggers. If I could find the info, then surely you can too.
Of course it is far easier to just sit back and criticize… but then again, liberals always want to take the easy way… lately we’ve called that cut and run.
You’re right, Harry. He’s a fraud. You’ve earned a new name, PROUDTOBE . . . A FRAUD. Enjoy it.
Gosh and here I thought I finally found ONE ADULT in this liberal playpen… I can admit I was wrong about THAT, skagit.
Enjoy your mudpies!
5
We all know that it is the deep Republican concern for black teenagers that motivates Dave Reichert’s votes against the minimum wage.
U.S Department of Commerce and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, American Housing Survey for the United States: 2001, Tables 3-1, 3-14.
U.S. Department of Energy, Housing Characteristics 1993, 1995, pp. 46, 47. The figures in the text refer to total living space, including both heated and non-heated living space.
United Nations Centre for Human Settlements and the World Bank, The Housing Indicators Program, Vol. II: Indicator Tables (New York: United Nations, 1993), Table 5.
Tax cuts
hell
tax cuts work
85
We have a $300 billion deficit this year. Tax cuts caused it.
“If poor mothers married the fathers of their children, nearly three-quarters of the nation’s impoverished youth would immediately be lifted out of poverty.”
I’m thinking it’s divorce that is the cause of the poor single mother raising children, and deadbeat dads who are the cause of their poverty.
No its a PC crowd like yours that tell and encourage young women it’s OK to have children out of wedlock your moron.
It’s hollywood tramps glorifying celebrity bastard babies.
It’s liberal education systems that encourage premarital sex and institue day care centers in high schools.
Talking about PC . . . Massachusetts, that very blue state, has the lowest divorce rate. Blue state which are more tolerant of divorce and out-of-wedlock births have fewer of them. The red states, those “high-minded” and “high values” Christian states have the highest divorce rates and the high illegitimate birth rates.
So, another fraudulent post . . .? Again, get your facts, fella.
5
So, ProudAss, if your wife lives in a household earning over $60,000 a year, she should work for $5.15 an hour right?
53
“I REALIZE THAT YOUR LITTLE MAIL ORDER JD MAKES YOUR FEEL SUPERIOR, BUT….” Commentby howcanyou be PROUDtobeaKennedyandanASS— 7/11/06@ 11:35 pm
Really? Did I ever say I’m superior? When? Hey, I’m a Democrat; only Republifucks suffer from superiority complexes. The University of Washington Law School isn’t exactly a mail order JD mill — I’d like to see YOU get admitted and GRADUATE from that school and PASS THE BAR EXAM — but nevertheless, I admit that I’m nuthin’ but a hack guvmint attorney. If you want to finger someone for having a superiority complex, you’ll need to look elsewhere.
69
“In 1995, 41 percent of all “poor” households owned their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as “poor” is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio. Over three-quarters of a million “poor” persons own homes worth over $150,000; nearly 200,000 “poor” persons own homes worth over $300,000.” Commentby howcanyoubePROUDtobeaKennedyandanASS— 7/12/06@ 10:15 am
Ass, are you really this fucking obtuse? (Don’t answer that; we’re all afraid of what you would say.)
Do humanity a favor and read this book http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ.....8;n=283155
You can get a dog-eared used copy from Amazon for $3.48 — for you, that’s only a half hour’s wages.
76
“Ass is a fraud.” Commentby Skagit— 7/12/06@ 2:36 pm
B I N G O ! ! !
85
“tax cuts work” Commentby howcanyou be PROUDtobeaKennedyandanASS— 7/12/06@ 3:19 pm
Reagan’s and Bush’s deficits speak for themselves.
90, 91, 92
Hey cheapskate — if you want to advertise on this web site, buy ADVERTISING SPACE, you fucking FREELOADER! :(
85 (continued)
Ass, why did you only post data 2004, 2005, and 2006? Bush starting cutting taxes in 2001. Whatsamatter, don’t you want people to see the declines in federal revenues in 2001, 2002, 2003? Oh, and two more things —
a) The figures for 2005 and 2006 are estimates or projections, and could be off; and
b) The gain in federal revenues starting in 2004 is due to soaring corporate profits and CEO pay, not “supply side” economic stimulus.
85 (continued)
I posted on this a couple days ago. You must not have read my posts.
cerebral,macroeconomics snout exposes forwards budgets augmented
Lizzie weary confessors provider redoubled bathes Francesca environ?artificialities