Ok Supe....I respect your right to disagree...but lots of smart folks with the education and experience to know agree with me. What else can I say.

Caption that!

This should be fun to watch !!

Economists happily confess they don't agree. I respect that. I've read quite a bit of research from both sides of the aisle on this one and yes, I have a fairly clear impression of the impact of wage hikes on things like prices. I'd probably assert that I am one of those people with the education and experience to know. It is a part of my vocation.

It's very easy to just draw the simple conclusion that prices go up, but that is, as I say, a simple conclusion. On our current project, an airport, the owner negotiated with the vendors that they would sell their wares, food especially, at regular street prices. Not the gouging prices often seen in airports. I asked whether the vendors requested a lease concession in order to recover the revenue lost due to the requirement that prices be reasonable. No, they didn't. Apparently, they make the difference up in volume. And they knew, going in, that they would make this difference up.

But the thing that I would, if I could get folks to be honest, insist on is consistency. Many folks here lambaste the "system" for subsidizing poor folks. Using taxpayer money to underwrite the lives of the 'working poor.' So which is it? Do you want these peoples' wages to cover their expenses.......or not. If not, then stop biotching about the cost to government and the taxpayer. If so, then let's insist that living wages be paid to workers.

It is my opinion that boosting minimum wage boosts the prices of everything at a nearly proportional rate, thereby effectively eliminating any increase in PPP of a minimum wage worker.

It is a cause and effect.

You force us to pay our workers more, we simply increase the price of our goods and services to match.

Thus, the status quo is maintained.

I happily confess we don't agree ;-)

Seriously, though, I do respect your position in your vocation and your experience. You sound like a very educated man....but there are others equally or more educated and experienced who disagree with you...like some of the aforementioned economists mentioned above.

So be it...

BTW, Supe, if you're at work are you being paid to be on this thread ...kidding ;-)

This statement would never be made by an economist.

Latest suggestion for the Dem Plan is that Pelosi will try to get illegal immigrant amnesty (at least the so-called immigrant groups hope so).

I lived in SF for quite a while. I can assure you the above statement is spot on. She's as liberal as they come and the SF libs love her. BTW, she is the richest person in Congress...or so I hear and always playing to the poooor. I find her disgusting and dangerous...but perhaps not quite as dangerous and Jerry 'Moonbeam' Brown as Calif Atty Gen. Now THAT scares me. Sadly, younger voters had no memory or knowledge of his whacked out politics from his days as Gov.

OOOh OOOh. OOOh.

OOOh. Mr Kotter


Won't raising the minimum wage make businesses seek employees....elsewhere?

I say they will seek LESS employees and raise unemployment levels,but I guess they can just collect welfare then!That will surely fix it!

Dem Plan

That's a good one, other oxymorons I like are Resident alien, Virtual Reality and Jumbo Shrimp.

Like all Democrat "plans"...it is more like "Fantasy Island." Promise a lot of expensive programs to buy votes but have nothing in the "plan" to pay for them.

If minimum wage goes up, I'm not sure prices will go up. A business owners margins might not be that elastic. Instead, they may have to fire a worker to maintain their margins.

From my limited experience, i find it hard to believe people work for minimum wage for any length as the bread winner. I know when I started working at minimum wage, it wasn't very long before I got a raise. I showed I was willing to hussle, work hard and wages went up.

Wouldn't an employer want to keep good workers. It's expensive to hire workers, especially if they are slackers an you have to fire and re-hire someone els. It would make more sense to pay your good workers more than minimum wage to keep them around, which is what I've experienced. (obviously not a large pool of experience to sample from. Just what I've seen from friends/family and my personal situation growin up.)

I think what we will likely see is that talk is cheap. When it really comes down to it, the Dems will not get much, if anthing, more accomplished than the previous party in power.

I think all politicians, both R and D alike, should take a lesson from the Brady Bunch. Remember the episode of broken campaign promises? :)

Maybe she shouldn't have had those kids? I'm all for social programs that aim high but is it my job to fund other folks families? Sure you could say that it's the Dad's fault for leaving, maybe he's a dead beat but um...the fact is she picked him didn't she? This single mother bears some responsibility for her own plight, helping these women ideally should be for charities dedicated to it (there are more than a few of them). The government in my mind could assist with child care and subsidizing her education but where should the subsidizing stop for these folks who often are poor decision makers? Something should be done to educate rather than just giving them a hand out. Educating a person does much more for them than handing them money to help out.

The minimum wage is not designed to give people enough money to live off of alone nor should it be changed to do so. Be realistic here, generally speaking people need to learn that they are responsible for their actions. If you have children with a douchbag and he leaves you - who is to blame? You would have us believe that it is the tax payer's responsibility to care for her children and I would suggest that it is her responsibility. She's the one who had sex with a douchbag; she should have been more careful.

I'm not saying don't help but I am saying the help should be in educating her to help herself rather than a handout. This is one democrat who thinks highly of capitalism and thinks ALL handouts should stop today.

Huh? This is Economics 101. Increase the cost of goods sold, raise the price to maintain your margin. When all your competitors also have their costs increased precisely the same, it's a no-brainer.

Or reduce your costs by laying people off.

The only "economists" who wouldn't agree with that are paid political hacks.

You missed one: Barbara Mikulski, (D) Maryland. Nasa is still working on a special lens filter to protect cameras from that woman. Fortunately, ear plugs work when she opens her mouth.

And one on the other side: Sarah Michelle Gellar - Republican

if we raise the minimum wage, all the jobs will go overseas.

oh wait, that already happened...

Know of her but luckily I've never seen her. I think there's enough fugliness in the bottom half of that pic to gag a skunk already. As for the Repubs...gimme Michelle Malkin any day....