"Republican Senator John Thune has rejected an effort from congressional Democrats to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15, pointing to his $6 or less hourly wages that he earned working at a restaurant as a ?kid?."
Thune graduated from Jones County High School in Murdo, South Dakota in
1979, when a $6 hourly wage ? adjusted to modern inflation rates ? would amount to roughly $23 in 2021 dollars.
But he thinks, or he wants you to think, that if he got by on $6 or less, people 41 years later should get by on 7.50.
Are you aware that there are people who, no matter how hard they try, will never have more than minimum skills? The retarded bagger at the grocery store, for example.
Next you'll be bitching that those minimal-skills people are getting food stamps because they can't afford to live on minimum wage.
Try not to trip as you step across their dead bodies in the streets.
Sometimes the minimum skilled jobs are really necessary and should pay more. Take the garbage collection. Not much skill to drive the truck and pick up the cans. However if someone did not do that job the country would be in bad shape after a while. Even the people stocking the shelves or checking out people at the stores require minimum skills but are needed. There just seems to be more people with minimal skills than there are jobs for them, so the wages are low. It is more of a supply and demand.
Except for some areas like the medical and legal profession. While not really union, the BAR and Medical association have those areas set so they make lots of money. For example you can not just start up a hospital with out getting their approval, but you can put up a service station next to one if you have the money to do it. There are a limiated number of medical schools.
Another argument for a higher minimum wage is that don't we want people to have a positive experience going to work for the first time? Isn't it better that they make a decent amount so that they see that it's worth it? The biggest negative impact would be on businesses that have foreign competition and need low cost US labor to compete. Those jobs would be lost if they can't continue to compete with imports. Without that effect, economics 101 says that businesses will pass on that increased cost to us. A good question is how much effect it would actually have on us. Like a big mac would go from $4 to ?? A Walmart purchase would go from X to ??
Hey, I made under a dollar an hour as an apprentice mechanic back in '69 and '70 - but gas cost less than50cents a gallon - often less than a quarter - and a loaf of bread was 19 to 25 cents. I bought my first (8 year old) car for $60. A frozen TV dinner was under 50 cents, a hamburger about 50 cents, a gallon of milk about 75 or 80 cents. I bought 4 new tires for my mini for 9 dollars each. If I remember correctly I paid $49 for a GOOD suit.
When I got my mechanics papers in 1972 I made $5000 my first year. I think I made $40 or $50 a day as a supply teacher. in 1973 A new Gremlin or Hornet or chevy pickup was about $2800 By 1975 base rate was from $5 to $8.50 an hour
In 2018 I billed $35 an hour - 7 times what I earned in in 1975. Tires cost about 10 times as much - Hamburger more than 10X - a new pickup about 10X. The basics of life have increased at a higher rate than average income - and the difference between the high and low earners has increased - and only the "extres" like tech have dropped in the number of hours required to buy - making the discrepancy between the "subsistance earner" and the middle class much more noticeable. ANf that's not evenlooking at the cost of a roof over your head. The house we sold in 1981 for $50000 sells today for in excess of $700,000. Houses went up 23-27% last year alone locally - our house we paid $67000 for in 1982 would bring something close to (or over) $800 grand in today's market - and it's no castle - a 1320 sq ft 2 story brick and aluminum siding 45 year old suburban house with single garage on a roughly 1/3 acre corner lot. You can't buy even a townhouse that's fit to live in for $300000 and rent for a 2 bedroom apartment under $1000 (plus utilities) is getting pretty hard to find as well.
a couple working for $7.50 per hour working 45 hour weeks and taking no hollidays MIGHT manage to earn $38000 a year with some overtime - between the two of them. That's not going to leave much money for "extras" - or much time to enjoy them. A couple can get by - sharing many costs - but for a single on $18000??? Good luck
I'd like to see Thune get by on twice that - - - --
Not to mention the kids of those earning minimum wage or slightly more can't even DREAM of going to college or university to better themselves. Almost 20% of Texans don't even have a high school education In west virginia roughly 18% HAVE A 4 YEAR HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA or more and over 32% make under $25000 a year.
And the "service station" guy is NOT a "low skills" guy unless all he does is pump gas (what's that? in all bur a couple states) and changes oil. An automotive technician takes 4 years of study after secondary school - over half of what it takes a lawyer. Yes, I know many states do not regulate automotive technicians with a mandatory licensing system - but they SHOULD. And I know quite a few "mechanics" with university degrees who went "back to school" to get a trade after their university degrees didn't get them a "job"
While that seems to make a lot of sense at first glance, some people are morn with minimal capacity. They do not have the ability to improve. Maybe $5 is enough for them?
I've hired people like that and though limited did a fine job and were reliable. No need to starve them. If you cannot pay $10 today you don't deserve to be in business.
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