Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
freshwest
freshwest's Journal
freshwest's Journal
March 7, 2014
There is no zero sum game here, that is Rush's mantra since the 1990s. WA state tied the minimum wage to the cost of living in 1998. That wage is now $9.32 and the jump to $10.00 a hour would have occured soon enough anyway.
The greater buying power of workers helped the economy, kept unemployment down; funded the state despite some deficits; allowed more social infrastructure that benefit all ages and levels of pay.
Here are some facts to use:
Highest Minimum-Wage State Washington Beats U.S. in Job Creation
When Washington residents voted in 1998 to raise the state’s minimum wage and link it to the cost of living, opponents warned the measure would be a job-killer. The prediction hasn’t been borne out.
In the 15 years that followed, the state’s minimum wage climbed to $9.32 -- the highest in the country. Meanwhile job growth continued at an average 0.8 percent annual pace, 0.3 percentage point above the national rate. Payrolls at Washington’s restaurants and bars, portrayed as particularly vulnerable to higher wage costs, expanded by 21 percent. Poverty has trailed the U.S. level for at least seven years.
The debate is replaying on a national scale as Democrats led by President Barack Obama push for an increase in the $7.25-an-hour federal minimum, while opponents argue a raise would hurt those it’s intended to help by axing jobs for the lowest-skilled. Even if that proves true, Washington’s example shows that any such effects aren’t big enough to throw its economy and labor market off the tracks...
“It’s hard to see that the state of Washington has paid a heavy penalty for having a higher minimum wage than the rest of the country,” said Gary Burtless, an economist at Brookings Institution who formerly was at the U.S. Labor Department.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-05/washington-shows-highest-minimum-wage-state-beats-u-s-with-jobs.html
Use this graphic and article:
What CBO Report? The State With The Highest Minimum Wage Is Adding Jobs.
If you thought that the hotly contested Congressional Budget Office report, suggesting that a higher minimum wage would reduce the number of jobs, would squelch any chance of raising it, think again.
President Obama ratcheted up the pressure today, speaking out in favor of a $10.10 federal minimum wage at a Connecticut rally with four New England Democratic governors who are pledging to push for the same in their respective states.
And he now has a silver bullet to debunk those conservatives using the report, which only offered an estimated range of possibilities, as proof that raising the minimum wage is a certain job-killer.
Washington State.
The home of the Super Bowl champions is also America’s minimum wage champion, with the highest state minimum wage of $9.32. The minimum is also indexed to inflation, so it will never lose purchasing power.
Today Bloomberg checked in on how the Evergreen State’s wage policy has impacted job growth … and found that Washington State job growth beats the national average:
…job growth continued at an average 0.8 percent annual pace, 0.3 percentage point above the national rate. Payrolls at Washington’s restaurants and bars, portrayed as particularly vulnerable to higher wage costs, expanded by 21 percent. Poverty has trailed the U.S. level for at least seven years.
Bloomberg noted that even if conservatives have a point that higher minimum wages have some negative impact on job growth, “Washington’s example shows that any such effects aren’t big enough to throw its economy and labor market off the tracks.”
While the CBO did project a slight reduction in jobs, it also projected that 16.5 million Americans would have higher incomes with a $10.10 minimum wage, including and beyond those directly earning the minimum. (With a $9 minimum, 7.6 million would earn more.)
Considering the Washington State banked those bigger payrolls without experiencing any net job loss, it seems pretty short-sighted to pass on raising the minimum just because of a flimsy projection of minor job losses that isn’t backed up by real world experience.
Republicans who think they can resist the drive for a higher minimum wage by waving the CBO report haven’t noticed that a higher minimum still polls phenomenally even after the report’s release.
Common sense and real-world experience will beat an academic paper.
http://ourfuture.org/20140305/what-cbo-report-the-state-with-the-highest-minimum-wage-is-adding-jobs
One more story:
Re: low-paying WalMart:
Walmart’s Greed Exposed: They Could Pay Employees $25,000/Year Without Raising Prices
A new Demos study has revealed that the only thing stopping Walmart from paying their employees $25,000 a year without raising prices is their ridiculous level of greed.
According to Demos, here is how Walmart could afford to pay their workers $25,000 a year without raising prices:
Walmart’s business model reflects the narrow minded economic views of the Republican Party. By choosing to only share profits at the top, Walmart is calling the stockholders makers and their employees takers.
The Republican idea that a business has to raise prices if wages are raised is false. Companies like Walmart can afford to raise wages without raising prices if they choose to do so. Costco has proven both Republicans and Walmart wrong by paying a living wage and watching their profits soar. Customers have abandoned Walmart for Costco in 2013, because unlike Walmart, Costco supports raising the minimum wage.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/19/walmarts-greed-exposed-pay-employees-25000year-raising-prices.html
Perhaps a little of that you can use in your discussion. Never submit to Republican theology about wages and business. Their economic theories are faith based, not scientifc and do not meet the smell test for good goverance. They support the politics of robber barons. They are wrong now and have always been.
If they want to retain the $12 employees, pay them $14. And they'll still have seniority and not be
the first to be laid off, nor will they lose their benefits. The difference is benefits accured from time on the job: vacation, choice of days off; overtime, holidays and insurance. Raising the wage does not change those earned benefits.There is no zero sum game here, that is Rush's mantra since the 1990s. WA state tied the minimum wage to the cost of living in 1998. That wage is now $9.32 and the jump to $10.00 a hour would have occured soon enough anyway.
The greater buying power of workers helped the economy, kept unemployment down; funded the state despite some deficits; allowed more social infrastructure that benefit all ages and levels of pay.
Here are some facts to use:
Highest Minimum-Wage State Washington Beats U.S. in Job Creation
When Washington residents voted in 1998 to raise the state’s minimum wage and link it to the cost of living, opponents warned the measure would be a job-killer. The prediction hasn’t been borne out.
In the 15 years that followed, the state’s minimum wage climbed to $9.32 -- the highest in the country. Meanwhile job growth continued at an average 0.8 percent annual pace, 0.3 percentage point above the national rate. Payrolls at Washington’s restaurants and bars, portrayed as particularly vulnerable to higher wage costs, expanded by 21 percent. Poverty has trailed the U.S. level for at least seven years.
The debate is replaying on a national scale as Democrats led by President Barack Obama push for an increase in the $7.25-an-hour federal minimum, while opponents argue a raise would hurt those it’s intended to help by axing jobs for the lowest-skilled. Even if that proves true, Washington’s example shows that any such effects aren’t big enough to throw its economy and labor market off the tracks...
“It’s hard to see that the state of Washington has paid a heavy penalty for having a higher minimum wage than the rest of the country,” said Gary Burtless, an economist at Brookings Institution who formerly was at the U.S. Labor Department.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-05/washington-shows-highest-minimum-wage-state-beats-u-s-with-jobs.html
Use this graphic and article:
What CBO Report? The State With The Highest Minimum Wage Is Adding Jobs.
If you thought that the hotly contested Congressional Budget Office report, suggesting that a higher minimum wage would reduce the number of jobs, would squelch any chance of raising it, think again.
President Obama ratcheted up the pressure today, speaking out in favor of a $10.10 federal minimum wage at a Connecticut rally with four New England Democratic governors who are pledging to push for the same in their respective states.
And he now has a silver bullet to debunk those conservatives using the report, which only offered an estimated range of possibilities, as proof that raising the minimum wage is a certain job-killer.
Washington State.
The home of the Super Bowl champions is also America’s minimum wage champion, with the highest state minimum wage of $9.32. The minimum is also indexed to inflation, so it will never lose purchasing power.
Today Bloomberg checked in on how the Evergreen State’s wage policy has impacted job growth … and found that Washington State job growth beats the national average:
…job growth continued at an average 0.8 percent annual pace, 0.3 percentage point above the national rate. Payrolls at Washington’s restaurants and bars, portrayed as particularly vulnerable to higher wage costs, expanded by 21 percent. Poverty has trailed the U.S. level for at least seven years.
Bloomberg noted that even if conservatives have a point that higher minimum wages have some negative impact on job growth, “Washington’s example shows that any such effects aren’t big enough to throw its economy and labor market off the tracks.”
While the CBO did project a slight reduction in jobs, it also projected that 16.5 million Americans would have higher incomes with a $10.10 minimum wage, including and beyond those directly earning the minimum. (With a $9 minimum, 7.6 million would earn more.)
Considering the Washington State banked those bigger payrolls without experiencing any net job loss, it seems pretty short-sighted to pass on raising the minimum just because of a flimsy projection of minor job losses that isn’t backed up by real world experience.
Republicans who think they can resist the drive for a higher minimum wage by waving the CBO report haven’t noticed that a higher minimum still polls phenomenally even after the report’s release.
Common sense and real-world experience will beat an academic paper.
http://ourfuture.org/20140305/what-cbo-report-the-state-with-the-highest-minimum-wage-is-adding-jobs
One more story:
Re: low-paying WalMart:
Walmart’s Greed Exposed: They Could Pay Employees $25,000/Year Without Raising Prices
A new Demos study has revealed that the only thing stopping Walmart from paying their employees $25,000 a year without raising prices is their ridiculous level of greed.
According to Demos, here is how Walmart could afford to pay their workers $25,000 a year without raising prices:
Now as another holiday season approaches, this research brief considers one way Walmart could meet the wage target its employees are calling for— without raising prices. We find that if Walmart redirected the $7.6 billion it spends annually on repurchases of its own company stock, these funds could be used to give Walmart’s low-paid workers a raise of $5.83 an hour, more than enough to ensure that all Walmart workers are paid a wage equivalent to at least $25,000 a year for full-time work.
Curtailing share buybacks would not harm the company’s retail competitiveness or raise prices for consumers. In fact, some retail analysts have argued that by providing a substantial investment in the company’s front-line workforce, higher pay could be expected to improve employee productivity and morale while reducing Walmart’s expenses related to employee turnover.
With more money in their wallets, Walmart employees would likely spend a portion of the cash at Walmart itself, boosting the company’s sales. Sales might also increase as customers benefit from an improved shopping environment.
Walmart’s business model reflects the narrow minded economic views of the Republican Party. By choosing to only share profits at the top, Walmart is calling the stockholders makers and their employees takers.
The Republican idea that a business has to raise prices if wages are raised is false. Companies like Walmart can afford to raise wages without raising prices if they choose to do so. Costco has proven both Republicans and Walmart wrong by paying a living wage and watching their profits soar. Customers have abandoned Walmart for Costco in 2013, because unlike Walmart, Costco supports raising the minimum wage.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/19/walmarts-greed-exposed-pay-employees-25000year-raising-prices.html
Perhaps a little of that you can use in your discussion. Never submit to Republican theology about wages and business. Their economic theories are faith based, not scientifc and do not meet the smell test for good goverance. They support the politics of robber barons. They are wrong now and have always been.
March 7, 2014
Yes, calling Dems weak and spineless serves the GOP. Such stuff isn't worth reading. n/t
March 7, 2014
$4.25, $4.95 and $8.95. That last I'd have to skip, though. And I'd love to listen the guys talk politics or world events. Those convos get really interesting.
Gosh, I'd love to eat there. But I'd order the grits, not hashbrowns. Good prices, too:
$4.25, $4.95 and $8.95. That last I'd have to skip, though. And I'd love to listen the guys talk politics or world events. Those convos get really interesting.
March 6, 2014
The Fauxification of Russia begins. Mass stupification next? The Russians are not known for that.
Good luck to all peoples being manipulated by media around the globe, their feelings of fear and despair magnified until they cannot think straight. And have fallen prey to the media:
If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.
~ Malcolm X
Americans have been held captive to the most shameful manipulation of news since the Clinton impeachment circus. Nothing has improved. It's a thousand times worse since Obama was elected. He's been edited to twist the meaning of his words, called names that have nothing to do with reporting, demonized, simply blackballed from being covered, policies lied about, nothing good ever said, like no other president in my lifetime. Now they are complaining that they want to privatize the news and pictures, and hide his words behind paywalls.
Which is bullshit! We pay for government and should not have to beg or pay media outlets to hear our own elected leader as he tries to communicate our agenda. Even CSPAN wastes our time with pundits talking and not showing the actual events, as they did the last year or two at essential media events.
It's why Obama termed Fox as a television station, and didn't echo their claim to being a news source. Sure that many Americans didn't catch the subtle meaning of his words but DU did, thank goodness.
March 6, 2014
Gotta earn that Koch brothers paycheck, huh?
Paul Ryan has been funded by the Koch brothers all along:
Romney's Veep Pick: Paul Ryan, Koch Ally and 'Right-Wing Social Engineer'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021116744#op
Ryan is one Koch-fueled candidate
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021108438
That is the ALEC model, legislation written for private interests drawing on the public purse to privatize all functions that affect humans and the environment on a spread sheet of profits and losses for business.
If this team gets in, your input into government, your vote, your rights and freedoms will be gone. There will be no need for any democratic government. That is the goal, often stated. There will be no one to stand in the way of the dismantling of the USA and installing a fascist economic system demanding that you fall into line.
Your civil and property rights will be meaningless.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1130721
March 5, 2014
At 6:20 they start chanting:
OH BAH MA, OH BAH MA!
Then immediately chant:
HILL AR EE, HILL AR EE!
The 2016 election will require that level of enthusiasm to overcome GOP trickery.
I'm looking forward to hearing real life Democrats cheering her on in public. I posted a video here
where she is on the stump for Obama:At 6:20 they start chanting:
OH BAH MA, OH BAH MA!
Then immediately chant:
HILL AR EE, HILL AR EE!
The 2016 election will require that level of enthusiasm to overcome GOP trickery.
March 5, 2014
To vote for McCain out of pure spite - as many reportedly did - and their attempts to ban any Obama supporters at the site I used to post at - is bullying. It's similar to the old saying about Christians:
'I find that like your Christ, but his followers scare me.'
This is the impression I ended up with about Hillary, and it may or may not have been the followers she wanted. She did support Obama when he won the primary, and her followers would have done well to not be PUMAs and join in. I do not believe there is animosity between people at that level. Which is why they are at that level, and we are not.
Here are two of her speeches in support of Obama. First one is on the road in 2008:
Her endorsement at the DNC in 2008:
The question remains, will the bitterness which has continued to be stoked by PUMA groups online and perhaps elsewhere, be forgotten?
Can Obama supporters forgive the actions of PUMAs who insulted us and our candidate, even voted for McCain with no regard to the people who were going to be hurt by that?
I think some of those voters will stay home and not vote, and that Hillary is not doing a good job of getting her own message out to overcome the negatives. That does not mean she would not be an excellent president, though.
Oh my gawd. Only saw this online in message boards. Not in real life. But I do know people who were
supporting Obama in our state primaries and were in deep trouble with their neighbors who supported Hillary for their bumper stickers and putting Obama signs in their yards. It was a bad atmosphere.To vote for McCain out of pure spite - as many reportedly did - and their attempts to ban any Obama supporters at the site I used to post at - is bullying. It's similar to the old saying about Christians:
'I find that like your Christ, but his followers scare me.'
This is the impression I ended up with about Hillary, and it may or may not have been the followers she wanted. She did support Obama when he won the primary, and her followers would have done well to not be PUMAs and join in. I do not believe there is animosity between people at that level. Which is why they are at that level, and we are not.
Here are two of her speeches in support of Obama. First one is on the road in 2008:
Her endorsement at the DNC in 2008:
The question remains, will the bitterness which has continued to be stoked by PUMA groups online and perhaps elsewhere, be forgotten?
Can Obama supporters forgive the actions of PUMAs who insulted us and our candidate, even voted for McCain with no regard to the people who were going to be hurt by that?
I think some of those voters will stay home and not vote, and that Hillary is not doing a good job of getting her own message out to overcome the negatives. That does not mean she would not be an excellent president, though.
Profile Information
Member since: Fri Dec 10, 2010, 11:36 PMNumber of posts: 53,661
