Dem Plan

[Superman]

Some of you are skeptical of whether the Dems really have an idea what they want to do. In reality, as I say, the Dems like government and know how to run one. In my view, more planning has been done by them in the last 24 hours than the current administration has done in the last six years.

Here is a partial list of my favorite expected outcomes of this voter-driven change of direction:

* The "president's" use of "signing statements" to simply sidestep a new law's effect on his agenda. This will cease.

* Enact September 11 Commission recommendations including stronger oversight of intelligence agencies and privacy-covil liberties issues. Declassify intelligence agency budgets. Finally insist on port, mass transit and chemical and nuclear plant security.

*Hearings on detainee policy and treatment.

* Reauthorize No Child Left Behind, but with some money this time. Increase access to college by lowering tuition costs. Increase education-based tax breaks.

* Repeal subsidies to the oil industry. Use the money on biodiesel, ethanol fuels and alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and geothermal.

And there are many others more minor. In areas such as

* Stem cell research
* Drug companies gouging Medicare and everyone else. Enable Medicare to negotiate directly with drug companies, for example. A forbidden activity under current "administration" policy.
* Hearings to learn about Iraq decisions, policy and especially (this is the good part) "administration" decisions and contracts and relationships with contractors.
* Eliminate current "administration" policies that encourage US companies to move jobs overseas.
* Minimum wage increase (full time employment at the federal minimum wage gets you about $900 per month in earnings before taxes. I'd like to hear from folks who live in a part of this nation where rent, heat, lights, and transportation can be found for this price. No, the typical minimum wage workers does NOT live at home with his parents.)

Et Cetera.........

[Drdogface]

I like a lot of your points but:

Minimum wage is a political gift and is inflationary. Min wage workers byand large are not family bread winners but mostly younger family members with obviously entry level positions.

If fetal stem cell research had any promise then the private sector would be investing there but they are not to any significant degree. It's not the business of the govt. to fund this kind of thing.

You will never see the border fence funded under the Dems and illegal immigration will only get worse. Amnesty will surely happen. IMO, this is perhaps the single most impt. issue in this country for several reasons.

[RallyJon]

Eliminate current "administration" policies that encourage US companies to move jobs overseas.

That one's loaded! Ask a union guy what that means and it'll probably include everything the government has done in the last 40 years.

[Superman]

Originally posted by Drdogface
Min wage workers byand large are not family bread winners but mostly younger family members with obviously entry level positions.

This is a common myth. The majority of minimum wage workers are adults living independently, and a surprisingly high proportion of them are heads of households. This being the case, taxpayers are subsidizing the expenses of these workers and minimum wage law simply places that burden on the employer where it belongs.

On a related note, someone recently decried the expected attempt by Dems to universalize health insurance. Ummmm.....we pay for health services for poor folks anyway. Emergency rooms are required to treat indigents. So, it's not a matter of whether these folks get health care. Just as it's not a matter of whether minimum wage workers get transported to work. The question is who pays and where the money comes from. Currently, taxpayers fund emergency rooms and mass transit. Those of you who would like private enterprise to handle this......need to support things like "living wage" regulations.

Candidly, economists seem to fairly regularly narrow down the "living wage" figure to about THREE TIMES the federal minimum wage. So while the employer pays $5, you taxpayers are subsidizing with an additional $10. And while the single mom is working three jobs to make ends meet for her two kids.......she's NEVER HOME. Don't pretend to be surprised when those kids fail to learn values from mom. She's either at work or sleeping!

[lendaddy]

Originally posted by Superman
This is a common myth. The majority of minimum wage workers are adults living independently, and a surprisingly high proportion of them are heads of households

You forgot to mention that you're including food service workers that although they technically make the minimum wage, their main source of income is tips.

[gaijindabe]

Originally posted by Superman
This is a common myth. The majority of minimum wage workers are adults living independently, and a surprisingly high proportion of them are heads of households. This being the case, taxpayers are subsidizing the expenses of these workers and minimum wage law simply places that burden on the employer where it belongs.

Supe - I want some numbers here. I have read differently. If an employer becomes burdened - they will being firing folks - not giving them a raise.

Funny how when the topic of minimum wage comes up - nobody mentions -

A. Earned Income Tax Credit. Yes, you work and have a family - the Feds give you extra money every year.

B. Food Stamps, school lunches and other giveaways.

C. The millions of illegals that follow no laws and are often below the present minimum wage scale anyway.

[red-beard]

Originally posted by Superman
* The "president's" use of "signing statements" to simply sidestep a new law's effect on his agenda. This will cease.

No disagreement. I have never like these under _any_ administration.

Originally posted by Superman
* Enact September 11 Commission recommendations including stronger oversight of intelligence agencies and privacy-covil liberties issues. Declassify intelligence agency budgets. Finally insist on port, mass transit and chemical and nuclear plant security.

Your girl Nancy voted against implementing the 9/11 commision reccomendations.

Originally posted by Superman
* Reauthorize No Child Left Behind, but with some money this time. Increase access to college by lowering tuition costs. Increase education-based tax breaks.

* Repeal subsidies to the oil industry. Use the money on biodiesel, ethanol fuels and alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and geothermal.

And there are many others more minor. In areas such as

* Stem cell research
* Drug companies gouging Medicare and everyone else. Enable Medicare to negotiate directly with drug companies, for example. A forbidden activity under current "administration" policy.
* Hearings to learn about Iraq decisions, policy and especially (this is the good part) "administration" decisions and contracts and relationships with contractors.
* Eliminate current "administration" policies that encourage US companies to move jobs overseas.
* Minimum wage increase (full time employment at the federal minimum wage gets you about $900 per month in earnings before taxes. I'd like to hear from folks who live in a part of this nation where rent, heat, lights, and transportation can be found for this price. No, the typical minimum wage workers does NOT live at home with his parents.)

Et Cetera.........

Just what Oil Company breaks are we talking about? Examples?

Stem cell research will not happen while Bush is President. He will Veto that and there will be not enough votes to over-ride.

Again, can I see examples of Drug companies gouging medicare and how the Bush administration caused it?

And tell, me which specific policies passed by Bush encourage campanies to move overseas and what you would specifically like done to fix it.

[Superman]

Originally posted by gaijindabe
Supe - I want some numbers here. I have read differently. If an employer becomes burdened - they will being firing folks - not giving them a raise.

Funny how when the topic of minimum wage comes up - nobody mentions -

A. Earned Income Tax Credit. Yes, you work and have a family - the Feds give you extra money every year.

B. Food Stamps, school lunches and other giveaways.

C. The millions of illegals that follow no laws and are often below the present minimum wage scale anyway.

Hard to believe you're comfortable with the idea that some full time workers' earnings are so low the gubmit has to feed them and give them cash.

I don't understand your question, but if you're asserting that the sky will fall after a minimum wage hike.....we've heard it before. The sky is still in place. Frankly, the cost of a burger does not change much, or et all, even with a substantial rise in minumum wage.

[id10t]

You left out the resurrection of the assult weapon ban...

[Superman]

Here is a link, if demographics is your confusion. It says 1/4 of these workers are between 16 and 19 years old. That means 3/4 are older that 19.

http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2002.htm

[gaijindabe]

Originally posted by Superman
Hard to believe you're comfortable with the idea that some full time workers' earnings are so low the gubmit has to feed them and give them cash.

I don't understand your question, but if you're asserting that the sky will fall after a minimum wage hike.....

Ohh Supe - sorry you have bought into the idea that some sort of minimum wage is going to fix the underclass in this country. What makes me uncomfortable is the idea that many adult workers do not have the education and skills to move beyond a low productivity job (i.e. a minimum wage one.) I see earned income as a good thing. Much better than paying welfare - and the experience of work will help them move up and out into better paying jobs.

And no - the sky is not going to fall.

[Drdogface]

Minimum wage increase is a political vote buying 'kiss' and will not fix anything. It will result in firing and/or not hiring or putting folks on part time. Benefits will be cut as well and prices will go up. This has been proven time after tme.

As for all the other points/promises mentioned in your first post..some sound good. The Republicans usually sound good too but little actually happened. We'll see if somehow these promises get forgotten. Actions do speak louder than words...esp. when it's re: a politician...the lowest form of human life IMO.

You think immigration will get fixed?...DTFO....as in dream the F' on.

[Superman]

When the libs proposed creating a minimum wage for the first time, as well as creating overtime payment for hours over forty per week, getting the under-14 age workers out of the work force and several other regulations.....the business community warned us of the same things you are warning us about. What really happened? Prosperity. Economics is not for folks who draw simple conclusions quickly.

[Drdogface]

Superman,

Here's a pretty good analysis for you:

www.ppic.org/main/pressrelease.asp?p=333

[Tim Hancock]

The minimum wage deal will hurt businesses, raise the prices of goods and buy the recipients an extra pair of tennis shoes or maybe an extra case of beer on the weekend. It will not result in less people on welfare.

The govt should have no say in wages. We will never agree on this one Supe.

[Superman]

Mark, I worked for my state's labor department, in the section that regulates wages. It was in that capacity that I became aware of the conservative think tank so-called "research" institutes. One of the moderators here worked for the CATO Institute. Reminds me of the CEO that's interviewing candidates for the CFO position. The question was "What is two plus two?" The successful candidate answered "What do you want it to be?"

I still laugh at my memory of the Evergree Freedom Foundation's conclusions regarding the impact of prevailing wage requirements here. They said it increased the cost of public works construction by fifty percent. If these guys talked to any engineer, they must have forgotten the discussion. Direct wage costs (including benefits) never exceed 30% of the cost of construction. Rule of thumb is 20%. So, if the workers worked for free, construction costs would fall by perhaps as much as 30%. And of course, if you use free construction labor, there might be some other costs popping up. I'm giggling as I write this. That study was SOOOOOOO laughable. It was however, written with some very professional-sounding sentences. Like the ones in the link you provided.

[Superman]

Originally posted by Tim Hancock
The minimum wage deal will hurt businesses, raise the prices of goods and buy the recipients an extra pair of tennis shoes or maybe an extra case of beer on the weekend. It will not result in less people on welfare.

The govt should have no say in wages. We will never agree on this one Supe.

We had an economy that was free of labor regulations. Trust me, you don't want that again. Unless you like unions, that is.

But hey, if you like your tax dollars used this way, great. I don't.

[m21sniper]

You raise the minimum wage and everything else goes up in price to compensate, and no, that is not a myth.

If i, as joe grocer, have to pay all my employees an extra .50 an hour, guess what, i'm raising my prices to cover the expense.

[Drdogface]

Rep vs. Dem ;-)

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Love is in the air. . .