Originally Posted By fkurucz >>It is not a crime to show up at a gay pride parade and witness to the faith in the United States. Don't be so paranoid.<< You might get beat up, but not arrested.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>And on the national level, with the Christian conservatives in power for the past 12 years we've managed to avoid raising the minimum wage for a decade!<< Keep in mind that not all Christian conservatives are Neo-Cons nor Protestant Fundamentalists. Many have been lobbying for increased minimum wage for years.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< What inflation? I was under the impression that inflation has been very low over the past 10 years. >>> Yes, inflation has been low over the past 10 years. It's averaged around 2 or 3 percent. But even if it were only 2%, over 10 years it compounds to almost 22%. *Any* reduction in purchasing power to a person earning minimum wage is significant. Certainly, a 22% reduction in purchasing power over 10 years is enormous. Now hopefully and presumably, someone earning minimum wage 10 years ago is still not doing so today (as they've developed skills through experience and education over time), but that's not the point. If we decided as a nation 10 years ago to set the minimum wage at X, it just doesn't make sense for it to remain at X ten years later with prices inflated 22%.
Originally Posted By tiggertoo <<I want to know why the price of gas jumped 12 cents overnight yesterday at my local Chevron.>> The real irony is that Chevron and several other energy producers were threatening that gas prices would increase if Prop 87 succeeded. Prop 87 failed, but prices increase anyway. Californians are real suckers aren’t we.
Originally Posted By tiggertoo <<*Any* reduction in purchasing power to a person earning minimum wage is significant.>> Exactly. Even low inflation can be a net loss of real income if wages don’t keep pace. And as temping as it might be to view income in the aggregate and the mean of total wages in the U.S., it is much more indicative to view it in terms of income classes. The top 5% of wage earners have been doing fine. It’s the middle 50% who have lost the most PP in the past 10 years.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 I'd also like to see the brackets for wage earners in mean average incomes, not median. the truly rich would show up that way much more clearly.
Originally Posted By woody This minimum wage crap has got to end as a political football. I think the minimum wage increases should be tied to inflation (not cost of living) and then let this issue disappear. BTW, minimum wage laws means nothing with the illegal immigrant workforce. Also, most companies pay much higher than minimum wages to retain their workforce.
Originally Posted By mrichmondj << Also, most companies pay much higher than minimum wages to retain their workforce. >> In corporate America, this is true. Even despised Wal-Mart is recognized for having an average wage among it's hourly workers that is in the neighborhood of $10 and hour. However, when you get down to main street and privately owned small businesses they still pay the lowest wages in the country and most frequently adhere to minimum wage standards. Raising the minimun wage most directly impacts workers who don't benefit from being employed by a large and efficient business that tries to be competitive in the marketplace.
