Raising the Minimum Wage to $9.00

[OCGuy]

I don't know how I am not clear on this. Again I am speaking on the front end. Income taxes are taken from their check only to give back to them later. Remove this step. Have I cleared up my position?

To say they pay no income taxes because they get it back at the end of the year is not addressing the issue. Those at or below the poverty level need that money now, not at the end of the year.

Honestly I don't get how you don't understand how pay-check withholdings work, and that you can have your employer change them for you. Google is your friend.

But ok.

 

[LunarRay]

which is about as far from liberalism as you can get. If you believe that obligations only go one way then you don't believe in fairness.

I'm pretty much a fiscal conservative but I'm also a social liberal.... I simply can't figure out how to accomplish both simultaneously... I, therefore, have to compromise on both but in a way that sees the extrapolation of both in the best possible potential.

I don't want folks on welfare or unemployed and if upping the wage level to 9$ provides a double bang... Reduced government spending for social programs and continued demand using non governmental dollars, I'm for it. They might even pay a bit of SS and Medicare... though no tax and maybe a bit of negative tax..

You are going to pay the folks on welfare who can and should work with your taxes or by a bit of an increase down the road for milk. Which do you prefer? 9$ simply makes it more attractive.

 

[LunarRay]

Honestly I don't get how you don't understand how pay-check withholdings work, and that you can have your employer change them for you. Google is your friend.

But ok.

Maybe you should say, "Use the form W4 to eliminate tax withholding to the extent you legitimately can."

 

[NoStateofMind]

Honestly I don't get how you don't understand how pay-check withholdings work, and that you can have your employer change them for you. Google is your friend.

But ok.

Maybe you should say, "Use the form W4 to eliminate tax withholding to the extent you legitimately can."

Now I get what you are saying. No disrespect was intended.

Yet many don't utilize the claiming of dependents in fear that they will owe. I'm proposing removing any income tax below a certain thresh hold without fear of IRS tax man knocking on their virtual doors.

 

[OCGuy]

Now I get what you are saying. No disrespect was intended.

Yet many don't utilize the claiming of dependents in fear that they will owe. I'm proposing removing any income tax below a certain thresh hold without fear of IRS tax man knocking on their virtual doors.

No disrespect on my end either, I was astonished that we weren't on the same page.

The "working poor" have an obligation to pay into society just as everyone else does. Otherwise, they should not be represented, just as how if you are taxed, you should have representation.

The only reason the "poor" contribute in my state at all is due to sales tax. That is why a national sales tax is better than the clusterfuck we call a tax-code right now. Everyone pays their share.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

So you are saying that raising the minimum wage hurts the middle class :hmm:

It would effectively be a small wealth transfer from all classes that aren't earning minimum wage--middle class, upper middle class, rich.

As PC Surgeon seemed to be trying to explain, to some extent the poor are already receiving that money in the form of various types of social welfare (Medicaid, food stamps, etc.).

 

[blankslate]

It's a bad idea. After all Lincoln was wrong when he said something to the effect of "Of the people, by the people, for the people"

So naive.

It's really "of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations."

 

[nehalem256]

No disrespect on my end either, I was astonished that we weren't on the same page.

The "working poor" have an obligation to pay into society just as everyone else does. Otherwise, they should not be represented, just as how if you are taxed, you should have representation.

The only reason the "poor" contribute in my state at all is due to sales tax. That is why a national sales tax is better than the clusterfuck we call a tax-code right now. Everyone pays their share.

The national sales tax is the worst idea ever. The poor still wouldn't be contributing because any actual implementation of a national sales tax involved the government sending "refund" checks to people.


The fact that any so called conservatives get behind an idea that involves the government send re-distributive checks to people tells me what a terrible idea it is.

 

[child of wonder]

$9/hr? Someone with zero skills or training should be making only a few dollars an hour less than a medical assistant? Someone doing tech support?

My sister's good for nothing pothead boyfriend makes minimum wage. No way he should be getting $9/hr.

 

[Ausm]

Do you think if we raised the minimum wage then We as taxpayers wouldn't have to subsidize 70% of Walmart's workforce?

 

[Oldgamer]

$9/hr? Someone with zero skills or training should be making only a few dollars an hour less than a medical assistant? Someone doing tech support?

My sister's good for nothing pothead boyfriend makes minimum wage. No way he should be getting $9/hr.

Ummm, computer technicians make a lot more than 9 dollars an hour. Here is a link shows entry level to max level average http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Computer_/_Network_Support_Technician/Salary

National average:

Entry level $24,722 - Maximum level $57,205

Link to Tech Support National Averages:

http://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/technical-support-salary-SRCH_KO0,17.htm

 

[soulcougher73]

We seem to have moved into this mindset that everything will stand still. That no one else will be affected, and companies will merrily raise Bubbah by $2/hr for no given reason They will naturally just take it as a loss. And the investors won't mind, noooooo they don't own part of the company in order to improve profit margins, nope, nope, nope.

Id love to see the stock market go away. This is the reason why. It breeds greed and makes people care about other people less all in the sake of profit and to chase the all mighty god dollar.

 

[child of wonder]

Ummm, computer technicians make a lot more than 9 dollars an hour. Here is a link shows entry level to max level average http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Computer_/_Network_Support_Technician/Salary

National average:

Entry level $24,722 - Maximum level $57,205

Link to Tech Support National Averages:

http://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/technical-support-salary-SRCH_KO0,17.htm

Let's take the Entry level average.

$24,722 / 2080 work hours in a 52 week year at 40 hours per week = $11.89/hr

That's only $2.89 more than the proposed new minimum wage.

 

[Matt1970]

If you are making minimum wage then your career choice is the problem. The trades hire runts with no experience all the time. All the trades around here will pay twice minimum wage if you get good at it.

 

[soulcougher73]

I don't know how I am not clear on this. Again I am speaking on the front end. Income taxes are taken from their check only to give back to them later. Remove this step. Have I cleared up my position?

To say they pay no income taxes because they get it back at the end of the year is not addressing the issue. Those at or below the poverty level need that money now, not at the end of the year.

You can remove that step now by the correct exemptions. But id rather no income tax period for anyone. Just a sales tax

 

[dmcowen674]

If you are making minimum wage then your career choice is the problem.

The trades hire runts with no experience all the time.

All the trades around here will pay twice minimum wage if you get good at it.

How many "trade" jobs do you think there are?

 

[Ausm]

If you are making minimum wage then your career choice is the problem. The trades hire runts with no experience all the time. All the trades around here will pay twice minimum wage if you get good at it.

Trade jobs? What trade jobs are you referring to?

 

[Throckmorton]

The arguments in favor of this don't make a lot of sense. People are making statements like "There is no way that you could raise a family of four on just $7.25 an hour!" Wait a minute, what? Why would you? If you are making so little money, why would you think that it is a good idea to have children in the first place? Minimum wage jobs are not meant to raise an entire family off of. They are meant for high school kids to work their way up and get some experience before they get real jobs later on. I started out in a very low paying jobs, making less than $9, but now that I graduated college, my salary is much, much higher. That's the way it is supposed to work.

It's not high school kids working minimum wage jobs. Those types of jobs are now the majority in our economy.

 

[Throckmorton]

If you are making minimum wage then your career choice is the problem. The trades hire runts with no experience all the time. All the trades around here will pay twice minimum wage if you get good at it.

YOU JUST SOLVED THE WAGE AND UNEMPLOYMENT CRISIS! Trade jobs for all!!!

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Junior mechanics (no experience) where I work start off at $18/hr. Non-union as well.

 

[Throckmorton]

Junior mechanics (no experience) where I work start off at $18/hr. Non-union as well.

How many of those jobs do you think there are? 50 million Americans are currently under the poverty line.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

How many of those jobs do you think there are? 50 million Americans are currently under the poverty line.

Right now there's a big need for shop/field service mechanics throughout the US. The company for whom I work as well as our competitors compete for mechanics to perform maintenance in refineries, power plants, and factories. The problem is everyone wants to get a degree/cushy office job instead of a job that requires manual labor.

 

[yottabit]

I think the current minimum wage could be a problem for areas that have a high cost of living and the federal minimum wage. But that's why it makes sense to adjust at a state level...

Massachusetts for instance is $8.00

Raising the federal minimum wage will disproportionately impact the states and areas with LOW costs of living (south and west) and really make businesses there hurt

Maybe there should be some ratio or index of Cost of Living to minimum wage. Or raise the minimum wage and eliminate some entitlements. I guess that would be a backhanded way of taxing businesses, but it would probably help everyone in the long run.

 

[Theb]

$8.95 in Oregon and no separate rate for tipped workers. Letting the states determine what it should be is reasonable, but the Federal should come up a little bit, $7.25 is crazy.

 

[Matt1970]

It's not high school kids working minimum wage jobs. Those types of jobs are now the majority in our economy.

In 2011 73.9 million American workers age 16 and over were paid at hourly rates, representing 59.1 percent of all wage and salary workers. Among those paid by the hour, 1.7 million were minimum wage.

Less than 2% of the workforce is not the majority.