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How about a sliding-scale federal minimum wage?

Kangaroo Feathers

Yea, it is written in the Book of Cyril...
a better idea might be for the federal govt. to mandate a minimum wage that may vary from state to state and city to city based on one's buying power in a particular location, the local cost of living index

a sliding scale minimum wage based on local economies nationwide

A full-time janitor living and working in San Francisco should have the same buying power on his wages than a full-time janitor living and working in Muskogee, Oklahoma has in that town.

The janitor living and working in San Francisco is going to need a considerably higher wage than an Oklahoma janitor.

As rich as San Francisco is, I don't think those bank executives in the financial district on Market Street want dirty office buildings there and certainly the college-educated there aren't going to push brooms or floor waxing machines.

Still, the mandate should be for a doable living wage that fully satisfies all human living needs no matter what we do for a living, and where we live and work whether we push brooms, paint curbs, read parking meters, perform brain surgery, flip Big Macs or swing carpenter hammers clad in bib overalls.
Interesting idea. Altghough it seems like it will only benefit people living places like San Francisco, and not places like Muskogee. If you're fine with flight from regional areas to the cities, I guess that's OK.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
That's because no one in their right mind wants to live in Indiana. ;) It's the 'slave state' of the north.

(And how long ago was that?)
Yeah. Indiana is terrible. A dead end state that cant hold on to its college grads worth a damn (eapecially engineers, who leave as a group have an ongoing exodus from the state).
That was approximately 8 years ago.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
Interesting idea. Altghough it seems like it will only benefit people living places like San Francisco, and not places like Muskogee. If you're fine with flight from regional areas to the cities, I guess that's OK.
California already has tons of people who live in the San Jaoquin Valley, where the cost of living is hella cheaper, and work in LA or SF for better wages.
 

dianaiad

Well-Known Member
So you would either go without and do the job yourself.

Pretty much, yes. It's bottom line time.

There are many reasons to go into business: it allows the owner to call his/her own shots, do something s/he enjoys doing and earn a living at it, and it pays living expenses. You know, that horrific word, anathema to anybody left of center, 'profit."

At the end of the day, though, "profit' is the key word. If you don't make a profit, you can't stay in business. period. So, if hiring someone to help you means that you can't make a profit, you don't hire help.

Perhaps that 'help' isn't qualified, doesn't help that much, doesn't increase the profit of the store enough to cover his/her paycheck...then you don't hire help.

So, you do the job yourself. Which cuts into the time you can spend expanding the business. Which further reduces your ability to make a profit, which keeps you from hiring someone....you get the picture.

(shrug) Believe me, I'm not against a minimum wage. Companies have historically shown themselves to be unwilling to share their profits with their workers. However, I get nervous when the emphasis is more upon EVERY WORKER for any company being able to afford a 'typical middle class life style" on his wages alone than upon a fair compensation for the work done.
 

Shaul

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
It sure is great that the government established a minimum wage. It must have been terrible before they did and employers didn’t pay employees anything.
:cool:
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
However, I get nervous when the emphasis is more upon EVERY WORKER for any company being able to afford a 'typical middle class life style" on his wages alone than upon a fair compensation for the work done.
Ive noticed those who argue for very high wages often dont know or understand just how little money some places have. Even I dont advocate wages that high because it would inevitably cause a tremendous shock to local economies that could be devastating and take many years to recover. And thats why I dont really think we'll ever see California/New York wages in Indiana or Iowa. Here 15/hour in the Valley is decent. In Indiana you get to live in relative luxury, especially compared to those around you.
 

Shad

Veteran Member
According to all the guidelines the USA puts out regarding the poverty level and such, California's minimum wage certainly provides that 'living wage' according to ASPE...the government reporting group responsible for letting us know where the poverty line is.

Consider taxes as well. A high tax burden reduces incomes while the state (government) forces others to pay for it's bribes to the voters.
 

dianaiad

Well-Known Member
Ive noticed those who argue for very high wages often dont know or understand just how little money some places have. Even I dont advocate wages that high because it would inevitably cause a tremendous shock to local economies that could be devastating and take many years to recover. And thats why I dont really think we'll ever see California/New York wages in Indiana or Iowa. Here 15/hour in the Valley is decent. In Indiana you get to live in relative luxury, especially compared to those around you.

Exactly. The cost of living in California is truly high. For instance, I have to pay $4.05 a gallon for gas...and that's at a Sam's Club discount fuel station. One cannot rent anything...even the most lousy of one room apartments, for less than $1000 a month and good luck finding that.

I just tried finding out how much I could rent my own home for...I don't live in LA, but in one of the bedroom communities that require a 45 minute commute, one way. I could ask for, and get, $2000 a month rent. My daughter and her husband live with me, because they do not have the money to pay that much rent.

(shrug)

So California's minimum wage is $15 an hour. I have to tell you that the prices of the products these $15 per hour are also very high so that the store owners can afford to pay them that much.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
Exactly. The cost of living in California is truly high. For instance, I have to pay $4.05 a gallon for gas...and that's at a Sam's Club discount fuel station. One cannot rent anything...even the most lousy of one room apartments, for less than $1000 a month and good luck finding that.
Im paying between 3.50 - 3.80 a gallon (for top tier gas), and there are tons of apartments, even two bedroom, for under a grand. Different locations obviously, but neither reflects California as a whole.
 
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