It's all semantics, but I think you have the freedom to purchase a tv and put it in your bedroom, not a right.

You do not have a right for a tv in your bedroom if you are not willing to pay for it.

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That's weak sauce!

DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CAN NOT OWN!!!!!!!!

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

BULLSHIT.

Minimum wage has absolutely NOTHING to do with the amount of skills necessary. It's simply supply and demand. If you don't understand this you don't understand business.

Minimum wage should absolutely support a human. If it doesn't, what's the fucking point?

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

And what % of hourly paid workers earn minimum wage?

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That's weak sauce!

3.8M ear at or below minimum wage. Couldn't find out the number of individuals making just above minimum wage because they are effected by mw as well.

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

Well then I guess we don't have the right to party.

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Tanzania¹²

"Among those paid by the hour in 2009, 980,000 were reported as earning exactly the prevailing federal minimum wage. Nearly 2.6 million were reported as earning wages below the minimum. Together, these 3.6 million workers with wages at or below the minimum made up 4.9 percent of all hourly-paid workers."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_States


"The minimum wage has a strong social appeal, rooted in concern about the ability of markets to provide income equity for the least able members of the work force. For some people, the obvious solution to this concern is to redefine the wage structure politically to achieve a socially preferable distribution of income. Thus, minimum wage laws have usually been judged against the criterion of reducing poverty.[3]
Statutory minimum wages were also proposed as a way to control the proliferation of sweat shops in manufacturing industries. The sweat shops employed large numbers of women and young workers, paying them what were considered to be substandard wages. The sweatshop owners were thought to have unfair bargaining power over their workers, and a minimum wage was proposed as a means to make them pay "fairly". Over time, the focus changed to helping people, especially families, become more self-sufficient. Today, minimum wage laws affect workers in most low-paid fields of employment.[4]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage


It's quite clear that these laws are for the "least able" workers and to pay "fairly" for these workers.

Again, fewer that 5% of workers work for minimum wage, and those are all of limited skills or entry level positions, not designed to be "careers" that earn self supporting paychecks.

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That's weak sauce!

#1. There are 20 states whose minimum wage is ABOVE the federal minimum wage. Those include such states as California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. So the 5% is a misleading number since it's based on the federal minimum wage.

#2. "Thus, minimum wage laws have usually been judged against the criterion of reducing poverty" - If minimum wage does not provide the ability to get out of poverty then it is not effective in it's job.

#3. If 5% are at or below the federal minimum wage... what is the percentage of those that make just above? These lower income individuals would be positively effected by an increase as well. I would bet that at least 10% (probably more) make within $2 of the federal minimum wage.

#4. While minimum wage is designed for the "least able" workers the fact is the minimum wage (and jobs near minimum wage) are paid by supply/demand. If there was a sudden influx of C# programmers the wage for the average programmer would drop significantly. Regardless of how much schooling/training is necessary. The difficulty of the job has next to nothing to do with the wage paid.

#5. While you may look down on those who are not teenagers and make near minimum wage these people are working to support themselves and in many cases a family. Not providing these people with enough income to support family will only cost you more in the long run.

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

If supply/demand was a real factor, the minimum wage wouldn't be needed. When there is a shortage of those workers, the wages would go up. If there were an over supply of those workers, the wages would go down (even less than the "minimum").

I don't look down on those who are actively improving their skills in order to obtain a higher paying job. I would venture the vast majority of minimum wage employees do improve their skills and move upward in income and jobs.

There are many programs already in place to help those with low income levels.

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That's weak sauce!

You're trying to argue that supply/demand is not a real factor? It's the only factor.

There needs to be a minimum wage because the demand for paying jobs will most likely ALWAYS be higher than the supply of basic jobs. Which is 100% why the minimum wage was put in place...

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

I'm not paying taxes to support families who wouldn't be impoverished if they weren't up to their noses in debt.

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GO HAWKS!!!

Visit my Seahawks blog at 17power.blogspot.com!

Follow me on Twitter at @17power

What an ignorant ass statement.

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

If you're paying taxes you don't get to pick what happens to the money.

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Tanzania¹²

Which is exactly why conservatives prefer to pay as little tax as possible.

_________________
GO HAWKS!!!

Visit my Seahawks blog at 17power.blogspot.com!

Follow me on Twitter at @17power

Aren't you a state employee Montana?

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

I can guarantee you all the illegals that work in the L.A. area are lucky to make 8 and hour and that is after several years of service. These are jobs that nobody here would stay at for more than a day to 2 weeks.

It's so simple, isn't it?

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Tanzania¹²

I don't have an issue with this statement, but I am curious as to what taxes have to do with minimum wage (not trying to flame, I would actually want to know).

Which is exactly why conservatives prefer to pay as little tax as possible.[/quote]

It's so simple, isn't it?[/quote]
I thought they paid as little as taxes as possible because rich people having more money created jobs?
Wern't the conservatives arguing that the 47% should begin paying their fair share?

Honestly Largent, who cares? They are not here legally why are we concerned with their wages? They shouldn't be earning anything. Let's be honest here, when you are trying to keep yourself under the radar because you are doing something illegal, then you are going to have to pay the piper in some fashion. I understand that it is likely a better alternative for a lot of them to be here and have to work at these wages then what they would get back wherever they are from, but if they want help and they want to get better jobs and better wages, then we need to work on making sure we stop hiring illegals in the first place and make the system work to only hire those legal to work in this country. Whatever salary an illegal alien may make is irrelevant to the minimum wage conversation.