California Democrat calls for $50 minimum wage

[McBell]

California Democrat calls for $50 minimum wage

California Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee is defending her call for a $50 federal minimum wage.

houstonherald.com

California Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee is defending her call for a $50 federal minimum wage. That’s more than six times the current federal minimum wage in the United States.​

​

Lee is running in a competitive Senate race to fill the seat of late Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein. She argues Californians cannot get by on less than $100,000 a due to the state’s cost-of-living crisis.​

​

Lee was asked during a Senate debate on Monday how her $50 an hour minimum wage proposal would be economically sustainable for small businesses. She claimed she has been a small business owner who “created hundreds of jobs” and argued employees need to be taken care of and have a “living wage.”​

​

“Just do the math, just do the math,” Lee said during the debate.​

​

The current national minimum wage at $7.25 an hour. The California minimum wages is $16 an hour.​

Wonder how many businesses would have to close simply because they could not pay the employees?

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

Seems unrealistic.

Universal Basic Income seems a better solution.

 

[Twilight Hue]

California Democrat calls for $50 minimum wage

California Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee is defending her call for a $50 federal minimum wage.

houstonherald.com

California Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee is defending her call for a $50 federal minimum wage. That’s more than six times the current federal minimum wage in the United States.​

​

Lee is running in a competitive Senate race to fill the seat of late Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein. She argues Californians cannot get by on less than $100,000 a due to the state’s cost-of-living crisis.​

​

Lee was asked during a Senate debate on Monday how her $50 an hour minimum wage proposal would be economically sustainable for small businesses. She claimed she has been a small business owner who “created hundreds of jobs” and argued employees need to be taken care of and have a “living wage.”​

​

“Just do the math, just do the math,” Lee said during the debate.​

​

The current national minimum wage at $7.25 an hour. The California minimum wages is $16 an hour.​

Wonder how many businesses would have to close simply because they could not pay the employees?

That's a lot of new union workers to sign up.

I'm sure dues will be brought into the equation. Good for government coffers.

I predict the mandatory, "Union Workers Act" will surface in the future.

 

[lukethethird]

I owned and operated a small business for many years, if the minimum wage went up to $50 an hour my business would boom. Imagine all the workers earning a fair wage as they did in the 60's and 70's, when one wage earner could support a family and own a home.

 

[The Hammer]

I predict the mandatory, "Union Workers Act" will surface in the future.

I hope so

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I owned and operated a small business for many years, if the minimum wage went up to $50 an hour my business would boom. Imagine all the workers earning a fair wage as they did in the 60's and 70's, when one wage earner could support a family and own a home.

You make a really important point -- something that seems to have been forgotten after Ronald Regan's administration -- that people who earn a living can afford to buy products.

What led to the "rust belt" was shutting down manufacturing in the U.S. to get cheap products made by workers earning pennies overseas. But with all the Americans who lost their jobs, who was there left to buy those products -- at any price? Sure, it took a few decades to get there, but that's what it is.

Biden is actually trying to bring manufacturing (of computer chips, for instance) back to the U.S. Okay, so you have to pay the workers more than you would the Taiwanese or Singaporians, but they'll then have that money to buy the products (computers, phones, even toasters) themselves.

When I shop now, I look for Canadian products. True, I pay a little more for a shirt or pants or whatever than I would if they were made in Bangladesh, but I know full-well that somebody in Canada earned enough to feed the kids, and maybe buy a few Canadian goods themselves.

No nation will ever get rich by sending its dollars overseas in return for throw-away goods. You'd think that would be obvious.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

California Democrat calls for $50 minimum wage

California Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee is defending her call for a $50 federal minimum wage.

houstonherald.com

California Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee is defending her call for a $50 federal minimum wage. That’s more than six times the current federal minimum wage in the United States.​

​

Lee is running in a competitive Senate race to fill the seat of late Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein. She argues Californians cannot get by on less than $100,000 a due to the state’s cost-of-living crisis.​

​

Lee was asked during a Senate debate on Monday how her $50 an hour minimum wage proposal would be economically sustainable for small businesses. She claimed she has been a small business owner who “created hundreds of jobs” and argued employees need to be taken care of and have a “living wage.”​

​

“Just do the math, just do the math,” Lee said during the debate.​

​

The current national minimum wage at $7.25 an hour. The California minimum wages is $16 an hour.​

Wonder how many businesses would have to close simply because they could not pay the employees?

As an advocate for more realistic minimum wages, I find clowns like this one very destructive.

Not to mention that being a small business owner doesn't lend much cred to this argument. I was a small business owner, but I wasn't paying employees a minimum wage (I was paying higher), and this was entirely because of the industry and staffing requirements.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

You make a really important point -- something that seems to have been forgotten after Ronald Regan's administration -- that people who earn a living can afford to buy products.

What led to the "rust belt" was shutting down manufacturing in the U.S. to get cheap products made by workers earning pennies overseas. But with all the Americans who lost their jobs, who was there left to buy those products -- at any price? Sure, it took a few decades to get there, but that's what it is.

Biden is actually trying to bring manufacturing (of computer chips, for instance) back to the U.S. Okay, so you have to pay the workers more than you would the Taiwanese or Singaporians, but they'll then have that money to buy the products (computers, phones, even toasters) themselves.

When I shop now, I look for Canadian products. True, I pay a little more for a shirt or pants or whatever than I would if they were made in Bangladesh, but I know full-well that somebody in Canada earned enough to feed the kids, and maybe buy a few Canadian goods themselves.

No nation will ever get rich by sending its dollars overseas in return for throw-away goods. You'd think that would be obvious.

There are levels to this, though. Would you support $100/hour minimum?

$75?

$50

$30

It's not informative to state that a crappy minimum wage or lack of workers protections, as there are in the US, lends credence to the magical $50/hour number that seems to have been pulled out of her butt.

 

[Brickjectivity]

No nation will ever get rich by sending its dollars overseas in return for throw-away goods. You'd think that would be obvious.

This is controversial among economists. I had an Econ class that had me read a book about how isolationist legislation leads to stagnation in an economy.

What led to the "rust belt" was shutting down manufacturing in the U.S. to get cheap products made by workers earning pennies overseas. But with all the Americans who lost their jobs, who was there left to buy those products -- at any price? Sure, it took a few decades to get there, but that's what it is.

Let me try to remember the argument: I do not remember . But... I got one of the LLM's (bing) to give me a rundown of pros and cons to post here:
Free Trade

Pros​

Economic Growth​

Efficiency​

Lower prices for consumers​

Cons​

Job Displacement​

Income Inequality​

Dependency on foreign goods​

Protectionism

Pros​

Job Preservation​

Domestic Industry Support​

National Security​

Cons​

Higher prices​

Reduces choices for consumers​

Trade wars​

​

I believe we need to alternate between the two (protectionism and trade). I think it should be cyclical, possibly random. I wouldn't be opposed to enacting a law making this change at random every 10 years. I know it seems radical to suggest that, but businesses could not become entrenched in one way or another. In either situation business tends to build structure that is not great overall for the economy; but if you keep switching your policy then business will have to be responsive. It could be very good for all concerned if occasionally nations revert to protectionism or free trade, at random. That is not going to happen, of course; because politicians don't like to give away their policy tools.

 

[Left Coast]

I owned and operated a small business for many years, if the minimum wage went up to $50 an hour my business would boom. Imagine all the workers earning a fair wage as they did in the 60's and 70's, when one wage earner could support a family and own a home.

How much did you pay for your employees? Were they entry level?

 

[We Never Know]

Jus

That's a lot of new union workers to sign up.

I'm sure dues will be brought into the equation. Good for government coffers.

I predict the mandatory, "Union Workers Act" will surface in the future.

Just imagine what a pizza would cost if they pay people $50 an hour to make it lol

 

[Twilight Hue]

Seems unrealistic.

Universal Basic Income seems a better solution.

The problem with that is UBI is never going to actually fly. At least in this generation's lifetime.

I'm more privy to a more direct and beneficial solution , and that would be to encourage companies to do things like profit sharing checks, bonuses from quota met or production counts, and things like that where a person isnt just a unit of labor on a spreadsheet, but an actual vested partner in ensuring the company success and profitability in the future.

Downside, it's just for employed people and dosent help those who don't have jobs or can't hold jobs.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Jus

Just imagine what a pizza would cost if they pay people $50 an hour to make it lol

Give it a decade or so

I'll wager a single pie Pizza will finally hit the three figure range weither minimum wage is raised or not.

The record already was 12,000 dollars for a single pie for two.

At $12,000, This is Where the World's Most Expensive Pizza is Served. Find out more - OrissaPOST

Ever wondered the price of the most popular fast food snack in the world? The most expensive pizza in the world was created by a man called Renato Viola as an experiment for a crowd in Salerno, a small coastal city in Italy. The pizza cost just about $12,000. Too much? At 20cm, it’s a […]

www.orissapost.com

Lifestyle of the rich and famous meets the unaffordability of the poor and common.

 

[lukethethird]

How much did you pay for your employees? Were they entry level?

I paid them well above minimum wage. The point is that minimum wage has been left behind to the point where it is no longer feasible. If wage earners have no buying power, where does that leave the store owner? We are living in an era called Neoliberalism, and it sucks all around unless you are a .01%er.

 

[lukethethird]

Give it a decade or so

I'll wager a single pie Pizza will finally hit the three figure range weither minimum wage is raised or not.

The record already was 12,000 dollars for a single pie for two.

At $12,000, This is Where the World's Most Expensive Pizza is Served. Find out more - OrissaPOST

Ever wondered the price of the most popular fast food snack in the world? The most expensive pizza in the world was created by a man called Renato Viola as an experiment for a crowd in Salerno, a small coastal city in Italy. The pizza cost just about $12,000. Too much? At 20cm, it’s a […]

www.orissapost.com

Lifestyle of the rich and famous meets the unaffordability of the poor and common.

Prices have been rising steadily while wages for the average worker remain stagnant, which proves that it is not wages that is causing inflation.

 

[Nakosis]

California Democrat calls for $50 minimum wage

California Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee is defending her call for a $50 federal minimum wage.

houstonherald.com

California Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee is defending her call for a $50 federal minimum wage. That’s more than six times the current federal minimum wage in the United States.​

​

Lee is running in a competitive Senate race to fill the seat of late Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein. She argues Californians cannot get by on less than $100,000 a due to the state’s cost-of-living crisis.​

​

Lee was asked during a Senate debate on Monday how her $50 an hour minimum wage proposal would be economically sustainable for small businesses. She claimed she has been a small business owner who “created hundreds of jobs” and argued employees need to be taken care of and have a “living wage.”​

​

“Just do the math, just do the math,” Lee said during the debate.​

​

The current national minimum wage at $7.25 an hour. The California minimum wages is $16 an hour.​

Wonder how many businesses would have to close simply because they could not pay the employees?

Sounds like a windfall for the government of California considering all of that extra income they would generate through tax revenue . Assuming any businesses would stay in California.

Unfortunately, this would simply drive up the cost of living in California to match. Maybe they ought to think about electing folks who understand economics better.

 

[esmith]

Wages go up, prices go up to counter cost to do business. Seems there is no lack of idiocy in California.

 

[Wu Wei]

Just as a note
40 hours a week is 2080 hours a year. 2080 X 50 = $104,000 a year

 

[Left Coast]

I paid them well above minimum wage.

How much? Were they entry level?

The cost of living is very high already here. Businesses respond to minimum wage hikes by raising prices and hiring fewer people. This is basic economics.

We already have a minimum wage here of $16. It'll be $17 next year. Yet the cost of living is still a huge problem. So as I see it, minimum wage increases are not the magic pill to fix the situation.

Barbara Lee is not a serious lawmaker. She's as wacky on the left as MTG and Boebert on the right. There's a reason she's in 4th place in the Senate race behind even Steve Garvey, who is a buffoon. Don't take your cues from her.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

This is controversial among economists. I had an Econ class that had me read a book about how isolationist legislation leads to stagnation in an economy.


Let me try to remember the argument: I do not remember . But... I got one of the LLM's (bing) to give me a rundown of pros and cons to post here:
Free Trade

Pros​

Economic Growth​

Efficiency​

Lower prices for consumers​

Cons​

Job Displacement​

Income Inequality​

Dependency on foreign goods​

Protectionism

Pros​

Job Preservation​

Domestic Industry Support​

National Security​

Cons​

Higher prices​

Reduces choices for consumers​

Trade wars​

​

I believe we need to alternate between the two (protectionism and trade). I think it should be cyclical, possibly random. I wouldn't be opposed to enacting a law making this change at random every 10 years. I know it seems radical to suggest that, but businesses could not become entrenched in one way or another. In either situation business tends to build structure that is not great overall for the economy; but if you keep switching your policy then business will have to be responsive. It could be very good for all concerned if occasionally nations revert to protectionism or free trade, at random. That is not going to happen, of course; because politicians don't like to give away their policy tools.

I don't see why it is not possible to have both at once. Take clothing, for example: it ought to be possible to allow free trade in low-market product (t-shirts, denim and such), while protecting higher-end products like gowns and tuxedos. This still permits the purchase of needed items at lower prices for those who won't be wearing tuxes often, while protecting a garment-making market at home. It also allows poorer countries to continue to make and sell goods at a profit to them.