Poll: Most People Want County's Minimum Wage at $15.25 (Los Angeles, Brentwood: mattresses, how much)

[Exitus Acta Probat]

A majority of Los Angeles County voters are in favor of raising the minimum hourly wage to $15.25 and requiring employers to offer paid sick leave, according to a poll released today.

The poll was commissioned by the Raise the Wage campaign, whose members are urging the Los Angeles City Council to approve a minimum wage hike package.

Poll: Most People Want County's Minimum Wage at $15.25 | Brentwood, CA Patch

Why stop at $15.25? Let's make it $50 and hour, and with all the other entitlements many people in transitional jobs get (thanks to the tax paying middle class), let's see just how much more quickly the middle income tax base leaves, so we'll have a two tier economic system consisting of peasants at the bottom and Bolsheviks at the top.

Welcome to the post-American America, not your grandfather's America.

[Tulemutt]

If you think you'd prefer my grandfather's America, farming rock and stump Minnesota land in those winters with no indoor plumbing or central heating or electricity, there are still places in the world you can go enjoy such.

And with a mere 85 people in the world holding as much wealth as 50% of the population, I think $50 an hour might be doable - and would actually result in a far more robust economy for all who like consumer lifestyles.

If you are concerned with the middle class, you'd better consider where all their money is disappearing. Hint: check under the mattresses of those 85 wealthiest. Because steadily, much of that middle class will be earning less than that $15 hourly minimum wage. And the whole machine will start grinding to a halt because: where'd all the money go to support the economy?

[StreetLegal]

Yeah, hell my grandfather came of age in the Great Depression...we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F9vRVyV914

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

Poll: Most People Want County's Minimum Wage at $15.25 | Brentwood, CA Patch

Why stop at $15.25? Let's make it $50 and hour, and with all the other entitlements many people in transitional jobs get (thanks to the tax paying middle class), let's see just how much more quickly the middle income tax base leaves, so we'll have a two tier economic system consisting of peasants at the bottom and Bolsheviks at the top.

Welcome to the post-American America, not your grandfather's America.

Sounds great. I look forward to $10 big macs and $15 subway foot longs.

The income inequality in LA county is a big problem. Wages haven't kept up with cost of living. But forcing the minimum wage up will only lead to inflation.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

Sounds great. I look forward to $10 big macs and $15 subway foot longs.

The income inequality in LA county is a big problem. Wages haven't kept up with cost of living. But forcing the minimum wage up will only lead to inflation.

In case you haven't noticed, inflation happens as part of a healthy fractional reserve banking economy such as we, and the entire world now runs on. There hasn't been runaway inflation since, well, practically about forever in the US or other leading economic powerhouse nations. There has, however, been a steadily severe rise in income inequality over the past two + decades. Which income inequality is killing the middle class - which IS turning us toward neo-feudalism. And no, that is not too strong a term.

[CALGUY]

The one important thing(at least to seniors) is no one touting a raise in the minimum wage has uttered one word as to how it would effect those living on a fixed income.
Everyone except seniors would be getting a raise in pay, which would be offset by higher prices for all goods and services.

This rise in the cost of these things will hit everyone, but because seniors were not a part of the hike in payroll, they will still get stuck paying more for everything.
The cost of living increase seniors get in January every year, doesn't come close to the rise in inflation, so those of you thinking seniors are right up there with the rest of the population when it comes to income, are flat out wrong.

I have approach every city, and county representative on this issue, and not one response.
Seniors are not even considered when it comes to how a rise in the minimum wage will affect them.

Bob.

[saibot]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

And with a mere 85 people in the world holding as much wealth as 50% of the population, I think $50 an hour might be doable - and would actually result in a far more robust economy for all who like consumer lifestyles.

Figure out a legal and moral way to get the money away from those 85 people, and then we can talk.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by saibot

Figure out a legal and moral way to get the money away from those 85 people, and then we can talk.

"Legal and moral"? Like how they acquired it through engineering the system? Right.

Well, you can start by increasing the minimum wage. Legal. And moral.

[saibot]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

"Legal and moral"? Like how they acquired it through engineering the system? Right.

Well, you can start by increasing the minimum wage. Legal. And moral.

That would be great if the people paying the increased wages were the top 0.0000001%. But what you're suggesting is taking a lot more money away from mostly middle- to upper-middle class folks who then have no choice but to let employees go and/or raise prices for their goods and services. Or, in the worst case, to close their businesses.

My husband owns a small business, so we have personal experience with the cost involved in hiring employees. It's bad enough; you want to make it worse.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by saibot

That would be great if the people paying the increased wages were the top 0.0000001%. But what you're suggesting is taking a lot more money away from mostly middle- to upper-middle class folks who then have no choice but to let employees go and/or raise prices for their goods and services. Or, in the worst case, to close their businesses.

My husband owns a small business, so we have personal experience with the cost involved in hiring employees. It's bad enough; you want to make it worse.

Funny. Smart businesses don't carry expendable employees. If you can "let employees go" and still remain in business, then you're better off without them. That's what the big boys do. You adjust pricing and find all other efficiencies,

Anyway, we're talking minimum wage here. Do you pay your employees only minimum wage now? This change would mostly affect certain segments of specific industries and services that have substantial percentages of their workers being paid minimum. Large companies like that are generally rolling in dough if they are surviving at all.

If you have a small company with say, 15 employees and five of them are minimum wage, raising those five probably affects your payroll expense by less than 15%. Considering that payroll is only one of many expenses, change in your total costs could range down as low as a few percent. Don't have to change pricing much to cover that.

Disclosure: I ran my own printing / graphics business for more than half of my more than working 50 years.