Minimum Wage In America

An honest days pay for an honest days work. That is supposed to be how it works. In theory.

The federal minimum wage has been locked at $5.15 an hour for years now. Congress has raised their pay several times in this period. $5.15 an hour full time works out to peanuts. You might be able to afford a pair of shoes. Where I live (Miami FL) you could not even afford to rent a cardboard box under the I-95 overpass downtown.

Did I mention congress has raised their pay several times since the last minimum wage raise? Of course congress does important stuff like start wars, raise taxes, and create more laws that you better follow or else go to jail - while minimum wage workers do the unimportant stuff like handle your food.

The republican held congress totally rejected the proposed increase. They get to pick the agenda, and said that under no circumstances would any bill to raise the federal minimum wage even be considered. Democrats were able to sneak the most recent vote in by trying to tack the wage increase onto a defense spending bill.

And while the republicans totally control 100% of the agenda, including but not limited to what bills will be considered for a vote - they all say "democrats have no ideas. What legislation have they passed since 2000?" Well duh! NONE! Because no matter what they come up with, the committees are all held by republicans who will just table whatever they do not like.

This is why we need a STRONG third or even fourth party. To prevent this communist crap. With 4 parties, it would be harder for any one party to overpower the system. Right now ALL THREE branches of government are of the same party. We witnessed a bloodless coup. There is no separation of powers any more.

Anyway, why the hate over the minimum wage? Some republican from the great, metropolitan, world-class state of Georgia said it best. I am paraphrasing here because I am too lazy to find the exact quote. OK OK I will find the exact quote. And here it is. From the CNN.com.

"For every increase you make in the minimum wage, you will cost some of them their jobs," said Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia.

He described the clash as a "classic debate between two very different philosophies. One philosophy that believes in the marketplace, the competitive system ... and entrepreneurship. And secondly is the argument that says the government knows better and that topdown mandates work."

So there you go! Free market! Apple Pie! That big word that starts with E that the president can not pronounce. All a giant crock of bullshit.

The reality is that there IS enough money being generated by McDonalds to raise wages - they just do not want to. Same for Wal-Mart. But here is the catch - if wages go up, then profits MUST go down right?

Wrong. Profits do not have to go down. But then that means prices go up, which triggers inflation and makes the $2 raise null and void! Right???

Wrong again. Neither of these two things HAVE TO happen. But republicans do not want to think about that. They will call me a communist for saying this (as if having ONE PARTY dominating all three branches of government is NOT communist or fascist) but here it goes.

The only thing that would need to go down is the income of the top 3% - 5% upper managers. And we are not talking whopping 20% pay cuts here (which by the way is far LESS than airline pilots have seen their pay drop while top managers continue to make millions). A single digit decrease would be more than enough. Lets take the same 3% - 5% figure.

AGGHHH!! That is communist talk!! How DARE YOU say that top managers should cut their pay! They DESERVE all that money!

They do? Really now. Does the CEO of McDonalds make a single cheeseburger in a year? Does the CEO of Wal-Mart ring up a single sale in a year? How does McDonalds and Wal-Mart make their money - SELLING STUFF or selling management theories?

But, greed is good. Gordon Gecko said this in the 1980s. And nothing has changed. Greed IS good - at least under our market system. Managers would rather lay off thousands of people and ship production overseas than give up a single dollar of personal income.

But what about the stocks!!! A wage increase would lower stock value, which would hurt middle class Americans who invested their hard earned money in the market!

No, it would not. Not if the upper managers gave up just a tiny little bit of salary and bonuses to keep profitability at expected levels. They would just make that tiny bit back with their stock options anyway - so it is not like they would loose anything.

But the mere idea of giving up a little bit of income so someone not as good as them can make just a little bit more makes them cringe. People like Trump care as much about the middle class as I care about the fire ants in the backyard.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union did not understand Capitalism. This is why they lost. The Soviets tried to out spend the USA, which they could not do. They did not understand that the power of America is its GDP - not its nukes. It took several decades, but they lost when the Soviet System went bankrupt.

The Chinese are smarter. They sat back and watched what was going on. They learned our system. Nixon opened up trade relations with China back when China was a fourth world nation. He did this in part to freak out the Russians.

But China knows Capitalism. They know what our weakness is. And our weakness is greed. Our weakness is Capitalism.

And look at what China has done. They keep wages super low. They make factories super cheap to operate. They encourage nations to export production to them, and then send those nations back cheap crap. Much cheaper than it could be built at home.

And corporations love it. They can make huge short term profits. Stock values can go up. All they have to do is send jobs to China! Workers on the low end of the income scale have to compete with overseas labor. This keeps all wages low. This means they can make more.

And when China's GDP is higher than the USA - the Yuan will become the currency of choice for world markets. China will own most of the production for the world. And the corporations that allowed this to happen will simply move the company HQ over there. Large companies are no longer "American" or "French" or "German" - they are just organizations that do business where ever business conditions are the best. GM would leave America in a second if upper management thought it would make them more money. Jobs? Who cares! So long as the movers still have their jobs that is.

This is why the minimum wage will not be raised anytime soon. The people at the top do not want it. The CEO and CFO and all the other senior managers do not want it to happen.

And our leaders do not care. They are all on the take anyway. The stunt by the democrats was done just to get votes in November. They do not really care either.