Tag: Low Wages

The Promise Of Wages

I follow Speaker Ryan on Twitter because his daily Tweets can get a real person laughing for most of the day.  His Tweets since the tax cuts of 2017 are about how much better off the economy is at this point and occasionally he offers some vague promise of wages.

The truth is these cuts have done little to raise the wages of the working class but did everything to raise the wealth of the already wealthy.

The real truth is that all the tax cuts for the last couple of decades have done nothing to raise the wages of the average working stiff.

The graph on wages is flat and has been that way for many decades……follow the graphs on wages……there are 9 of them that prove my point…..https://www.epi.org/publication/charting-wage-stagnation/

After checking out the graphs……read this report from the Pew Research……

On the face of it, these should be heady times for American workers. U.S. unemployment is as low as it’s been in nearly two decades (3.9% as of July) and the nation’s private-sector employers have been adding jobs for 101 straight months – 19.5 million since the Great Recession-related cuts finally abated in early 2010, and 1.5 million just since the beginning of the year.

But despite the strong labor market, wage growth has lagged economists’ expectations. In fact, despite some ups and downs over the past several decades, today’s real average wage (that is, the wage after accounting for inflation) has about the same purchasing power it did 40 years ago. And what wage gains there have been have mostly flowed to the highest-paid tier of workers.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us-workers-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/

So to taunt the tax cuts as working for the working class is a damn lie….a lie that the GOP has become master at selling to the unwitting public.

To fight this growing story…the public is starting to see just how much of a lie the GOP is spreading…..the Right needs a theory to explain the lagging wages…..

Once upon time, when the GOP was still attempting to dress itself up as a party of ideas, Yuval Levin was considered one of its star intellectuals. As editor of the conservative policy journal National Affairs, he was a wonkish prophet of fiscal doom, who argued that the U.S. would soon face a reckoning over its national debt, and that the only way to avert catastrophe was to radically curtail the modern welfare state. Levin was once described as Paul Ryan’s own “personal philosopher,” and was the sort of guy who could get David Brooks hot and bothered by writing a long-winded argument for slashing entitlement spending.

If a politician like Sen. Marco Rubio or Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker had become president in 2016, Levin might still be playing a starring role in Washington’s policy discourse. But of course, Donald Trump is president, and Republicans have dropped the charade that they sincerely care about the deficit, or whatever the heck got written about in ponderous thinky policy rags. Levin still gets cited by columnists like Brooks, but his star is a bit fallen.

https://slate.com/business/2018/09/wage-stagnation-new-conservative-theory.html

An interesting read and very eye opening……

The GOP has always been a party for liars and when it comes to screwing the public they are masters at making the public smile while getting humped.

Inequality: How Bad Can It Be?

There has been a lot written, said and thought about inequality in this country, especially with this last election….the populist resurgent has come on the heels of the inequality in the US.

Both Right and Left emphasizes it at every turn…..but is it as bad as they claim it is?

The answer is yes it is and believe it or not kt is worse than you think….

The more the ultra-rich prosper, the less they’re burdened with taxes, the greater the benefits for society as a whole. If you’re familiar with Republican economic theory of the past 40 years, you’ve probably heard this line of reasoning. In fact, just the opposite is true

Take it from the world’s third richest man, Warren Buffett, who recently noted that between 1982 and 2017, “the wealth of the 400 [richest people in America] increased 29-fold—from $93 billion to $2.7 trillion—while many millions of hardworking citizens remained stuck on an economic treadmill. During this period, the tsunami of wealth didn’t trickle down. It surged upward.”

The reality is the United States is now home to some of the worst income inequality in the developed world, and thanks to the recent passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, this wealth gap will grow exponentially wider.

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/income-inequality-us-even-worse-youve-been-led-believe#.Wp679x1vrtk.

Few want to believe the tale of the tape…..so inequality continues to grow and as it grows so will the outrage…..eventually that outrage will effect the results of elections….and that outrage will fuel the programs that address the inequality.

But can that outrage eliminate inequality?

I think it can but unfortunately not in my lifetime…..hopefully my granddaughter can see an end to the inequality.

Bestiality Equals Higher Minimum Wage

The weekend begins and I was searching for something interesting for my readers….other than the mindless crap that the news produces daily…..something strange and unusual….something that would have my reader sitting there asking….WTF?

By George I think I found something…..and I ask any of my readers in Ohio that reads this and may have an inside track on this situation to clarify it for my other readers…..(I do attempt to be accurate)

Can you appreciate the games politicians play?  Their creativity is just amazing sometimes……

Most of my readers are aware of the movement to make $15 an hour the new minimum wage….of course most everyone in the GOP is having a stroke trying to find ways to avoid raising it…..

I believe that the good reps in Ohio have found a unique way to do so……

It is currently legal to have sex with an animal in nine states, but it seems Ohio may want off that list. The Guardian reports Ohio’s state legislature passed a bill this week that would outlaw bestiality and the selling of animals for sex. Gov. John Kasich has 10 days to sign or veto the bill. “The passage of animal sexual abuse legislation is a great victory for the animals of Ohio,” says a policy director at the Humane Society, which campaigned for the bill. The senators who sponsored the bill argued that sexually abusing animals can be a stepping stone to sexually abusing children.

But of course it’s not as simple as making it illegal to have sex with animals. WHIO reports the bill originally sought to stop local governments from regulating large-scale dog breeders, meaning animal-rights groups opposed it. Then Republican legislators added a section to the bill to stop cities like Cleveland and Cincinnati from raising the minimum wage, according to the New York Daily News. Now the bill was now also unpopular with workers’ rights groups. To make the controversial bill more palatable, Republican legislators then added the anti-bestiality legislation. And that’s how 40 legislators, mostly Democrats, ended up voting against making it illegal to screw animals while the state made it easier to keep screwing workers.

Ah!  The games our politicians play….how original of them.

Thoughts?

Great American Douche Bag

There are protests all over the country to raise the minimum wage……there has been a wealth of support for such an idea…..and there has been a wealth of opposition……but you know there are so many Americans that6 are living hand to mouth and still must seek entitlements from time to time……something has got t be done to help American citizens earn a living wage without sacrificing their family time……

Now this person weighs in on the necessity for a pay raise…..

Brave? Politically tone deaf? You pick: Democrat James Moran of Virginia says he and his fellow representatives in Congress are in dire need of a raise. “I think the American people should know that the members of Congress are underpaid,” Moran tells Roll Call. “I understand that it’s widely felt that they underperform, but the fact is that this is the board of directors for the largest economic entity in the world.” Moran noted that some members live out of their offices to avoid DC’s steep prices, even on salaries of $174,000.

“Our pay has been frozen for three years and we’re planning on freezing it a fourth year,” he says. “A lot of members can’t even afford to live decently in Washington.” He plans to introduce an amendment to remedy the problem, reports the Washington Post, but acknowledges it doesn’t have much of a chance. In the meantime, he’s opened himself up to shots like this from Wonkette: “Dude, you do know that if you were actually the board of directors for a ginormous company, approximately 9/10 of you would be fired for incompetence and the remainder of you would only be kept on as figureheads while a competent CEO and CFO did all the actual work, right?”

$174,000?  Not bad for a part time job……..I have always stated that the government should buy a complex like the Watergate and turn it into a dormitory for these toads……..they do not need their families in Washington….they spend about 126 days a year actually working…….

Oh yeah…this dude will definitely make it into Babbling Buffoons Of Babylon…….can you believe anyone would say such a crass thing?  Maybe a 2nd job is in order for this lazy pathetic twat……

Enough said?  Please weigh in on this piece of utter trash………

Mr. President, Economic Injustice Will Not End Without Systemic Economic Change

I have been preaching this issue for 40+ years….few ever listened….that is until today and all of a sudden everyone sees it so damn clearly……sadly change seldom comes to America….instead we get weak kneed reform which is so easily cast off when necessary…..

Mr. President, Economic Injustice Will Not End Without Systemic Economic Change.

Income Inequality

It seems that the more the term is used the more it is becoming the latest buzz term….a dog whistle for the Left…..the Left?  I am so tired of that term!  There is NO one in Washington that is on the Left.  At best the ass clowns are solidly in the middle….with that said I will move on……

For the last couple of months the term “income inequality” has been batted around and used for talking points……..but is any of this going to do any good?  Or is it just something to talk about until a bigger news story breaks?

Any way….the prez has jumped onto the subject……

President Obama raised this issue yesterday in a speech to a progressive audience so I think it’s a worthy topic for discussion. In the President’s view, income inequality and disparity are issues which only the government can “solve” by some sort of redistribution scheme. However, the President offered no specifics, he only encouraged congress to […]

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As an old hippie commie pinko and about a hundred other adjective that people used in the past to describe me and people like me………I have been bitching about income inequality for decades…..usually to deaf ears until recently…….there seems to be a growing concern over something that has plagued American workers for years……but what if anything will be the answer to solving the problem?  I have a plan but NO one will like it…….and then I will once again be bombarded with the insults on my political beliefs…..cool, huh?

2012 Forgotten Issue

This could be just about anything….there is a wide array of issues that neither candidate wants to talk about……we know that both Obama and Romney say they will create jobs only if they are elected…….we know that taxes are too high in one camp and too low in another…….we know that Obama sucks and Romney is a liar………the spin is so thick that it borders on propaganda….well it is propaganda but we Americans cannot call it for what it is……but there is one issue that both candidates have been unwilling to talk about……..can you name that elusive issue?  (Pause he for thought…….oh who am I kidding voters do not want to think that is why we have the two pathetic candidates that we have)……okay the forgotten issue is…..(drum roll please)……..the stagnant income….yes for all the progress and all the hoopla on Wall Street, income is not moving at all…..Corporate biggies are doing marvelous but the rest of us mere mortals are stuck in limbo with worse than modest increases in wages that is quickly ate up by those inflationary things that are not counted as inflation…..like gas….food…….etc.

Newser) – The economy has taken center stage in the race for the White House, but amid the chatter about government spending and taxes, the New York Timesthinks one subject that hits close to home for many poor and middle-class Americans has been largely left out: the long-term stagnation of income. For the first time since the Depression, median family income has decreased over a decade, and though both candidates acknowledge the problem, they rarely touch on the true catalysts behind it—automation, globalization, and education. All are complex issues that can’t be “quickly remedied through legislation,” writes David Leonhardt.

Often, politicians place the blame for falling wages on flashpoint issues such as immigration, but what’s going on is far larger in scope, writes Leonhardt. Pessimism abounds because no quick fixes are in sight, though “maybe the biggest reason for optimism is that there is still a strong argument that both globalization and automation help the economy in the long run,” he writes. It just happens to be painful in the interim. Click to read Leonhardt’s full piece.

With about 10 days left before we decide who will lead the country…….the most important issue is still unexplained…..why?

Do Not Tell Lou Dobbs!

Or maybe we should.  Then he can take credit for the good news.

A report released Thursday by the Pew Hispanic Center indicates that fewer people are trying to enter the United States illegally and that there has been no growth over the last year in the number of illegal immigrants living here.

Experts said the loss of low-wage jobs in the American economy, combined with intensified enforcement at the border and at workplaces across the country, had caused those who might be considering an illegal border crossing to think twice before risking what has become an increasingly dangerous journey. The result has been a significant reversal after a decade of rapid growth in illegal immigration.

The Pew report found that illegal immigration to the United States had dropped to about 500,000 annually since 2005 from an average yearly rate of 800,000 from 2000 to 2004. Since 2000, the average number of legal immigrants entering the United States each year has remained steady at about 600,000 to 700,000.

The Pew study was not devised to explain why the inflows of illegal immigrants had declined. He speculated, however, that the trend was the result of a combination of factors, led primarily by a weakening economy and rising rates of unemployment in the construction and service industries, which rely heavily on immigrant labor.

The Service Economy

This is exerpts from a piece written in the Politico by Louis Soares.
Service jobs are America’s future — and jobs in that sector pay less and less every year. Are we destined for a future of low-wage, high-turnover jobs where few make it to the middle class and stay there? Or is there an alternative?

Regardless of the service sector — retail, health care, hospitality, financial services or consulting — companies that develop value-creating relationships with their customers on the front line are leveraging technology and human capital to gain customer insight, redesign customer experience, innovate and lead their sector in lifetime customer value. This new thinking will be beneficial to workers as they enhance their skills and move up the pay ladder, to managers as they add more value with given resources and to customers as they reap better experiences and services.
But there is a different business model that can be used to add value to entry-level workers. Called “value maximization,” it recognizes that a company’s frontline employees interact with customers 100 times more often than senior management. As products and services become more complex, consumers are starved for trusted guides to help them figure out which among diverse products and services will meet their needs and exceed expectations. They want value-creating relationships.

Companies that understand this are investing in their entry-level workplaces, not cutting them back. Best Buy, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Starbucks, Mandarin Oriental, Southwest Airlines and Toro all invest in key relationship strategies: customer centricity and team-based service delivery. This one-two punch is deceptively simple, yet it has a profound impact on business productivity, corporate profitability, and employees’ paychecks. By putting relevant customer and performance information in the hands of entry-level workers and providing a foundation for building relationships, these companies are paying more and growing faster.