The research indicated that minimum wage people could not afford health care. That is not getting by.
What research? Are you talking about the quick approximations we did earlier? I imagine that the liberals didn't just pull numbers out of thin air. I'll freely admit that topics are probably brought up depending on the proximity of elections, but that doesn't mean they don't need to be brought up. Corruption does accompany any human enterprise, but strict capitalism has no factors in place to combat corruption. Capitalism is perfectly fine with power vaccuums festering with corruption. Human decency has to come into play at some point.
Yes, the quick approximations. Life is no peach on minimum wage, but it was simply shown that it can be done. I don't understand what you are getting at here. Are you referring to some sort of pure capitalism that doesn't have a working government? Capitalism is not designed to combat corruption. It is the structure of the government that is supposed to do that, not the economic system.
If they go to the ER with serious injuries, the hospital is required to treat them. They could qualify for some bluecross/blue shield insurance plus many other options out there available to poor people.
rather than rguing over whether people can get by on minimum wage, i think we should be arguing whether it is our right as a people/government to tell people how much they have to pay their employees. if they wanna hire 100 lazyasses at 1$ an hour, or one hardworker at 100$ an hour, that is their choice. we need to stop thinking like every issue is something for the government decide. this mentality that every question is something for government to manipulate a solution for, well, its a bad scene, man.
Minimum wage workers often don't know the value of their work. Capitalism's answer is tough tittie. That is where big, bad government comes in. The larger the disparity between wealthy and poor, the more difficult it is for the government to maintain order. A nation wants to avoid power vaccuums where ignorance and discontent fester. That is a big difference between our country and others. What is the standard of living in countries where workers are not protected by the government?
dont pretend it is the government protecting workers that makes our country have a high standard of living. again, you need to stop thinking it is your responsibility to make decisions for everyone, because you know what is best. leave people alone, let them make their own decisons. is is pretty insulting to tell workers they are too stupid to know the value of their work. that is always the mentality of big government. everyone is too damn dumb to make any decisions, so lets do it for them. down with freedom and the responsibility that comes with it, right? there is a free market transaction going on. a decisonj where both parties are voluntarily entering into a contract, one works the other pays. there is mutual benefit. we should not be taking sides. if workers want to organize and use their scarcity to adjust their wages, fine. that doesnt mean you need to step in and impose your will on the employers. learn to make decisions about your own life and stay out of other people's business. stop forcing you will on people. stop trying to control everyting. stop acting like you know better than everyone else.
I didn't feel convinced, especially considering cities with a higher cost of living than Baton Rouge. Which is the point, all decisions can not be based on capitalistic ideals alone. You are making a big fuss about a 7.00 minimum wage that would be in place two years from now. How off base is that? I'm not so sure that number is terribly skewed, and erring on the side of inflation is better than erring on the side of poverty. We agree that there is a limit to the size of the minimum wage, but you are arguing as if what the government has researched is off base using your own personal experience in a city with a relatively low standard of living. I am willing to bet that more research was put into it than the gut instinct you express, even if the bill was drafted by neo-communist liberal wack-jobs. Martin seems to think there is no need for minimum wage, but I feel pretty confident that no minimum wage would cause an increase in the power vacuums (let me spell it correctly once) inside the US, ie, our "ghettos" would grow in size and lawlessness.
lets say for example i own a small record store, and i hire neighborhood kids to work part time making minimum wage. it is an easy job, not much money, but the kids make enough to pay their cellphone bills and and an occassional ipod. but you know what is best for everyone, so you impose your wage requirements on my store. i have to fire 25% of my employees. now i am understaffed, a couple kids who liked their jobs are unemployed, and i am struggling to pay my bills. maybe i will go out of business and everyone involved will be unemployed. but at least you feel good about yourself for helping the workers.
the thought that was put in it went like this: "i am a politician, i want votes. people are stupid and dont understand economics. they hear that wages go up, and thats all they know, i stay in office."
