[johnwk]

The destructive consequences of Obama’s proposed Minimum Wage

See: Obama to sign executive order raising minimum wage for federal contractors

”President Obama, in the first of potentially many executive actions tied to his State of the Union address, will unilaterally increase the minimum wage for workers under new federal contracts to $10.10 an hour, from $7.25, in an effort to build momentum for a minimum wage hike for all Americans.”

And tell us Mr. President, how does the federal minimum wage affect our free market system, and in particularly, inner city youth who have dropped out of High School who are not prepared to earn a living wage? Well, the most glaring example is to look at a newspaper from the 1960’s and turn to its help wanted section. To our surprise we will find countless jobs, especially in the trades [plumbing, electrical, carpentry, etc.] available as “will train“ positions. At the time, these jobs provided a second opportunity to many high school drop-outs to not only find employment, but learn a well-paying trade in the process if they were willing to buckle down and take the opportunity. Countless part time positions were available starting at about $ 1 - $1.50 an hour, but the pay was rapidly increased as the employee’s productivity increased which allowed an increase in their pay.

Unfortunately, because of today’s countless government financial requirements added to the cost of hiring a new employee in the trades, and would include Obama’s outrageous $10.10 minimum wage in addition to unemployment compensation, Social Security Payments, Medicare, etc., a business owner today who may like to hire a high school drop-out as a trainee finds the government added costs prohibitive and thus, the bottom rungs on the employment ladder have been cut off by government for many of our nation’s high school drop outs.

But there is a motive behind Obama’s proposal, and it has nothing to do with helping the unemployed or employed who have very little to offer an employer. It is obvious that Obama is once again attempting to flimflam these poor souls into believing there is free cheese, rather than providing them with a way to learn how to make cheese and become independent in the process. Were we not warned against dependency by our Founding Fathers?

A POWER OVER A MAN's SUBSISTENCE AMOUNTS TO A POWER OVER HIS WILL ____ Hamilton, No. 79 Federalist Papers

JWK


If we can make 51 percent of America’s population dependent upon an Obama, welfare, food stamp, section 8 housing, college loan check, and now free Obamacare along with FREE BACON, we can blackmail them for their vote, keep ourselves in power and keep the remaining portion of America’s productive population enslaved to pay the bills ____ Obama’s Marxist Free Stuff Party, which is designed to establish a federal plantation and redistribute the wealth which wage earners, business and investors have worked to create.

[Shaddim]

I love that. "We voted for you, now you give us our bacon (meaning free money). It's quid pro quo."

She actually said that. Geez... I wonder how she feels, now that her savior has forsaken her?

[turtle777]

Well, bullish for robots.

For the lowly skilled: not so much.

-t

[Chongo]

Bill Gates Explains His Opposition to Raising the Minimum Wage - YouTube

It's great for the unions that have contracts tied to the minimum wage.

[Shaddim]

"Let's raise the minimum wage!"
"We're outsourcing this overseas."

Dear Leader even farmed his own health care plan to an Irish company with call centers in India. He cares about US jobs? F*** him. The guy is a worthless bag of shit.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

Well, bullish for robots.

For the lowly skilled: not so much.

-t

Forget for a moment his move to increase the minimum wage of Federal employees as this is ultimately meaningless in the scheme of things. This is the big stump of the Democratic party this year to push a higher minimum wage across the board to avoid discussing anything else such as the general state of the economy and more importantly, the Democrats' singular accomplishment in 5 years. It's hard to quantify what it would actually cost in jobs, but let there be no mistake on the impact to those trying to work their way above minimum wage. If you have to pay everyone down to the least skilled among your employees, a $10/hr minimum wage, you're not going to have headroom to pay that girl $12/hr for doing exceptional work among her peers. Our departments manage to an overall annual percentage increase and this year for example it was 3%. This means some might get 2% or less and others may get 4% or more depending on performance metrics. Well... if you have to give the least skilled among you a 38% increase in pay right off the top because they meet standards, you're not going to have any headroom in the budget to give anyone else more than that minimum for exceeding standards. Let's not even discuss the hypocrisy in the "equal pay for women" narrative as the White House itself pays women .80 on the male dollar. Otherwise;

• less than 3% of the overall workforce earns at or below minimum wage.
• most are part-time.
• most are young, single, and still living at home with household incomes exceeding the Federal poverty level.
• minimum wage is not a living wage because it was never intended to be. I've got news for ya, $10/hr ain't gonna cut it either if you're working part-time.
• the unemployment rate among those aged 16-24 is nearly 20%. You want to solve problems, let go of the political pipe-dreams. Minimum wage is not their problem.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by Shaddim 

"Let's raise the minimum wage!"
"We're outsourcing this overseas."

Dear Leader even farmed his own health care plan to an Irish company with call centers in India. He cares about US jobs? F*** him. The guy is a worthless bag of shit.

The hypocrisy is astounding. It amazes me to watch this President's lips move against this or that only to find the biggest of his complaints are those that ultimately define his leadership.

• Obama decries unequal pay for women -- White House pays women .80 on the male dollar.
• Obama decries outsourcing and is now 2-for-2 in outsourcing healthcare.gov to foreign companies.
• Wants to move America off a permanent war footing while mired in Egypt, Libya, Syria and Honduras. *Note: had to be nearly begged out of sending boots to Syria.
• Wants to "slash" bureaucracy and streamline the permitting process for key projects, but his own administration continues to sit on the multitude of studies around the Keystone Pipeline project over the past 5 years and not a word was mentioned of this most popular project. Touts increased export of oil while failing to acknowledge that almost none of this occurred on public land, but is exclusively private entities using their own land for production. i.e. this growth happened in spite of the Obama Administration, not because of it.
• Exploits a loyal soldier for a cheap applause while failing to acknowledge that his signature legislation has slashed TriCare benefits for uniformed military while leaving unionized civilian defense workers’ benefits entirely untouched.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by ebuddy 

It's hard to quantify what it would actually cost in jobs,

Actually, a recent comprehensive research paper sheds more light on this.

Actual employment levels will not be affected as much as previously thought, but the big killer is in the decline of GDO growth, and with that, less new jobs than w/o minimum wages..

http://econweb.tamu.edu/jmeer/Meer_W...nimum_Wage.pdf

-t

[johnwk]

Originally Posted by Shaddim 

I love that. "We voted for you, now you give us our bacon (meaning free money). It's quid pro quo."

She actually said that. Geez... I wonder how she feels, now that her savior has forsaken her?

She is being used just like the rest of Obama's captive voting block who vote for free government cheese, the nickel and dime crap given them while his administration is plundering our nation's treasury of billions upon billions. Are we to forget Obama's massive money laundering operation conducted under the banner of "green energy"?


Let us take a look at the list who have profited off working people‘s earned wages being transferred to them by Obama and keep in mind that 80% of Obama green jobs money goes to Obama donors.


• Beacon Power Corp: Received $43 million in federal loan guaranteed in 2009 and also received $29 million in PA grants – Bankrupt in October 2011

• Ener1 (parent company of EnerDel): Received $118.5 million in federal loan guarantees — Bankrupt in January 2012 – has since exited bankruptcy

• Evergreen Solar: Received $58 million in MA loan guarantees (an undisclosed portion sourced from federal ARRA block grant) — Bankrupt in August 2011 with $485.6 million in debt

• Solyndra: Received $535 million in federal loan guarantees in 2009 and $25.1 million in CA tax credit — Bankrupt in August 2011

• SpectraWatt: Received $500,000 in federal loan guarantees in 2009 — Bankrupt in August 2011

• Babcock and Brown: Received $178 million in federal grants in December 2009 (4 months after it went bust) – Bankrupt in early 2009

• Mountain Plaza Inc.: Received $424,000 in federal grants through TN Department of Transportation in 2009 — Bankrupt in 2003 and again in June 2010

• Solar Trust of America (parent company: Solar Millennium): Received $2.1 billion loan guarantee in April 2011 – Bankrupt in April 2012
Other Subsidized Green Energy Companies in decline:

• A123: Received $300 million in federal grants and $135 million in MI grants — Declining orders and have forced multiple layoffs

• Amonix, Inc.: Received $5.9 million in federal tax credits in 2009 through ARRA — Laid off 2/3 of work force

• First Solar: Received $3 billion in federal loan guarantees — Biggest S&P loser in 2011, CEO fired

• Fisker Automotive: $529 million in federal loan guarantees — Multiple 2012 sales prediction downgrades for first car release, delivery and cash flow troubles; Assembling cars in Finland

• Johnson Controls: Received $299 million in federal grants in 2009 — Low demand caused cancellation of a new factory, operating at half capacity

• Nevada Geothermal: Received $98.5 million in federal loan guarantees in 2009 — Defaulting on long-term debt obligations, 85% drop in stock value

• Sun Power: Received $1.2 billion in federal loan guarantees — Debt exceeds assets; French oil company took over last fall

• Abound Solar: Received $400 million in federal loans in 2012 — ½ work force laid off

• BrightSource Energy: $1.6 billion federal loan approved in April 2012 – loan obtained through political connections with the administration; absent the loan, Brightsource’s solar power purchase would have fallen through.

See:Green Energy’s Bankruptcy Blackout

When I grew up in East Harlem I learned something that was more than true but could never bring myself to believing it ___ today’s corrupted politics is all about the Benjamins, and which political party's leadership can put their hand deeper into the productive working person’s pocket.


JWK

"To lay with one hand the power of the government on the property of the citizen and with the other to bestow upon favored individuals, to aid private enterprises and build up private fortunes [Obama’s Solyndra, Chevy Volt, Fisker, Exelon swindling deals] is none the less a robbery because it is done under forms of law and called taxation." ____ Savings and Loan Assc. v. Topeka,(1875).

[reader50]

@ johnwk,

Those numbers look terrible, suggesting corruption. But ... what is the context? How many total renewable ventures were invested in, and what do the successful ones look like? I could create a snapshot of most any industry, listing only the failures that also took federal money, and draw conclusions. In most cases, those conclusions would be off the mark.

[finboy]

Originally Posted by Shaddim 

"Let's raise the minimum wage!"
"We're outsourcing this overseas."

Dear Leader even farmed his own health care plan to an Irish company with call centers in India. He cares about US jobs? F*** him. The guy is a worthless bag of shit.

Yeah, the evidence on how minimum wage increases cause unemployment are 10x sounder than the numbers on human-caused global warming - people will lose jobs. I'm of the opinion that THAT'S THE POINT OF THIS. For all the silly ranting on the hard Right about Cloward/Piven, it sure looks like the Leftoids in Washington are trying to break the system.

Oh, AND this is payback to the unions. It will widen the gap between the working poor and everyone else and only serve to turn us into an even larger welfare state.

[johnwk]

Originally Posted by reader50 

@ johnwk,

Those numbers look terrible, suggesting corruption. But ... what is the context? How many total renewable ventures were invested in, and what do the successful ones look like? I could create a snapshot of most any industry, listing only the failures that also took federal money, and draw conclusions. In most cases, those conclusions would be off the mark.

The point was 80% of the green energy money went to Obama donors. And if the Republicans were in power, I would expect 80% would go to Republican donors. This is how both political party's plunder our national treasury and fatten the fortunes of their pals. It's a money laundering operation, plain and simple.

Additionally, Congress has no constitutionally authorized power to finance "green energy". As a matter of fact one of our founding fathers put it this way:

"The framers of the Constitution guarded so much against a possibility of such partial preferences as might be given, if Congress had the right to grant them, that, even to encourage learning and useful arts, the granting of patents is the extent of their power. And surely nothing could be less dangerous to the sovereignty or interest of the individual States than the encouragement which might be given to ingenious inventors or promoters of valuable inventions in the arts and sciences. The encouragement which the General Government might give to the fine arts, to commerce, to manufactures, and agriculture, might, if judiciously applied, redound to the honor of Congress, and the splendor, magnificence, and real advantage of the United States; but the wise framers of our Constitution saw that, if Congress had the power of exerting what has been called a royal munificence for these purposes, Congress might, like many royal benefactors, misplace their munificence; might elevate sycophants, and be inattentive to men unfriendly to the views of Government; might reward the ingenuity of the citizens of one State, and neglect a much greater genius of another. A citizen of a powerful State it might be said, was attended to, whilst that of one of less weight in the Federal scale was totally neglected. It is not sufficient, to remove these objections, to say, as some gentlemen have said, that Congress in incapable of partiality or absurdities, and that they are as far from committing them as my colleagues or myself. I tell them the Constitution was formed on a supposition of human frailty, and to restrain abuses of mistaken powers.” Annals of Congress Feb 7th,1792 Rep Page.

JWK

" I believe that there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." ___ Madison Elliot`s Debates, vol. III, page 87

[Snow-i]

Originally Posted by johnwk 

The point was 80% of the green energy money went to Obama donors. And if the Republicans were in power, I would expect 80% would go to Republican donors. This is how both political party's plunder our national treasury and fatten the fortunes of their pals. It's a money laundering operation, plain and simple.

Additionally, Congress has no constitutionally authorized power to finance "green energy". As a matter of fact one of our founding fathers put it this way:

"The framers of the Constitution guarded so much against a possibility of such partial preferences as might be given, if Congress had the right to grant them, that, even to encourage learning and useful arts, the granting of patents is the extent of their power. And surely nothing could be less dangerous to the sovereignty or interest of the individual States than the encouragement which might be given to ingenious inventors or promoters of valuable inventions in the arts and sciences. The encouragement which the General Government might give to the fine arts, to commerce, to manufactures, and agriculture, might, if judiciously applied, redound to the honor of Congress, and the splendor, magnificence, and real advantage of the United States; but the wise framers of our Constitution saw that, if Congress had the power of exerting what has been called a royal munificence for these purposes, Congress might, like many royal benefactors, misplace their munificence; might elevate sycophants, and be inattentive to men unfriendly to the views of Government; might reward the ingenuity of the citizens of one State, and neglect a much greater genius of another. A citizen of a powerful State it might be said, was attended to, whilst that of one of less weight in the Federal scale was totally neglected. It is not sufficient, to remove these objections, to say, as some gentlemen have said, that Congress in incapable of partiality or absurdities, and that they are as far from committing them as my colleagues or myself. I tell them the Constitution was formed on a supposition of human frailty, and to restrain abuses of mistaken powers.” Annals of Congress Feb 7th,1792 Rep Page.

JWK

" I believe that there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." ___ Madison Elliot`s Debates, vol. III, page 87

[Shaddim]

I like that lurker.