Federal Minimum Wage

[Eadora]

Hello Again:

Well I thought this topic was covered quite well on another thread, But.

When the minimum wage is below the poverty line.

When a person cannot feed, cloth and shelter himself on a 40 hr. or, even 60 hr. Minimum wage job.

THEN, they have to be subsidized by YOUR tax dollars.

The government cannot tolerate large numbers of people starving or freezing to death in the streets.

If they had to rely on the minimum wage without any social safety net whatever they would soon succumb to the serious problem of survival. People who cannot feed, cloth and shelter themselves would soon find that they are unable to work. Starving in the cold

Would such a situation be advisable, would it be wise, would it be moral, would it be Christian?

SO THEY HAVE TO BE SUBSIDIZED, AND THEY ARE NOW SUBSIDIZED BY THE GOVERNMENT WITH YOUR TAX DOLLARS>

Food stamps, rent vouchers, etc. etc.

Why do you think the government subsidizes them?

Because the alternative is not an option.

If you cut such subsidies without introducing a livable minimum wage as many here would seem to want to do. You will soon create social problems that are manageable only with repression, guns, and trained attack dogs.

Like Marie Antonette said:

[irishcowboy]

something people must realize,

minimum wage is not the reason people are not able to make ends meet.

the problem is that there are people that jump from job to job thinking that is the answer..... for instance, a young man is working at a grocery store, making more then minimum. a friend offered him a position at another establishment, that would be starting at a higher wage, the first place he was working was only a block a way from his house, the new job would be 15 miles away, the extra income would be eat up in fuel cost.

about two months went by, and his car broke down, being he had not saved any money, and had not planed on any contingencies, he no longer had any transportation, and thus after about a week of riding a borrowed bicycle to and from work, he lost his job from being late.

we ( this house hold ) currently has a weekly budget of about 250 dollars. We would like to get our budget needs down to about 200 dollars a week.

you might ask WHY such a low budget? well, that is so when hard times come, we can use our monies set aside for budget needs and are able to make them stretch and stretch. each of us brings in more then 200 a week, it only makes sense that we set our budget needs lower then the lowest paid person earning monies for the household.

most people are not happy earning a little bit, they want it all....

another problem, people have been deceived, they have been told that a GED is as good as a HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA. well, yes, and not. a GED is better then no paper, but a GED only says that you have the smarts to do the work but also says you are a quitter ( that is what employers are seeing ) these days, a High School Diploma is nothing either, a person must have some follow on education to pick up and start anywhere. everything is so high tech. with the GED even if you go to college, you will have to take extra classes to get to the finish line...

it use to be a person could get into a technical field with out follow on education such as an apprentiship program for pipe fitters, sheet metal workers, electrical, so forth and so on, anymore these trades seem to be disappearing. find a school that teaches plumbing..... very hard to come by.... you might find bunches that teach heating and air, mostly for the air...... try to find one that teaches the electrical field, again very few......in the area i am in, there are more plumbers then there are electricians, and the electricians are at least twice the fee for service call then the plumbers. and they do not want the little job, they want the big jobs.....

one thing I have a problem with, is that I have trouble getting some one to work, they love the pay check, but they don't want to do the work for it...

oh yea,

why would it be so bad for people to live with in their means..... i know of people that have their big screen tlelvissions, cable, satalite, cell phones go out to eat all the time, and are always complaining about not having money.

we do not have cable or satty tv, no cell phone, we have one vehicle for family use, and one for business. we have two being worked ot ( to restor ( one being a 67 cutlass, the other an 82 monte ) we do not buy designer jeans shirts, or shoes or coats, not even the 5 pair of coveralls are not carhart. we eat in, not out... eating out is a special occassion only, but we also eat good.

there are people that will use the excuse that they are trusting in God to provide, but when they are squandering their earnings, and buting everything in site before the bills are paid, that is not trusting in God, that is just coveting everything.

a budget wil work wonders. with in 3 - 4 years, we hope to have our monthly budget needs down to about 400 a month. this would include all utilities, and other bills.

mike

mike

[ted]

That brings up an interesting co-topic.

I wonder just how much of people's financial woes are self inflicted, rather than a problem with some minimum wage issue.

Are some people simply living beyond their abilities and then claiming they don't make enough?

Should the burden be carried by companies when people want to live beyond their needs?

I can understand not making enough to survive, and that can be a legitimate issue, but does it come to a point where the wants become the needs based on a false sense of societal parity?

In other words, are people simply spending beyond their means and then claiming that they don't make enough money, based on keeping up with the Jones's?

t.

[Guest shiloh357]

Minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage. No one has ever expected anyone to raise a family on that amount of money.

It only reflects the minimum that an employer can legally pay.

The truth is that if someone does not have a skill/trade or education, they are doomed to work low wage jobs for the rest of their lives.

Even people with skills and education have a hard time finding steady work given the fact that so many jobs are being outsourced, and company mergers and down sizing allow for more layoffs.

So if the skilled and educated are having it a bit rough in certain areas, how much more so the uneducated and unskilled?

Only in rare cases are those without any formal education going to get above poverty level. Those are people with an exceptional talent/idea and are fortunate to have someone with the needed capital to invest in their idea.

[Guest yod]

Why do you think the government subsidizes them?

Because they can't find an entry level job...or are too lazy to work!

Employers no longer do on-the-job training because they can't afford it when the minimum wage gets too high. Instead, they only hire people who already have experience.

And finding a dependable person to work these days is nearly impossible. If you proove to your employer that you will show up on time and do the work right, you WILL be advanced beyond everyone else and will never have to worry about minimum wage.

[irishcowboy]

I currently live in the lowest cost of living area in the USA, a person can get an apartment or house rent as low as 150 dollars a month, and upto 900 a month.

Gasoline is right now at aboout 160 a gallon. milk is at about 325 a gallon and up.

I pay a high school student 6 bucks an hour, usually more then what they are actually earning, the young lady that mows our yard is getting about 20 an hour supplying her own mower, fuel, oil and transportation, she is getting 6 an hour when i have her doing other things then mowing.

as a trainee in my employ, they start at 7 an hour, until they come close to earning 7 then i will increase it. Most that i have hired do not stay long enough to even learn the job well enough to warrent paying more then that, and that is while they are being trained. I pay more then what the person is worth to me, while a person is being trained, they have to have some one else with them, so twice the pay is going out for less then the full amount of work, cause during training, the work slows down so the trainee can learn it, but yet two people are being paid for less then one persons work.

my oldest son knows the work better then two or even three of the others i have hired, and has since his freshman year in High School. he dont even care about working, or even making money, he is set to live a life on a very low budget and will do good with it, if he chooses.

the best way to get the income to match the out go ( expendatures ) is by cutting the expendatures.

dad told me when i was a kid, that if I buy a car first, that the car will be my ownly possesion, but if i get every thing else first, then the car will fit in later.

dad was right, i had a car, and it took everything i had to keep it going, repairs, taxes, tags, insurance, fuel.... i got rid of it, and saved and then was able to get other items i needed and then the car fit in and maintenance is minimul.....

well, guess i best go and do some more work.

blessings all

mike

[Eadora]

Yoh! My Friends:

Mr. & Mrs. Mike Irish

Quote

[Guest shiloh357]

I ask for no hand out here. I ask only for fair wage and fair play. Not only for the low end wage earner. But for the taxpayer also!.

When a person walks into a shop and agrees to work for minimum, what can you do?

If they raise minimum, they will have to raise all other hourly wages the same amount as well to be fair to the senior employees. This will potentially rob incentive from businesses to hire more people, and perhaps reduce the current staff, and make the remaining employees work harder to compensate for the lost personnel. If reducing personnel is not an option, then raising prices, and passing the min. wage hike on to the consumer is another very real option.

Fair wage and fair play amounts to workers showing their employers that they are worth the time and expense. You don't payed more for what you do, until you do more than what you get payed for.

[traveller]

In SUM,  If we must pay more for our socks, underwear,  and computers to allow the most vulnerable members of our society to live at a tolerable subsistence living then so be it.  We must pay at least that price!

I ask for no hand out here. I ask only for fair wage and fair play.  Not only for the low end wage earner.  But for the taxpayer also!.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's the problem. We pay more for the socks and underwear, the cost of living has increased. The minimum wage earner also has to pay more. It's a cycle.

[irishcowboy]

SORRY,

However, if a person does budget their income, and strive to improve themselves, and instead of looking at being on the job 8 hours a day, and look at it as they will do the best job they can while they are there, they might actually increase their pay.

if a person ( namely us, this household with two teenage boys ) can get their budget down to 250 a week, and striving to drop it even further, have no credit cards, and do not use them. why can't those that only get minimum do the same thing? I do not, nor have i ever received food stamps ( even when i was earning less then others around me, that had the same number of children..... never was eligible for WIC either.... but guess what? if a person can have food stamps and wic and earn minimum, then they can make it if they choose to......

those that want the BIG SCREEN TV;s and the massive entertainment systems, and the fast looking cars and the boats adn ............ then complain about not having money for food, or utilities or rent, then they best get their priorities in order. when my work starts running dry, my spending is cut back, GREATLY CUT BACK !!!!! we do not buy what we do not need if the money coming in slows down.

If we can not pay tithe, then we can not buy a McDonalds, if we can not bay the electric, we do not pay bugger king or windies. we tighten our belts, and have beans and cornbread.

by the way, if you look in our cupboards, they are full of food, and you will always find several pounds of various types of dryed beans. and the freezer? yea, when in time of plenty, it gets stocked, then when in time of famine ( so to speak, ) it is used. we have fish, chicken, pork, turkey, beef, deer for our meats, and corn, tomatos, peas, green beans ......and and and.....

a person making minimum can bring in close to 200 a week, if a husband and wife are working ( as are most now days ) that would be close to 400 a week, for about 1600 a month, with a rental ( even a high dollar one at 600 a month ) that still allows 1000 for food, and utilities and other needed things. if you can not live on that, then best start adjusting your spending......... FAST !!!!!!!!

oh yea, when i could not afford it, i had to let the internet drop, there has also been times i was unable to have a phone, and times that gas for the truck was hard to come by. as far as CABLE we do not have it, there is nothing on it worth the money. we do not buy soda pop very often, we do not buy much of anything that is not actually needed.

how many people do you know that are having a hard time making it that have cable and a cell phone? makes you wonder where their priorities are.

if a person needs to access a computer or the internet and can not afford the internet time, then they might ask a friend, or even sue the public library computers. no need to spend money required for food on stuff that you can not eat.

mike