1 in 5 live in poverty in Texas. Conservative approach is working just as designed.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/18/news...exas/index.htm

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...06379851_n.jpg

Ah yes. Welfare. How much do you really know about it? Seems there are tons of people who think you can simply quit you job and go on welfare. It's bullshit, but I guess it makes some people feel heroic as they go about their workday.

Well known scrimper & saver...

http://media.nowpublic.net/images//d...ac18634f67.jpg

The Republican answer is that the black populations in their southern states are bankrupting them.

They want blacks removed from welfare. When confronted with the question of where they will find work, Republicans want the minimum wage abolished so that multiple blacks can be hired to fill one current salary spot.

That, in their minds, will finally rise the south to power.

WE get it... you like that fucking analogy... I'm sorry but its a sappy little mean nothing line. You fail to look at where the rising tide is coming from, how many others had to work a large amount of the hours they work just to cover other peoples bills. Its redistribution of wealth.. and it wouldn't be as bad if it was done with a shred of guilt for the waste that is committed in its out of hand spending. It's not even done behind closed doors anymore. Right out in the open and your made to feel like if we question it there is something wrong with you...

Karma's a bitch...

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...31814297_n.jpg

Jesus Christ. Ya know where it comes from? From the enormous corporate profits THE WORKERS created!

Wages haven?t kept pace with recovery, study finds
The stock market is improving. Corporate profits are up dramatically. But workers? wages don?t seem to be rising, a study finds.
http://www.boston.com/business/artic...y_study_finds/

Real Wages Fail to Match a Rise in Productivity
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/28/bu...anted=all&_r=0

Corporate profits hit record as wages get squeezed
http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/03/news...its/index.html

http://dudelol.com/img/chris-rock-on-minimum-wage..jpeg

Why do these "workers" work for these EVIL companies then? Why don't they just go out and "create" "enormous profits" on their own since they are so great?

Answer: They can't of course. They don't have what it takes to do that kind of thing. All they want is a nice paycheck and tons of benefits with no risk of losing their ass.

You do realize that there is a reason that there are winners and losers in this world right?
And it isn't your stupid examples of Paris Hilton. She doesn't have anything to do with your theories.

Nope...it's guys in the "evil" corporate chain. Guys who started off as regular guys in a company and were such bad asses that they outworked everyone around them and rose up the corporate chain.

Years later they make the big bucks. While the less ambitious majority who are working for the weekend so they can drink beer...they get left behind.

No GrantMercury...for every person "born" into wealth, there are a hundred thousand corporate execs who worked their way through the ranks.

Not everything at the top IS cream. But the cream always does rise to the top.
And people with the mindset that you seem to have...always are at the bottom.

You seem to advocate the theory that everybody owes you something.

As Jackson Browne once sang: "Nobody owes you NOTHING."

Maybe if Sweet Baby Jesus Obama would wise the fuck up everybody could be making good salaries from energy jobs.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/28/pf/n...jobs/index.htm

That was from late 2011. I just heard on the news today that employees at Walmart there are getting starting salaries of $17.50 an hour.

Fuck your "rising tide". North Dakota is proof of Trickle Down in full effect.

Loser.

We don't workers go and do it for themselves?

They do not have access to land, machinery or start up capital, they also are real people in a real situation, so they are peasants thrown of the land and forced in to cities, where forced by hunger to take work in factories...

When workers have had access to land, as in America and Australia that have done exactly what you suggest - started to work for themselves as farmers. In face capitalists did have problems getting workers to work in their factories in the beginning.

Sadly Paris Hilton is the norm and the myth is what you seem to believe. Wealth stays in the same hands generation by generation. There is very little social mobility. The rich buy places for their offspring and keep the poor out of the best universities and jobs.

But please google it and find out for yourself.

Exactly. It's not the worker's credit on the line, their cash, life savings, or balls in the vice to start the company and get it to the point of becoming successful. They are the one's who took all of the risk, and captained the ship into financial wealth or profitability. Did the workers help? Sure. They were compensated with a pay check.

Additionally, most "workers" do not bother to see the TRUE COST of their employment. It is not in their McJob paycheck. But we'll play along in shadowboxing game.

Let's say a worker makes $500.00 a week. They get full health benefits. Depending on their age, that is another $100-300.00/month for them. Include their family, now we're up to $500.00+ provided by the employer as a value add benefit. Let's add in a few weeks of paid vacation and sick time. That's another grand a year based on two weeks of paid leave. How about that Xmas bonus? Oh and let's not forget matching taxes, disability, unemployment and all of the other fees that an employer has to pay or match for each person and pay to the state or federal government.

Once you get done adding all of that up, you see the TRUE COST to an employer is much higher than their messily paychecks the worker bees earn at their McJob manning the fry-o-lator.

:disgust

Yep the good old government double dipping.

No need to raise the minimum wage artificially when the economy is roaring like it is in North Dakota. Economic forces do the job and raise the "minimum wage" naturally.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/28/pf/n...jobs/index.htm

But Sweet Baby Jesus is obsessed with "green energy" sources that don't really work (yet) to fulfill our energy needs as a country.

So he is doing everything he can to force fossil fuel prices UP so green energy looks more viable.

The result is a crushing and painful blow to people already struggling in his shitty economy.

Open the goddamn Keystone Pipeline and then Federal lands for drilling and watch the entire nation replicate what's going on in North Dakota.

There is no reason for us to be buying oil from those crazy Muslim countries that want to kill us all. With new technology it turns out the the United States is perhaps the most oil rich country in the world. And the same for Natural Gas.

Instead we keep paying top dollar to make people who hate us filthy rich while the answer to our energy problem AND the economy is literally right underneath us.

What's Apple without employees? What's Ford without employees? What's Homedepot without employees? Really think about it , you can have the greatest idea, be the hardest worker on the planet if there aint a bunch of little workers under to grow and sell your product. Its just a good idea. Its like peanut and jelly. You need both.

Bi/weekly pay check + paid weeks off every year + health benefits + 401k/profit sharing + employer matching taxes.

When does it end?

:disgust

I dont understand. so you give them nothing? How do you build a Ford then or an Apple? Whats disgust? The sales man that works for apple and sells big school contracts or some hospital now uses ipads instead of charts? Or the guy at ford who comes up with a better way to do something and save's the company money or the guys in the field who keep the dealers happy. My cousin works for a large fortune 500 company has all the perks, on a slow week he works 80 hrs a week.

Those employees are there for nothing but a paycheck. They get done and go home to enjoy life.

Why would you ever think that employees following orders are the ones who really build a company? It's simply not true.

GOOD employees can definitely be an advantage to a company. So they get paid more.

All I know is every guy that ever worked for me did what they had to to just get their job done. They didn't want to work weekends or late nights.

Me? I work weekends, holidays, all day and all night. It's me with the pressure, risk, capital, etc.

If the business owner goes down, he's screwed. The employee just goes to another job.

But let's forget owners...and go back to what I said:
Executives. Both you and GrantMercury have posted stats about the "overpaid" executives.
But those guys started somewhere (at the bottom). And through higher intelligence, sacrifice, work ethic, etc. SURPASSED the average worker grunt and EARNED their way up the ladder.

This is still the land of opportunity. And nobody is stopping people from working weekends, holidays, etc. for no pay just to move ahead in a company.

But only a very, very few ever do.
The rest just do their tasks and go home.

Come on Tony! That "guy at Ford" would be moving right up the ladder of success and getting a fat raise if he is truly that valuable to the company. If not, he'll leave for a higher paying job at Chevy. lol

People who create success ARE successful. That's the point.

Becuause it's a COOPERATIVE EFFORT! Obviously! Did 1 man create Apple? Fuck no. Would they sell all the gadgets and gizmos that have made Apple $137,000,000,000 if they didn't have thousands of people selling them in Apple stores? Think about it. Could Steve Jobs have worked all the hours it takes to sell all the fucking things? To demonstrate how set up the email on the iPhones for the soccer moms that don't know how? What about the truckers that carry the shit to the stores? That $137,000,000,000 didn't just appear at the behest of a wunderkind computer whiz. Thousands upon thousands WORKED for it.

How the fuck did you figure that? You can NOT find a single thread where I claim anyone owes me anything. Blow me. :321GFY

I'd like to hear more about that. Got a link?

Apple?s Retail Army, Long on Loyalty but Short on Pay

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/bu...pagewanted=all

What would Apple's sales be if not for people like Jordan? IT'S A COOPERATIVE EFFORT. And corporate profits are way up from the heightened productivity of workers - but the spoils are not being shared with them.

The 2011 Fortune 500: The Big Boys Rack Up Record-Setting Profits
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/05/...etting-profit/

We must demand an increase in the minimum wage. The workers have more than earned it.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_e3gDaHO8VL...economists.jpg

Nobody is saying a guy who moves boxes and crates around should get the same pay as the guy who started the company. That's ridiculous. But a company that can't afford to pay above poverty level wages is one that can't afford to do business.

You know, don't you, that YOUR tax dollars subsidize Walmart payroll? Because they're paid so little, Walmart employees rely heavily on food stamps and "free" health care clinics. Walmart appreciates your generosity. It's not like they can afford to shoulder those costs on their own.:1orglaugh

Incredible. Any yet, despite it all, corporate profits have never been higher. It's like magic. :disgust

Weird...I know a few people who work at Walmart. One of them is my daughter's boyfriend's mom.

None of the people I know who work there are on foodstamps.

But it makes a great story I suppose.

Let's force them to pay entry level employees a higher minimum wage! Then they will have to raise their prices and MILLIONS of people who depend on those low prices to get things they need to survive will be fucked.

Great thinking GrantMercury! No wonder you are such a big success!

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...ees-medicaid-/
"In Ohio, the state Department of Job and Family Services report found Wal-Mart to be the state?s top employer for workers and family members who receive Medicaid (16,098), food stamps (14,799) and cash assistance (803), according to January 2012 numbers. A state spokesman cautioned the report does not tell the difference between full- and part-time employees, or employees who do not yet qualify for benefits, or why employees sought Medicaid."

Now why isnt walmart called users? Good night for real now lol

This may be for some, but not all.
Most walmsrts start a little higher than min wage, and move you up quick.
There is also healthcare
401K
Profit sharing
and you get 5 or 10% discount on cheap shit already...

Maybe Walmart aren't the "users".

For instance, in 1980 I was playing in Florida in my rock band. I was 18 years old (the drinking age wasn't 21 yet). I started dating an escort. And it was FUN! She had money and hot escort friends to have group sex with...it was awesome.

She averaged around $1,000 a day in CASH.

She was a divorced woman with a kid. And guess what? She got foodstamps every week!

She was making 6 figures a year in CASH (which in 1980 made you rich). But of course she didn't file income tax on any of that money. So to the govt. she was an unemployed single mother.

And she used those foodstamps to buy groceries every week. And so did a lot of her friends. (she even had her kid getting free school lunches)

I was shocked by that. I grew up being taught that getting foodstamps was shameful.

But I learned a lesson that the majority of people will ALWAYS game the system.

Back to the Walmart employees...If they are doing a good job and work there a few months they WILL get a raise. And secondly, Walmart has a grocery store in it. And they get employee discounts don't they?
If they are taking foodstamps, then I have to say they are gaming the system.

THEY are the "users", not the people who employ them to do a simple job that requires no skills or education.

The number of people working jobs that paid the federal minimum wage dropped last year, according to new labor statistics published Wednesday.
An estimated 3.6 million people were paid hourly rates at or below the federal minimum in 2012, down from 3.8 million a year earlier.

Workers toiling at the $7.25 federal minimum wage or less tend to be young, female, single and lacking a high school diploma.
lacking a high school diploma.
lacking a high school diploma.
lacking a high school diploma.



http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/27/news...html?iid=HP_LN

"Almost all full-time workers (99.4%) are earning more than the minimum wage, and almost all full-time hourly workers (98.3%) are earning more than the minimum wage. Most importantly, the fact that more than three out of four teenagers (77.2%), who are the least skilled and least educated group of workers, earned more than the minimum wage in 2011 would suggest the minimum wage is mostly an entry-level wage for beginning workers with no skills. The reality of the labor market is that even a large majority of previously unskilled teenage workers are earning more than the minimum wage as soon as they acquire minimal job skills and work habits, and can demonstrate their value to employers." -- Mark Perry




In a nutshell.





.

works great until the IRS finds out... she was breaking the law to get government assistance

There is a big world out there and just because you don't know anyone personally doesn't mean it's not happening.

The IRS never found out. Obviously if they had known she was a hooker they would have arrested her for that first. lol

There are LOTS of people who earn unclaimed income and make a great living and STILL take advantage of govt. provided medical services, food stamps, even welfare checks.

Not saying that all people receiving assistance do. I'm just saying that it happens a LOT.

And no...there are no correct statistics for that kind of thing. Most people never get caught so there is no way to have stats on it.

That's true, and I didn't say that didn't mean it's not happening.

But I repeat: When you work at Walmart you are being paid to do unskilled labor that requires no education.
But if you do a good job and stay loyal there, you will get a raise in a few months. PLUS...you can buy the things you need AND your groceries with your employee discount.

No reason to go on foodstamps UNLESS you are an unwed mother with several children (you made some bad, bad life choices).

If I suddenly had no money and lost my home, etc. I could easily live off wages at Walmart and live in an extended stay hotel (with utilities and even one meal a day included) buy my clothing and food at Walmart with my employee discount.
On top of that, I would outwork anybody there and I'd be managing that place within the year.

I played in bands all over this country and made far LESS than people working at Walmart. But somehow I, all the guys in the band, the road crew, and the other 100 bands working the same circuit all survived and NEVER took one penny from the govt. to do so. :)

We see that way to often. People apply for a job with NO high school diploma. From an employers point of view this is the first red flag. Almost always our HR manager won't go any further. A highschool education is free. And when a person declines to do the bare minimum of even graduating, why would we take a chance on them?

In fact we rarely do take a chance. Companies have to spend money on training. It's not free anymore. I have told more than one young man go back and at least get a GED. Show us that you are motivated to improve your life. Most mumble under their breath... eff off...

https://youtube.com/watch?v=gDgFiW2xtf0

I agree. Especially since it's the truth.

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://l..._O0rr0XGvVVjcg

But don't let it bother you. It's very generous of you to give handouts to Walmart.

I don't think you even believe this shit, but you don't know what else to say anymore.

How do you figure raising the minimum wage will result in an increase in goods and services that will somehow result in an increase in the costs of goods and services so significant that somehow the worker ends up worse off? That's Limbaugh's "dittohead" level stuff. Do you think 100% of the manufacturing cost of any given product is labor??? You're a successful business man? Really? :1orglaugh

I think that's understandable. There are reasons people don't finish high school, and most of them are sad, but I can't blame an employer for being wary. Anyone who wants to get a GED can get one virtually free, and if they need tutoring that's probably available, too.

Because that's how economics and running a business work. Something that you are deliberately leaving out of your theories.

And yes...I'm a VERY successful businessman. Come to Vegas sometime (if you can afford to), I'll give you a tour of my home (that comes from the money I've made in this business from my hard work over the years) and take you out to a nice dinner and show you what you could possibly attain for yourself if you could just focus on working instead of waiting for govt. handouts.