Comments on: Behind the minimum wage debate

By: Deka, Syracuse, New York

Deka, Syracuse, New York — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:13:00 +0000

I am a 16 year old residing in the state of New York and I work a minimum wage job at Mcdonald’s. I believe that the work tha we do there is way harder than sitting on our bottoms answering phones all day and making way higher pay. I know my job might not take much skill except for rapidness maybe but we work too hard for $7.15 an hour. We stand on our feet for hours on end with no break unless we are working a 6 hour shift or more. Even then the break is only 30 minutes and given when you have about 4 and half hours left on your shift. Minimum wage is oo low for anyone’s LABOR. I didn’t say time, I said labor. Some jobs require your time and maybe a little labor paying you high wages while minimum wage paying jobs work you way harder and pay you way less!!! Someone needs to do something about this!!

By: bc, LA, CA

bc, LA, CA — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 04:42:57 +0000

You’d also be able to collect taxes now from people since illegals are not paying taxes and sending the money back to their countries. Businesses will be able to get tax deductions for paying someone $1/hr. The American making $1/hr will most likely spend that money in America and continue to add to the ecomomy.

By: EBC, Gary, Indiana

EBC, Gary, Indiana — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:49:51 +0000

I am a small business owner and I can assure you that a minimum wage increase will NOT benefit anyone except the politicians.
- First, the income of those earning minimum wage will go up their purchasing power will not. It is no coincidence that inflation increased dramatically in conjunction with the current round of minimum wage increases. Additionally, blue collar workers, those who are more likely to be the primary household income earners, will see decreased purchasing power because they will have to pay increased prices for goods without a commensurate increase in their pay. – Second – The increase will cost jobs. I work for a family business that provides about 250 jobs working in restaurants. Some of those jobs are at minimum wage and many of them are not. A number of employees that started at minimum wage now earn $40,000, $50,000, or even $60,000 plus per year. The reason we can pay those wages is because we are not forced to pay inflated wages to new employees who waste three weeks of our time and money only to find out that they are lazy, dishonest, or only got a job because Mom said they had to. I can tell you that we are working very hard just to pay the bills and an additional increse as suggested by
barack Obame WILL force us to close the doors. WE will go bankrupt.
Third – Many politicians KNOW that minimum wage increases cost jobs because they hurt small business. NOT the large corporations that have overpaid CEO’s, but guys like me who work 70-80 hours a week, sacrifice time with our kids and families, and live under a great deal of stress trying to figure out how to deal with rising cost pressures so that well be able to pay the bills next month. YET, those politicians will support the increase because they know it’s popular with blue collars workers who have been brainwashed by their unions into thinking it increases their standard of living when it actually decreases it for the reasons stated above AND because (and no politician ever mentions this) IT GENERATES MORE TAX REVENUE FOR THE VERY POLITICIANS SUPPORTING IT.

By: URB, Lancaster, California

URB, Lancaster, California — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:59:34 +0000

it’s the dollar. we are not on the gold standard anymore. we are on the minimum wage standard. raise the minimum wage, see your purchasing power decline.

By: Rick new milford ct

Rick new milford ct — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:51:41 +0000

$9.00 an hour? Even $20 I find it hard to hold on to the american dream. The 2.5 % increase every year less then the cost of living. With the increase in utilities and fuel cost ect.. I seem to be robbing peter to pay paul. Mean while the big corporations spend billions on sporting events. Like Nascar which I like watching but give me a break. The salaries and bonuses and stock options are making me sick. And year after year I fall further behind by .5%. Do the math….5% times every year you are on the job. The utilities are getting there 3%…

By: Tommie Poole, douglasville ga

Tommie Poole, douglasville ga — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:53:57 +0000

Most employers already pay around $9.00hr to start. When I left college in 1993 I was offered a $9hr job in the wharehouse of a local grocery store. Raising the minimum wage will not allow for coropations to rip off their customers and employees. This will stop a lot of greed!!!

By: Bruce, Homestead, Fl

Bruce, Homestead, Fl — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:23:02 +0000

First, why are wages increasing? Let me think, oh, cost of materials increase, federal taxes, import taxes, export taxes, it is mostly about government taking more money. In the end, everything we buy cost more so we need more to just buy what we used to.

Why must we have taxes. To promote supporting those who have learned they will get supported because for some reason, they are owed or can not do it for themselves.

Put in perspective. I want a number 1 combo at some fast food place. The cost is always about one dollar under minimum wage. So in 2009, it will be $6.25 versus 5.50 right now. In the future, it will still be one dollar under the current minimum wage of the time.

By: Greg, Alexandria, VA

Greg, Alexandria, VA — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:33:01 +0000

And one more thing…for everyone who mentions “those CEO’s that make millions,” how many CEO’s out there make that much? In 2003 there were around 5,679,500 small firms with employees in the US, according to census data. You really think many of those owners make millions? No, but you cling to this idea that business owners are rich, evil people who are out to exploit the innocent workers. You point to a few examples and make that out to be the norm. That’s just not reality…

By: Greg, Alexandria, VA

Greg, Alexandria, VA — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:24:00 +0000

My family owns a business, and I can tell you that an increase in minimum wage would be a disaster. For one, if you raise minimum wage, you have to raise the salary of most of your employees (the higher paid employees will want to make more than a new higher). We have around 80 employees and it would cost us over $200,000 a year.
What I find amusing is that some of the people who complain about companies going overseas also say we should raise minimum wage (Obama comes to mind…). Why do you think companies go overseas?!?! It is too expensive to do business in the US. And let me tell you, we aren’t sitting on millions of dollars while our employees make minimum wage.

At the end of the day, people who criticize business for the minimum wage debate have no idea how hard most businesses work to stay competitive. But please, raise our taxes and minimum wage and then wonder where all the jobs go.

By: Dave, Lincoln, NE

Dave, Lincoln, NE — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:44:05 +0000

Your suggestion that raising the minimum wage will inject more consumer spending into the economy demonstrates a very limited understanding of business. The additional money spent by employers on increased wages will come from one of three places.

1) When possible employers will raise prices. To the extent that this happens, any increase in spending will be eaten up by inflation.

2) Some employers, including my company, will attempt to reduce the number of employees in order to limit the impact on costs. We are in the process of eliminating our weaker employees to become more efficient. Cutting staff to balance wage increases does not increase disposable income. My company’s goal is eliminate 3/4ths of the cost increase by trimming staff and raising prices to cover the balance.

3) Other companies will eliminate full-time positions in favor of using more part time staff. The biggesst savings here is in terms of eliminating benefits like retirement and health coverage. Employers who choose this option may actually increase the amount of money available for spending, but I cannot believe that anyone would look at this as a benefit to our society.

By: Shizuka, Cockeysville, Maryland

Shizuka, Cockeysville, Maryland — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 14:37:09 +0000

Raising the minimum wage will only harm those workers more, as businesses will not hire or keep employees they cannot afford. This is particularly true for small businesses, which will suffer terribly. People who think all business owners just sit on a magical pot of cash are fools. Many of these small business owners are just normal every day people trying to make a living. This whole class warfare thing is rather silly, as society will always have it’s tiers, whether people like it or not.

The issue of poverty is a very complex one in that it’s not just economic but cultural as well. I would have to agree when people say education and improving skills is the key to escaping it. However poverty is also a tricky animal to deal with because many poor people have problems that prevent them from obtaining said education. Not everyone who fails to earn a high school diploma willingly dropped out, nor are they always stupid people. Instead of offering doles and minimum wages why not spend the tax money on programs where people can gain skills of value to society.

I had to leave my home at 18, due to a hostile and negligent home environment. I been fighting tooth and nail to obtain my GED,earn money to obtain what I need to learn to drive, and all the while enduring the scathing opinion of people who think all poor people are poor by choice and choose to stay that way. I would prefer the pure capitalism, at least then I could get a job instead of struggling to find one because employers can’t afford them.

This bizarre pseudo-socialism thing we have going on really isn’t working. If the government is really so compelled to hand out anything, provide skills and education. Doles keep poor people poor and high minimum wages put them out of jobs.

Just offering the opinion of someone living in poverty, who doesn’t believe socialism or any of it’s relatives to be the cure for our economic woes. Poor people who think this is the way to go are just being deluded by a pie in the sky, they to look at reality or else they’ll never escape the cycle.

By: Tommy Welch Bernice La.

Tommy Welch Bernice La. — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:24:23 +0000

there should be 2 types of minimum wage 1 should be school age and 1 should be for the person trying to make a living on minimum wage. school kids do not need to make as much as an adult. this would help (not cure) some problems with teens and drugs

By: Janice

Janice — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:58:11 +0000

Minimum wage jobs were always for teens.

Being Canadian, I had one for 5 years back in the 80s at 2.65 for student rate and then 3.00 for adult rate. It helped while trying to get an education. The Canadian minimum rate is over 10.00 now. Their economy is stronger than the U.S. I am a U.S. resident. Not having an increase in over 10 years is an outrage! The CEO’s have had a 400% increase in that time. Rah,rah for them… look where we are now in the U.S. Don’t blame minimum wage workers for your financial woes!! Oh I know, I have seen the toy industry be shaken up by the wage increase in China. The poor CEOs can’t do that room addition on their 7th 10 bedroom house. Poor them!!!

By: Spock_rhp, Miami, FL

Spock_rhp, Miami, FL — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:42:20 +0000

Stanford’s Professor Lawrence Lau demonstrated in 1993 that the four factors which lead to all of real economic growth are:

paid jobs
improving worker knowledge
better worker health
more capital per worker.

nowhere in his list do i find political ideas like “minimum wage” or “livable wage” — you find those in the panderings of politicians and the maunderings of Marxists, not in serious economic growth literature.

By: Kitty, BC, NV

Kitty, BC, NV — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:23:25 +0000

If people want higher wages, they should get an education. Not wait for the government to give it to them.
Posted By larry, Houston,tx: September 5, 2008 2:30 pm
*********************************
Honestly, what’s with you guys who think people are supposed to achieve things on their own? Don’t you know that we need the government to help us live our lives and protect us from those greedy corporations and evil rich people? Are you crazy?

By: Kitty, BC, NV

Kitty, BC, NV — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:08:55 +0000

Many of the comments suggest that the minimum wage should be high enough for people to live on.

Since when was the minimum wage intended to be high enough for people to live on?

If people want to earn more money then they have choices: They can choose to go out and find a higher paying job. If they don’t qualify for those jobs, then they can choose to improve their skills and/or education.

As for entrepreneurs “sharing” their wealth: MOST entrepreneurs are NOT Warren Buffett. And even if they are up there with him, so what? They take all the risk. Their wage workers take none. They are ENTITLED to whatever wealth they get.

If their workers have a problem with that, then the workers should take a risk. It might pay off big time. It might not. That’s the way free enterprise works.

At least a few people on this board seem to “get” the issue with minimum wage. Those of you with a clue, ever thought about running for office? This nation could use a few people with common sense and even the most basic understanding of economics.

By: David, Minneapolis, MN

David, Minneapolis, MN — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:19:16 +0000

The minimum wage debate is a great opportunity to discuss unintended consequences as well as the questionable practice of making decision based on emotions rather than facts and analysis. The last
# I saw was that 91% of minimum wage earners are not primary wage earners for their family. Teenagers are the typical worker here, and the primary beneficaries of higher minimum wages are well-to-do suburban families. They live tend to live in prosperous areas where demand for non-skilled labor is not very sensitive to price. And yes, unemployment rises, and we encourage dropouts amongst the populations that would really benefit from more education. If you want to help low income working families, there are better ways that increasing minimum wage.

By: Alan Zimm, Marriottsville MD

Alan Zimm, Marriottsville MD — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:55:09 +0000

When will people learn that government intervention in economic processes distorts the system and causes problems? Especially when the intervention is politically motivated? Look at the most recent example: Fannie May and Freddie Mac. The government butted in to force these companies to revise lending standards downwards in order to accomodate more loans to the favored minority groups of the day. The group responded, took out the loans, drove up housing prices by their demand, bought more at higher prices, could not support their loans, defaulted, and the result is massive loan guarantees and another massive debt picked up by the taxpayers. As for raising the minimum wage: even liberal democrats ought to understand that when you make something more expensive, less gets bought. Job numbers are in a freefall, corporate profits (which fund jobs) are down, and politicians want to make labor more expensive! INSANITY! Plus, do you really want to raise minimum wage so people can be more comfortable on minimum wages? Minimum wage jobs have traditionally been for youngsters and entry level people, a stepping-stone to learning and getting more skills, and the low wages serve as an incentive to gain more marketable skills. Liberals act as if minimum wage is a viable career choice. This is likely because it covers up the failures of the National Education Association to produce employable high school graduates. The NEA (in bed with the Democrats) is seen as less culpable if the minimum wage is high. Get rid ov government control of schools and you would not have so many people having to contend for minimum wage jobs, and the problem would be mitigated.

By: Emma, Waco Texas

Emma, Waco Texas — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 03:30:55 +0000

Do you not see how it doesnt matter or not if minimum wage is increased?? If it is raised it doesnt matter because the price of everything in return will increase to take up for the loss of money. You raise minimum wage everything else becomes more expensive to..

By: Brad Mesa AZ

Brad Mesa AZ — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:27:55 +0000

All Costs Are Passed On To The End Consumer. Margins Must Be Maintained For Reinvestment and Maintenance Of The Company. Attempt To Run A Business And This Will Become Painfully Evident.
Emotional Decision Making Reaps Unintended Consequences.
Minimum Wage Is A Farce.
Mandated Morality Never Works.