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The Federal Minimum Wage has not increased since July, 2009.
State minimum wages and local minimum wages in large chunks of the country have increased. Thats a fact. You hate it, but it is a fact. And it has pushed up wages for those workers. Its a fact. You might claim that it has also lead to mass unemployment, but the reality is that it has forced wages up for the bottom. Just look at the wages of unskilled workers in places like Washington state.
If you are not a big money donor, you have no chance to win an election. Try running for federal office without begging from money from the super rich. You'd be demolished and would be lucky to get 1% of the vote even if 99% of the people in your state support your policies.
The Federal Minimum Wage has not increased since July, 2009.
Like it or not, the economy is doing well, and employers must pay more to find the workers they need.
You simply cannot say the economy is doing well when we are going on two years with markets not even keeping pace with (slow) GDP growth and even hardly inflation.
You can't. Having manufacturing at 10 years ago levels and the same with many other indicators is not "good". It's not "well".
It's avoidable.
If one wants to be optimistic they can say things went from good to stable (good from 2012 to 2017, stable since.
NYC is the center of the financial universe. When Real Estate in Manhattan falls further than it has since the effects of the Great Recession that means something.
State minimum wages and local minimum wages in large chunks of the country have increased. Thats a fact. You hate it, but it is a fact. And it has pushed up wages for those workers. Its a fact. You might claim that it has also lead to mass unemployment, but the reality is that it has forced wages up for the bottom. Just look at the wages of unskilled workers in places like Washington state.
minimum wage workers are not middle class and never have been middle class. Stay on topic.
If you are not a big money donor, you have no chance to win an election. Try running for federal office without begging from money from the super rich. You'd be demolished and would be lucky to get 1% of the vote even if 99% of the people in your state support your policies.
Thats a fact.
It is generally true BUT there have been candidates like Ross Perot (he really didn't spend that much considering) and Howard Dean (grass roots largely) and Ralph Nader who got on the ballot everywhere.
No doubt there is a duopoly in our political system...and not a good one. But it is possible to have some change within that system or even slightly outside of it.
Of course, even if an independent or 3rd party won for POTUS that doesn't mean they would get anything done. I think Jesse Ventura was an example of that. What tends to happen is that both parties don't like the idea of an independent and they both work against the person.
Hey, I'm a radical in these matters. I'm all for changing our system of government to one more fair where it is not winner-take-all. That's a bad system IMHO. It might have worked for lower populations but it does not work now.
minimum wage workers are not middle class and never have been middle class. Stay on topic.
You are the one who brought up retail workers and those at the lower end of the pay-scale. Those are the people who have benefited the most from the local minimum wage increases as the data show.
I haven't seen any improvement under DT. The problem for those not in the top 20% is that costs are increasing faster than wage benefits. Housing, education, and medical care are soaking up an increasing share of the middle income salary.
I haven't seen any improvement under DT. The problem for those not in the top 20% is that costs are increasing faster than wage benefits. Housing, education, and medical care are soaking up an increasing share of the middle income salary.
The middle class has been left behind, sure employment is up but the middle class isn’t keeping up with housing, health care costs or anything else. Some at the bottom have seen increased wages but the top percentiles have seen the largest gains.
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