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Gallup: 76% Of Americans Support A Minimum Wage Increase

pbrauer said:
Raising the minimum wage is good because the money is immediately spent boosting the economy plus there is little evidence it lowers employment levels. Of course conservatives will come up with anecdotal evidence trying to prove their point, but whenever the minimum wage is raised in Oregon employment isn't hurt.
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Considering that about half of americans are on the government tit, who cares? The vast majority (like yourself) have no concept of how such increases hurt everyone across the board and do NOT have the positive effect that is often claimed.
 
pbrauer said:
Not true, the selling price of items is mostly controlled by supply and demand.
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Not really. In a high-competition market, that might be true. In the current market, companies will balance price against sales. They will keep the price as high as they can without significantly reducing sales. And that is on normal goods. Take something like gasoline, where about 75% of the price is actually taxes by state and federal agencies, it is far less of a factor.
 
pbrauer said:
Raising the minimum wage is good because the money is immediately spent boosting the economy plus there is little evidence it lowers employment levels. Of course conservatives will come up with anecdotal evidence trying to prove their point, but whenever the minimum wage is raised in Oregon employment isn't hurt.
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Poor example. Try doing your comparison in a state where the employment situation isn't already totally in the crapper. Also, imagine what your states employment rate would look like if they did what the rest of America did and allow self-service gasoline.
 
First of all, calling me "far right" is a clear demonstration of your..."intelligence".

Second, I would treat anyone with scorn and ridicule when they think that they can spend my money better than I can. If you make minimum wage, there is a clear, defined, market-based reason why. All else is just blind ideology, wishful thinking, and jealousy.
 
Gipper said:
First of all, calling me "far right" is a clear demonstration of your..."intelligence".

Second, I would treat anyone with scorn and ridicule when they think that they can spend my money better than I can. If you make minimum wage, there is a clear, defined, market-based reason why. All else is just blind ideology, wishful thinking, and jealousy.
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Uh, just out of curiosity, to whom are you speaking?
 
Gipper said:
Whoops...it was to haymarket. Could've sworn I hit the "reply with quote" button. My bad.

Next time you see him, tell him I said all that.
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Ok, but why would I want to talk to haymarket anymore than any other sensible intelligent person would?
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Millions of people have come here illegally, with very little education and poor English speaking skills, yet they found work. You are very confused if you think that filled jobs are available. Having a surplus of "workers"? More likely a desire to replace some slackers. I think you meant to say that there is now a surplus of those that are not workers, that would be competing for every open position except that they have found that the dole makes working into an option.
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Umm, no. I am not interested in having American workers work as near slave labor. If that is what prosperity looks like to you, then there is no help for you.
 
Dezaad said:
Umm, no. I am not interested in having American workers work as near slave labor. If that is what prosperity looks like to you, then there is no help for you.
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If that is the position they create for themselves, why shouldn't they. I have no problems with it. At the rate we bleed off jobs and resources, it is not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when" we all end up there.

I just love your bleeding heart attitude also, don't want to see Americans doing it, but what the hell, it's ok for Mexicans, Chinese and everyone else in the world to do so. Other than luck of the draw at birth, what makes Americans so undeserving of having to live with their own choices but everyone else deserving?
 
Gipper said:
First of all, calling me "far right" is a clear demonstration of your..."intelligence".

Second, I would treat anyone with scorn and ridicule when they think that they can spend my money better than I can. If you make minimum wage, there is a clear, defined, market-based reason why. All else is just blind ideology, wishful thinking, and jealousy.
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There were clear defined market reason why the Roman Empire's economy disintegrated in the centuries leading up to the 5th. There are clear, defined market reasons for all economic developments. It's a statement on the equivalent of saying, "Homosexuality is unnatural."

Libertarians have this notion that if somebody agrees to work for a sum of money that somebody else is willing to pay, then that necessarily means their labor is being paid at the appropriate value. Value in terms of a personal worth and self-judgment is definitely that subjective, but value in terms of a sustainable market is not. The "appropriate value" is the amount that sustains productivity over a long period of time, not what employers can get away with until the market comes out from under their feet (as during the Great Depression, the 2008 recession, and to some extent all previous Dark Ages of human history).
 
Arbo said:
Considering that about half of americans are on the government tit, who cares? The vast majority (like yourself) have no concept of how such increases hurt everyone across the board and do NOT have the positive effect that is often claimed.
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Wow, you guys still believe that 47% number, don't you? :lamo

Feel free to post some evidence of how everyone gets hurt.
 
Deuce said:
Wow, you guys still believe that 47% number, don't you? :lamo
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feel free to disprove it. I eagerly await a link to democrat underground or mother jones. :lamo

Feel free to post some evidence of how everyone gets hurt.
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So you don't understand basic economics? I'll note that for future reference.
 
Fisher said:
I don't think it will make a lick of difference either way, so have at it. $50 an hour works for me.
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I would vote for that. I like to be paid large sums of money. It usually makes me smile.
 
vasuderatorrent said:
I would vote for that. I like to be paid large sums of money. It usually makes me smile.
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Get it all in singles so you can feel like a baller making it rain all up in the Mickey D's, yo.
 
Let me ask you a question.

If 75% of people agree to it, does it means its right or true? What if an increase in minimum wage means that certain companies who don't value a current employee at that amount find someone else more qualified? The big problem with these type of policies is that we often ignore the adverse effects. It sounds good, as if everyone will get an increase but really, companies don't do things that aren't profitable, and by creating minimum wage, they won't hire people who aren't worth it. Instead of creating and adjusting policy to fight the profit incentive, why not create policy that encourages it?
 
DVSentinel said:
Because they have demonstrated that they deserve it.

We went out into the world to make it safe for freedom and prosperity, only to return home and find a socialist upon our own throne.
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Once upon a time - not too long ago - warriors of the far right would deny they treat their fellow Americans with contempt and scorn. Now they proudly admit it and wear their vitriol as a badge of honor.

Its a sad commentary on just how extreme the far right has become.
 
haymarket said:
Once upon a time - not too long ago - warriors of the far right would deny they treat their fellow Americans with contempt and scorn. Now they proudly admit it and wear their vitriol as a badge of honor.

Its a sad commentary on just how extreme the far right has become.
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They hate what has been to our nation also? cool.
 
pbrauer said:
Raising the minimum wage is good because the money is immediately spent boosting the economy plus there is little evidence it lowers employment levels. Of course conservatives will come up with anecdotal evidence trying to prove their point, but whenever the minimum wage is raised in Oregon employment isn't hurt.
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I oppose minimum wage laws on principle. I would never forbid two other people from making whatever employment arrangements they wish. That's their business, not mine, and I have not moral right to interfere.
 
Arbo said:
feel free to disprove it. I eagerly await a link to democrat underground or mother jones. :lamo
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The 47% of Americans who "pay no [federal] income taxes" includes retired seniors and deployed combat troops. Go ahead, call them leeches on society. I'll wait.



So you don't understand basic economics? I'll note that for future reference.
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I understand that the real world is more complicated than that Econ 101 class you may or may not have taken. The real world requires evidence.
 
Deuce said:
The 47% of Americans who "pay no [federal] income taxes" includes retired seniors and deployed combat troops. Go ahead, call them leeches on society. I'll wait.




I understand that the real world is more complicated than that Econ 101 class you may or may not have taken. The real world requires evidence.
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That 47% is now down to 43%, thanks to (fill in the blank).
 
Morality Games said:
This really shouldn't be something to argue about.

Wages never increase proportionately with the supply and quality of goods and services because laborers are locked into their employment by their life situations, which means industry leaders can stall out increasing wages while capitalizing on the profits to expand their businesses by attracting more investors and expanding operations to new markets. No matter how little a company's success translates into a pay raise for the little guy, it takes a long time before selling your house, uprooting your family, and taking a gamble on a new job somewhere else seems like a more economically feasible option.

Such cost cutting measures have obvious short term advantages for individual economic units, but it undermines capitalism on the whole because making wealth inaccessible depresses the labor necessary to create it. While each individual unit only adds to this problem bit by tiny bit, all of them adding to it together over long periods of time creates significant problem spots in our market.

Even Adam Smith knew that.
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If that were true, then why do countries like China have wages increases that are outpacing gains in productivity? Why are tens of millions of people lifted out of global poverty every year? You'd think they'd be getting poorer, if everything you say is true.
 
Deuce said:
The 47% of Americans who "pay no [federal] income taxes" includes retired seniors and deployed combat troops. Go ahead, call them leeches on society. I'll wait.
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Paying no income taxes doesn't mean 'leeches', it means they pay no income taxes. That's all. So it seems while you first claim it is a false number, you have yet to disprove it.


I understand that the real world is more complicated than that Econ 101 class you may or may not have taken. The real world requires evidence.
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This has nothing to do with wage increases, but it does fit well with your lack of evidence about the number of people that pay no income taxes.
 
ReformCollege said:
If that were true, then why do countries like China have wages increases that are outpacing gains in productivity? Why are tens of millions of people lifted out of global poverty every year? You'd think they'd be getting poorer, if everything you say is true.
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... because their governments force them to.

It also helps that they were undervalued to begin with, and that the international jobs market has become more competitive as foreign corporations are stretched to capacity trying to find new unexploited sources of labor.
 
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