Raising the minimum wage- Page 3

[musicalfandukie]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 4:21pm

i think it's a good idea to raise..with gas prices and everything going up people have to be able to afford to live.

Posted: 10/14/04 at 4:23pm

but my point is (and has been for the whole thread) that MY pay isn't going to go up.

[Zola Q. LaPlaya]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 4:24pm

Actually, lifting people out of poverty is a bonus for all taxpayers, Rodney. You will not have to finance as many social programs for poor Americans.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 4:27pm

"Actually, lifting people out of poverty is a bonus for all taxpayers, Rodney. You will not have to finance as many social programs for poor Americans."

Yeah Rodney. You remember those social programs the Democrats saddled us with. They keep screaming about ending the war in Iraq. Well the war on poverty has been going on for over 40 years and the Dems aren't looking to end that anytime soon.

[Zola Q. LaPlaya]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 4:32pm

Gotham, grow up. The war on poverty was enormously successful when it first began. In fact, the slip into greater poverty started three years ago. Each year since 2001, we have experienced greater and greater poverty -- and worse yet, extreme poverty (that is, living at half the poverty line, or about $7000 per year for a family of three).

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 4:33pm

You raise the min wage when the economy is expanding, so low-level workers can have a chance to share in economic expansion.

This is why I don't get the right's mindset on this -- they know that this is true...but, they want to simultaneously claim the economy is doing well AND that we shouldn't raise the minimum wage. It's just silly. The poor are doing the gruntwork...it would be ethically irresponsible to not give them (us) their fair share of the help they need -- especially given the horrid statistics on poverty in America for those working min wage jobs.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 4:36pm

"In fact, the slip into greater poverty started three years ago. Each year since 2001, we have experienced greater and greater poverty"

What source did this come from?

Posted: 10/14/04 at 4:42pm

and the $7,000 per year number.... that's $3.365385 per hour.

I too pay just over a grand for a 600 sqft studio (Chicago)

[robbiej]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 4:48pm

Same source as your claim that your church would be charged with a hate crime if it read Leviticus to its congregation, maybe?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 4:56pm

"Same source as your claim that your church would be charged with a hate crime if it read Leviticus to its congregation, maybe?"

I expect that from a Democrat. Can't cite a source because they made it up, then they change the subject when you ask them to prove it.

Posted: 10/14/04 at 4:57pm

Well, that's what Ann Coulter says they do.

Gotham, you and I need to ge together and reproduce.

[robbiej]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 5:01pm

I didn't make anything up. And it's not my fight to fight. Zola can do well enough on his own.

I am still waiting, however, for your source of information that told you a minister preaching Leviticus will be prosecuted under hate crime statutes.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 5:01pm

I'm hoping Ann Coulter will run for Prez in 2008. Hillary would croak if she did.

If you want to see Ann Coulter at her best, watch the footage where Katie Couric interviews her. Katie got so mad she could barely conduct the interview.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 5:02pm

dear God no.

Posted: 10/14/04 at 5:03pm

robbiej, who? me?

I didn't say that.

I know that Leviticus is in the bible and that's all I know about it. I'm trying to purge my babtist upbringing from my head, but I'm not done yet.

Ann Coulter is a Goddess

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 5:03pm

Earlier, RobbieJ maade the same point that we were discussing at lunch today. I would gladly see my taxes raised if it meant health care coverage for the uninsured or underemployed. Another percent or two of my income isn't going to alter my life much in one direction or another. When Bush's tax refund check came in September 2001, it was a pleasant little windfall that I used to buy theater tickets. I would ultimately have preferred that he kept the money and didn't bankrupt social security or underfund social programs.

You want to talk about investing in the future? It's about pulling together as a nation and making sure that no one is hungry or uneducated, and making sure that they can see a doctor and be treated when they are sick. Its about making sure that those people who are flipping your hamburgers at Wendy's have benefits that include health care. The "get a job" mentality is so oblivious of the profound disadvantages one can created by working hard in job that doesn't pay a liveable wage and provides no benefits. George Bush's patronizing, smirky, condescending blather about what his administration is doing to address poverty and education is nothing more than a bunch of obnoxious and superficial sound bytes.

Posted: 10/14/04 at 5:04pm

If you'd ever been in the military you'd know how terrible socialized medicine is.

[robbiej]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 5:07pm

I can't believe it took this long for someone to recognize what I said earlier.

Why? Because our Repub friends don't want to actually believe that there are people in this world who would gladly pay higher taxes so that the burden on the truly disenfranchised is eased.

They'd rather believe that all Americans sit around and gripe about their taxes. But that isn't the case. Not at all.

Posted: 10/14/04 at 5:08pm

"Oh I just heard Ann was at the white sale down at the KKK-mart!"

that's uncalled for.

[robbiej]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 5:10pm

Rodney,

Why aren't you dealing with the fact that there are people (and I dare say many) who would gladly contribute more in taxes if healthcare is made available to all Americans?

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 5:13pm

Rodney, like most republicans, does not deal with substance. If he finds a piece of info that supports his pre-determined agenda, it gets thrown into a debate immediately. The reason he can't deal with the issue is because he is not equipped even with a slanted study that says anything even remotely like what he would need to substantiate his claim.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 5:21pm

Robbie...at the salary levels you or I are at, a "tax break" just doesn't have much of an impact on day to day life. The impact of paying $1000 more in taxes a year, would be felt...or NOT felt...as $20 a week. I would think that was money well spent if it was funding health care or education. Jeez...that the cost of parking in Port Authority for an evening...

[robbiej]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 5:23pm

That is one less cab home for me a week.

I'd gladly give that up and hop on the dreaded N to make sure a kid can see a doctor or actually learn how to read.

Posted: 10/14/04 at 5:25pm

If Rodney and Gotham are going to hook up, then I think at the very least Iflit and I should have some sort of cyber marriage of convenience to fall back on.

Posted: 10/14/04 at 5:26pm

I've said it before and I'll say it again.
Socialized Health Care Sucks. I've lived it.

AND as far as the $1,000 a year, $20 a week goes, OK I give that much to the people on the streets.