Let me explain this minimum wage thing so that even you liberals can understand.?

Question

Suppose a "widget" cost $5.15.
The widget people pay minimum wage ($5.15 per hour) to thier bottom of the ladder workers.
The next leval of workers get $6.15
the next promotion gets you$7.15 and so on and so on.

Are you with me so far?

Minimum wage goes up to ,oh say,$7.50
Since the bottom of the ladder people now make $7.50 every one above thems pay goes up as well.


The "widget" peoples cost of manufacturing goes way up.
To stay in business they have to raise the price of a "widget" to $7.50
This effect takes place across every industry in the U.S.

It now takes $7.50 to buy what $5.15 used to buy.


Do you understand now?

I know It's not all black and white,I only point out what a useless process raising the minimum wage is.

For those of you have attacked me personally,I know I can't spell worth a damn but I assure you I make a hell of a lot more than the minimum wage.

Answer 1

The Democrats have fulfilled a pledge and have passed a bill raising the minimum wage over the next 24 months. Every single member of the House who voted for this legislation has now, through their vote, told us that they:

- Believe it is the role of the Imperial Federal Government of the United States to set wages in the private sector.

- Believe that it is appropriate for the Imperial Federal Government to use its police power to force an employer to pay an employee more that that employee's labor is worth to the employer.

A question for ALL of you: Do you think that it would be appropriate for the federal government to force you to pay more for a product at the store than that product is worth to you? What if the government came to you and told you that the company making the product you wish to buy just isn't making enough money. Their profit margin has been stagnant for four years, and so the government wants you to pay more for the product so that the company making the product could get more profit. Like the idea? Do you think the government should tell you that you must pay more for an item from the department store or grocery shelf than it is worth? If not .. then how can you support the idea that the government should tell an employer that he has to pay a person more for his labor than it is worth?

Answer 2

You left out something. Thirty one states already have a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum of $5.15. The average of those state is $6.81. That figure will go higher because some states are in the middle of a phased increase. In other words a $2 increase doesn't necessarily happen all at once. It can be a dollar the first year and a dollar the second. I'm not even taking into account cities that have minimum wages higher that their own state, such as LA and New York.
I'm not arguing for or against a minimum wage in general. What I am saying is arguing against the newly passed $7.25 is pointless because the national average is right around that figure already.

Answer 3

You forgot to mention the 6% sales tax on the widget just went from 30 cents a widget to 42 cents a widget. I wonder why the Libs really want to raise the minimum wage?

Answer 4

Hey I have an idea, lets make it a law, that you have to fire the American workers, open shop overseas, pay the foreign workers a dollar a day, a few Americans get rich, while many Americans get poor. What ever the minimum wage is, cannot compete to the dollar a day over in China or India, mmmmmm,
(oops I forgot, they allready did that)
what do you think the final result is.

I do believe in the merit system, let the harder workers and smarter workers rise in pay, but in this Corporate ran system of today, its very very few who get rich while most others suffer, if you do not have some form of minimum wage, I can see Corporate interest even more so taking away the middle class.

I can give a million examples, but here is one, did you know that to sell in walmart, you MUST agree to open at least one factory in China or India (our new political best friends) to sell anything in walmart, While we enjoy the lower prices of Walmart, Are we chopping off our own legs. Do you have any idea on how much Corporate welfare Walmart receives from the Federal Government. I just really think we have to look at the bigger picture. You know we have to start looking after the American workers, we can not compete against China and India, they do not live like us, they are much poorer countries, sending all this work overseas, makes a very few very rich, but puts so many other americans out of work.

Answer 5

Wow, what a simplistic explanation.

What about the company cutting the cost of marketing slightly to offset the costs? Wouldn't that work as well?

And what about companies who outsource work to other countries, yet still charge astronomical prices? I believe that Nike outsources to a country where the workers are paid much much less than they are here. Yet, when my younger brother bought Nikes last year, they were still a small fortune, even though they were made more cheaply than they would be here in America. How do you explain that? Could it be that Nike pays millions to market their crappy shoes that probably take a couple bucks to produce?

Or, let's look at McDonalds. They sell you a soda for - what - $1.19 for a medium? They pay 4 cents for the syrup and approx 10 cents for the cup. You're telling me that so much of the insane profit they make off things like soft drinks goes to the three retirees at the counter (in the daytime, yes, they often are retirees) that they will have to hike the prices substantially? Um, no.

Another example! A friend of ours owns a heating and air company. He made over a million dollars last year, AFTER marketing, materials, labor, taxes, and insurance. He pays new employees a whopping $8.00/hour to start. I'm so sure that an increase of two or three bucks would bankrupt him, huh?

Do YOU understand now? Or do you feel the need to continue to talk down to people who see an issue as being grey, not specifically black or white?

Answer 6

You are completely ignoring how great the mark up are on manufacturing, I over see a plant that manufactures a product that we wholesale and distribute ourselves and sell in out own stores. It costs us about $.30 to mark a $30 product, we can pump out about 8,000/day. That is close to $240,000 gross.

My point is that your average company can pay more, they just usually tend to pay us lucky bastards near the top of the ladder.

Most of your minimum wage jobs are going to be in the manufacturing, service and retail sectors, all three have fairly sizable product mark up.

Just to playing devils advocate here, I am actually fishing for a full explanation as to how having more money in the hands of consumers is a bad thing? It may mean that your overhead is increasing slightly, however you will see a return in those figures via new business caused by more money in the marketplace.

Answer 7

you are correct. Simple economics. Something in which liberals would do good to consider. Forced inflation is what it is. What they need to consider is lowering the minimum wage, so the cost of goods go down, and things are more affordable. If it doesn't start to happen more, companies will be forced to source their product outside the country. Politically speaking, they are only looking at a way to increase the tax base, and could care less about the cost of goods or the economy for that matter. The more expensive things are, the more we are dependant on them. And that is sadly what they are really after..

edit: better pay for workers? That doesn't mean a thing if the cost of goods go up. Their margin for buying goods is equally diminished, and the only thing it accomplishes is an increase in the tax base from inflation.

Answer 8

You miss their point...those of us who are more productive than $7.50 an hour should pay higher prices to subsidize the less productive.

At least until Widget, Inc. moves the jobs to Bangladesh and pays workers there $1 a day to make widgets and the US workers get laid off.

Answer 9

And......? A professional company will look at how it can reduce costs in other areas of its cost base without paying its staff peanuts. It will also be look at how it can market and advertise its products well so that it can make them more desirable and thus charge a little more for them. Why is it always the workers who have to suffer when companies want to make more money? It doesn't have to be that way.
I bet you wouldn't work for the minimum wage, by the way?

Answer 10

Well, you are wrong. The stock market didn't feel the effects of the increase announcement. The last 4 times it went up, it didn't once hurt the economy, only helped. Where is your proof? Last I knew factory workers in the US had very strong labor unions to protect them from being taken advantage of, and are paid quite well. The theory you have is also a moot one for most of the country, the minimum wage in NY has been higher than the federal one for years.