THIS IS AN ARCHIVE OF LAKE TAHOE NEWS, WHICH WAS OPERATIONAL FROM 2009-2018. IT IS FREELY AVAILABLE FOR RESEARCH. THE WEBSITE IS NO LONGER UPDATED WITH NEW ARTICLES.

What would minimum wage hike mean to Nev?


image_pdfimage_print

By Megan Messerly, Las Vegas Sun

Hot on the heels of San Francisco and Seattle, Los Angeles became the most recent city on the West Coast to pass a $15-an-hour minimum wage.

Los Angeles’ increase, which won’t be fully instituted until 2020, is the latest in a trend of minimum wage increases across the nation. In 2014, lawmakers in 10 states and Washington, D.C., raised the minimum wage, and voters in four more states approved increases through ballot measures.

Now, some are wondering: Is Nevada next? The minimum wage here is $8.25 an hour for employees who aren’t offered employer-sponsored health insurance and $7.25 for those who are.

This year’s legislative session saw various pushes to change the state minimum wage.

Read the whole story

image_pdfimage_print

About author

This article was written by admin

Comments

Comments (90)
  1. old long skiis says - Posted: July 9, 2015

    A living wage is the right thing to do. Give the workers some respect and enough money to put food on the table and pay the bills.
    Hope this goes thru and at a quicker pace. OLS

  2. Dogula says - Posted: July 9, 2015

    Forcing an increase in wages hurts the very people it is supposedly intended to help. The true “minimum wage” is ZERO. Which is what a lot of people will be getting when employers can’t afford to hire them.
    You know that the higher the wage, the more the government takes out in taxes, SDI, Medicare, Social Security, etc. . . a main reason government is so gung-ho about this idea. That’s who is pushing it, them and the unions who are in bed with government, not the small business entrepreneur who is trying to make a go on his own.
    People bad-mouth big corporations, but they will be able to absorb the costs, simply by passing them on to YOU, the consumer. But the little independent businesses will wither. Is that really what you want?

  3. TeaTotal says - Posted: July 9, 2015

    Reaqanism and Libertarianism have destroyed the middle class-Nothing is ever going to trickle down-put money in the pockets of working folks-use the government as the employer of last resort by rebuilding our infrastructure and providing living wage jobs for those that are unemployed-or under employed-the economy will grow from the middle out-more people with money/more businesses that will be successful-
    Wrongula doesn’t have that nickname for nothing

  4. Dogula says - Posted: July 9, 2015

    ROFL! How, exactly, has libertarianism destroyed the middle class??
    Your knee’s jerkin’ again.

  5. nature bats last says - Posted: July 9, 2015

    More foxnoise fear mongering by wrongula
    the sky is falling, the sky is falling

  6. reloman says - Posted: July 9, 2015

    Tea total, you must be very, very young to to remember the true pain the middle class had under Carter. Inflation was above 10% for a couple of years. That really really hurt. Under Reagan the inflation went down to somethinmanageable.

  7. Slapshot says - Posted: July 9, 2015

    Under Regan over 16 million jobs were created I am sure someone in the middle class did ok. Under Clinton 22 million were created no one else has come close. Not bad for a republican and democrat. We are in a different world now with global competition and the U.S. has not kept pace with education and job training.

  8. Parker says - Posted: July 9, 2015

    Wages & living standards go up for all when there’s long-term economic growth. Not from laws mandated by the govt.

    As far as the Reagan record, Yes reloman, people forget he also had inflation to confront.

    But while we could have long back & forths on each & every Presidents’ track records, I am amazed at any liberals that critique him for ‘trickle down’ economics.

    Well unless those liberals have also withdrawn their support for Obama? Because with this money printing, stock market inflation policy his Admin. and his appointed Fed has undertaken, that has been this Pres. economic program!

  9. Kay Henderson says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    The article notes that the current minimum wage in Nevada is $8.25 an hour for employees who aren’t offered employer-sponsored health insurance and $7.25 for those who are. Proposals for change also include this distinction. An interesting concept.

  10. hmmm... says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    Why don’t people just work for the ‘remains of the day’ from their favorite politicians corporate masters? Or we can just throw some scraps into the arena so they can fight for them?

    Oh wait…they already do.

    Why is it that when money redistributes towards the top, it’s all well and good to some people, but if someone proposes redistributing(ohh-my-gosh-NOOOO!!!) towards the masses suddenly civilzation will crumble quicker than your butler can call your private security team and spin doctor?

    Dog-‘the true minimum wage is zero’? Seriously, your neighbors children go without while you advocate drinking their parents blood whilst telling them it’s for their own good so that they get motivated to rise above their station? You even take pride in your your rhetoric with the reference to Dracula in your screen name? And you purport to be a CHRISTIAN??? You, and those who share that ‘life is for sharks, grow some teeth’ attitude make me want to vomit.

  11. Haddi T. Uptahere says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    The national debt TRIPLED during the Reagan Admin. It went from one trillion to three trillion dollars. This is a fact. Sure wish some of you would actually study FACTS before you hit the keyboard. All Ronnie did was make the economy look good for the time he was in office while kicking the can down the road for future generations. You might also be shocked to find out what a “Debt based economy” is really all about.
    You are on a device that will allow you to research facts before you spew your rants. Use it.

  12. hmmm... says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    “Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy.”
    ― Wendell Berry

  13. Parker says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    Ok, so deficits are bad. You say it went up $2 Tril. under Reagan? So you’re a bad Pres. if under you the deficit increased by at least $2 Tril? Ok then!

    And Reagan did have the Cold War to deal with. Look that up, and how much the Soviets were spending on their military.

  14. reloman says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    HADDI I am guessing from your rant that you are a liberal. But if you want facts yes Ronnie did increase the debt by 2 trillion dollars over the 8 YEARS he was in office, but did you realise that Obama increased it $4.3 TRILLION in just 4 years? That is a fact. Love how people throw out a tripling of debt and think that that is worst than an actual dollar amount. A dept based economy is not a good thing, iI dontdon’t care what either party says. All we have to do is look at greesegrease to see that. We need to cut expenses and raise taxes, with out hurting the the economic growtn.
    I am more afraid that a major increase of the min wage quickly, will hurt the small biz more than anyone else, most major corps pay more than min wage anyway(I am not talking retail or food service, which are not the major ccomponents of the economy.
    Hurting small biz will hurt the middle class as the owners are mostly middle class. Small biz are also a major force in job growth.

  15. hmmm... says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    OMG! Haddi is accused of being a LIBERAL! Oh the horror of it! “You, you…you….LIB-er-ALL, you!!” We can’t let Thurston Howell III go without…anything he wants…

    “Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.”
    ― Frank Herbert

  16. Haddi T. Uptahere says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    Reloman,
    The device also has spell check.
    Here is the biggest problem we face in America right now. Labels. I must be a “liberal” because I don’t find “Reaganomics” to be a viable economic plan? All gun owners must be “conservatives”. All users of marihuana must be “stoners”. All people on assistance are “lazy”. All homosexuals are “Godless”. On and on. Divide and conquer. As long as people concentrate on the things that make us different instead of the things that make us alike, we are doomed to wallow in the depths of stupidity.

  17. Dogula says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    @ Hmmmm: Christian charity is voluntary, not imposed. It is not charity to force somebody else to pay for something that you think someone else should have. That’s theft.
    Truly not a Christian value.

  18. Biggerpicture says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    Christian value. OXYMORON!

  19. Dogula says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    So, what’s your favorite satanic charity, Bigs?
    I swear, and you people accuse others of being intolerant?

  20. duke of prunes says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    Hey bigs: By doglogic you are now a satanist.
    Don’t worry about it, everything people who believe the earth is a few thousand years old say has a big asterisk next to it.
    Intolerance is a product of angry sky man.
    I am going to go eat some shellfish, wear clothes of mixed thread… hope I don’t get burned alive by the sadistic magician.

  21. Biggerpicture says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    Dogula, please explain how my statement embodies intolerance. And couldn’t the “Christian” ideology be one of the most intolerant ideologies on the planet? You know, the “one true God’s” way or the highway mentality?

  22. Dogula says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    “Christian value. OXYMORON.”
    But nobody forces you to follow Christianity. If you want to go a different way, that’s on you. But all I hear from your side is insults and demands that we accommodate YOU in every way. We are supposed to shut up while you shriek about your triggers.

    But back to the subject at hand: The minimum wage increase.
    http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/07/07/we-are-seeing-the-effects-of-the-minimum-wage-rise-in-san-francisco/

  23. rock4tahoe says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    Relo. Reaganomics was called “Voodoo Economics” for a reason. Reagan Tripled the Debt, $800 billion to $2.4 Trillion. That is called Supply Side Economics.

    Obama came into office with: $11.9 Trillion in debt, Three (3) Wars to pay for, 800,000 lost jobs per month, negative GDP, falling home values, failing Auto Industry and more. BUT, he has NOT Tripled the Debt.

    Now, getting back to raising the minimum wage. FDR created the Minimum Wage in 1938 at 25 cents per hour with the Fair Labor Standards Act. It has been raised 23 times since 1938 by: Truman, Ike, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr., and Obama. And yet, we still have one of the best economies on the Planet.

    In 1938 GDP was $87 Billion ($1.44 Trillion in today’s dollars), in 2014 GDP was $17.5 Trillion.

  24. hmmm... says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    Poor beleaguered Christians….after they were so nice to found this country. Maybe people would cut people of the book
    (that includes Christians) some slack if they weren’t so busy raping, pillaging, enslaving and imposing themselves on others.

  25. rock4tahoe says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    Not sure how Jesus Christ came into this thread.

    In 1975 CEO pay was about 25 times an average workers pay, now it is about 250 times.

    Anyway, would Jesus raise the minimum wage or CEO pay?

  26. Dogula says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    It happened because somebody alleged that forcing employers to pay more money to their employees is “charity”. Charity/Christianity link.
    Don’t any of you people believe in free will, voluntaryism, liberty, etc? Or do you REALLY think that people need to be forced to perform up to YOUR standards? You are so sure the government is needed to take care of you? You are incapable of caring for yourselves and making your own decisions?
    What happened to this country?

  27. duke of prunes says - Posted: July 10, 2015

    Those disingenuous rhetorical questions are all part of a logical fallacy dawg. Identify it correctly and we’ll just call it even.

  28. reloman says - Posted: July 11, 2015

    Yes, Haddi it does have spell check on here and it sucks big time when you are using mobile devices. I hate it as i always changes words or puts more words in.
    Rock Obama is also youing the same Voodoo economics, enen now. in four years he has spent over 4.3 trillion vs the 1.6 trillion for Reagan in 8 years, at the end of his 8 years he will be over The TRIPLE smount you like to quote in actual dollars spent as compared to Reagan, it will be over FOUR TIMES in dollars as compared to Ronnie. I have no problem with raising the min. wage as long as it is done slowly so there is no shock to the businesses.
    Back in 1975 it was rare to give stock options. These days most of the increase in CEO pay is in stock options and stock grants, which does not cost the company much to issue, though it does cost the stockholders in the form of diluted stock. It surprises me that most people believe that if the CEO compensation was at 25 times average worker pay, the excess from the CEO pay would go to the works. THat is very doubtful, because as i stated most of the pay is funny money and it is far more likely that the stockholder would keep that money.

  29. hmmm... says - Posted: July 11, 2015

    Sorry Rock…I am
    the one who brought up the Christian Right and their greedy fleecing of the economy through political influence.

  30. TeaTotal says - Posted: July 11, 2015

    sociopath greedheads have just as much right to love invisible cloud beings as anyone else-jesus always spoke of selfishness=godliness-and that the earth was created in 7 days and is only several thousand years old
    Wrongoman also has the absolute right of free speech-just because his stats are nonsense/bogus doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s perpetually full of rush-
    trying to blame the absolute failure of reaganism on Pres. Carter or Pres. Obama makes people look pathetically, willfully ignorant

  31. rock4tahoe says - Posted: July 11, 2015

    Relo. 2400 over 800 = 3 or 300%. And $2.4 Trillion from 1984 would be $5.6 Trillion in 2015 dollars.

    Also, inflation had been high most of the 1970’s and early ’80’s: average inflation 1970 = 5.85%, 1974 = 11%, 1980 = 13.6%, 1982 = 6.15%.

    In 1973 OPEC stopped oil exports to the US and others. OPEC raised oil prices about 400% during the inflationary period.

    In 2014 average inflation was about 1.6%.

    As for your cash asset versus stock asset, I am not sure average wage earners see much difference.

  32. rock4tahoe says - Posted: July 11, 2015

    Hm. Don’t get me wrong. I believe Jesus was a Liberal and today’s “so-called” KKKhristians are just part of some cult.

  33. Parker says - Posted: July 11, 2015

    Yes, Pres. Reagan did inharit a bad inflation problem, besides a stagnant economy, and a Cold War with a Soviet Union that was engaged in a massive military buildup. Got the economy growing again, without inflation. And 6 months after he left office, the Berlin Wall came down.

    Besides any data you want to look at, I lived those years. America went from being in a bad place, to a much better place. Didn’t say perfect, but much better. And those years changed me from being a Democrat of the left, to a Republican.

    If you want to critique his Presidency for deficit spending, all that should be taken into consideration, and with same critique of the current resident of the White House.

    (And for the record, upon leaving the White House, on the plane flight back to CA, Reagan critiqued his time in the WH, for failing to reign in spending.)

    Now for the story at hand, whatever ones political view, the fact is the poorest of society don’t get lifted up economically because of new laws, but via long term, sustained, inflation-free, economic growth!

  34. rock4tahoe says - Posted: July 11, 2015

    Parker. And your hated “Fed” had nothing to do with bringing down inflation… Interest rates hit 20% during the early 1980’s and I think Paul Volcker was in charge of the Fed.

    Interesting that President Carter appointed Paul. Paul took a lot of heat for raising the rates at the time.

    However, Debt per GDP still doubled during the 1980′ and by the 1990 we were back into recession and a third of the Savings and Loans went under.

    Yes, I lived during that period too.

    Actually, the largest “lifting” of our poorest people came in the form of an Executive Order in 1863 – The Emancipation Proclamation, and via the 13th Amendment to the Constitution that ended Slavery.

  35. Parker says - Posted: July 11, 2015

    Oh the ’90 inflation-free recession that was still not as bad as anything we saw under Carter? Partially caused by the Post Cold War military drawdown. For the long-term good, but is typical of military drawdowns.

    And for the record, Bush appointed Bernanke who started the policies you think are so great.

    But the fact is inflation didn’t start to come down until Reagan took office! Because when he took office, he sgnaled to Volcker that he would fully support him, thru amongst other means as appointing supportive Fed Governors. Again, inflation didn’t start to come down until Reagan succeeded Carter!

    But Yes, am proud of a Republican signing the Emancipation Proclamation!

    But a correction-The Wall actually came down 10 months after Reagan left office.

  36. rock4tahoe says - Posted: July 12, 2015

    Under Bush Sr.: inflation hit 6.3% in October 1990, $1.5 Trillion was added to the debt ($2.4 Trillion in todays dollars), GDP shrank 1.4% and unemployment hit 8% in 1992.

    The Recession of 1990 – 1991 was caused by another spike in Oil prices via the Gulf War and the Fed raising interest rates from 6 – 10%.

    The party of Lincoln went away in the 1960’s.

  37. Dogula says - Posted: July 12, 2015

    Hmmm, R4T. The party of Robert Byrd is still goin’ strong. . .

    Left, right, is not the issue here. We’re talking economics 101, and you cannot force employers to pay artificially high wages without there being repercussions.

  38. Dan Stroehler says - Posted: July 12, 2015

    ***

    “If you don’t like the pay, don’t take the job.”

  39. Slapshot says - Posted: July 12, 2015

    I will take the Reagan deficit in exchange for the defeat of the Soviet Union and pull back from the nuclear threat any time. At that time that threat was real.

  40. Parker says - Posted: July 12, 2015

    Rock,

    You’re equating a brief spike in prices with the sustained, and also higher, inflation of all 4 Carter years? And by the last half of ’92 the economy was back to healthy growth. The media didn’t report it, but that’s the fact!

    And when Obama’s deficits are pointed out your retort has been that those deficits are minuscule in relation to all the assets of our national economy. Ok then!

    And Yes, it was the Democrats that made a former Grand Wizard their leader in the Senate in the 70’s!

  41. duke of prunes says - Posted: July 12, 2015

    “You’re equating a brief spike in prices with the sustained, and also higher, inflation of all 4 Carter years?”
    I don’t think he is.

  42. rock4tahoe says - Posted: July 13, 2015

    Wow, can’t go after the numbers so you come after me with Robert Byrd… how trollish.

    Ok. First, yes Byrd made mistakes in the 1940’s supporting the Klan. However, he said this in 1997, “Be sure you avoid the Ku Klux Klan. Don’t get that albatross around your neck. Once you’ve made that mistake, you inhibit your operations in the political arena.”

    Second, Lincoln wrote this to Greeley about his Stance on Slavery in 1862, “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.” Oh, but Lincoln is a liberal by today’s GOP standards.

    Third, Gorbachev himself said the Chernobyl [meltdown] was the real cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1986.

    Forth, Obama has NOT tripled the Debt. If he had, like Reagan, it would be $34 Trillion. And, if Obama had Quadrupled the Debt, as Reagan/Bush Sr. did, it would be over $45 Trillion.

    Who was it that stirred up the Sunni v Shiite Civil War by selling Missiles, Anthrax and Weapons illegally with the Muslims, on both sides… which forced Secretary of Defense Weinberger to perjure himself, resign, get indicted and finally pardoned?

    “A few months ago I told the American people I did NOT trade arms for hostages… but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not [true.]” Reagan.

    Teddy Roosevelt talked about a “living wage” in 1912. Guess he was liberal too.

  43. TeaTotal says - Posted: July 13, 2015

    Slapshot-the Soviet Union was going to collapse regardless of who the American President was-you would be willing to sell out the entire middle class of America to the oligarchs and corporate capitalism for some feel good speech from a b-list actor buffoon?-

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5HuOWuhYKQ

    Tear down this Myth!

  44. Hmmm... says - Posted: July 13, 2015

    jesus was a communist before there was ‘Communism’

  45. Parker says - Posted: July 13, 2015

    No, Gorbachev was put in office before Chernobyl and clearly stated when put in office, which wpas after Reagan’s first term, the Soviet system was in trouble and needed reform!

    Again before Chernobyl, and after Reagan’s first term. And no one was saying that before Reagan took office!

    And ok, Trillions of debt is fine when it’s done by Democrat. Then it’s justified. Hypocrisy!

    And Byrd wasn’t just a KKK Grand Wizard. As a Senator he opposed Civil Rights legislation in the 60’s. And yet, he was made Democratic leader of the Senate, after being the #2. And got to finish his career as head Dem. on the powerful Appropriations Committee.

    But it’s all ok, cause he was sorry?

  46. rock4tahoe says - Posted: July 16, 2015

    Parker. Argue with Gorbachev if you want. He has said that the turning point was Chernobyl, not me.

    You want to talk about hypocrisy? Reagan was the definition of hypocrisy; to act on a stage.

    From the Reagan Carter Debate:

    Question. How do you reconcile huge increases in military outlays with your promise of substantial tax cuts and of balancing the budget?

    Reagan answer. “I have submitted an economic plan that I have worked out in concert with a number of fine economists in this country, all of whom approve it, and believe that over a five year projection, this plan can permit the extra spending for needed refurbishing of our defensive posture, that it can provide for a balanced budget by 1983 if not earlier…” Voodoo Economics defined.

    Who do you ask came up with the phrase “Voodoo Economics…” GW Bush Sr while running against Reagan in 1980; not me

    Who said, “Reagan proved that deficits don’t matter” Dick Cheney; not me.

    Yes, Byrd changed is mind and admitted mistakes. For the record, I never voted for Byrd.

  47. Parker says - Posted: July 16, 2015

    That’s not what Gorbachev said at the time. Years later, it’s hard for him to admit defeat.

    Plus it should be noted that Reagan predicted the Soviet collapse long before Chernobyl. And he was laughed at at the time.

    And I’m not saying: A. The Reagan years or his Presidency, were perfect. Or B. That there was no problem with his running a deficit.

    And Yes, he ran that he would balance the budget. But, he did clearly state when running in ’80, that if there was a choice between not fulfilling his balanced budget promise, and his planned defense spending, he’d sacrifice the balanced budget.

    And as I said earlier, Reagan also said when he left office, he regretted not doing a better job of reigning spending in.

    As far as this story, the lowest incomes of our country see financial improvement, when there’s long-term economic growth. Not when a new law is passed.

    While people chide the Reagan Admin. for there being an increased gap between the richest and the poorest, the fact is all incomes, including the poorest, went up when he was in office.

    And when people want to take pot shots at Reagan, they’ll point out an increase in the gap between the richest & poorest, and deficit spending.

    To which I retort that it’s hypocritical of anyone to not criticize Obama for the same thing!

  48. Drake says - Posted: July 18, 2015

    Liberals= Domestic Economic Terrorists. Proven FACT…..Just look at the last 8years.
    And if you think the country is a good state right now. You are just STUPID.

  49. Biggerpicture says - Posted: July 18, 2015

    Really Drake? Well, here are few more proven FACTS as to last 8 years and how it has effected the economy:

    The Dow in January 2009: 7949 Today: 17,977
    S+P 500 in January 2009: 805 Today: 2,099
    GDP growth in January 2009: -8.9% Today: 2.4%
    Deficit % of GDP in January 2009: 9.8% Today: 2.7%
    Unemployment in January 2009: 7.8% Today: 5.5%
    Consumer confidence in January of 2009: 37.7 Today: 101.4

  50. TeaTotal says - Posted: July 18, 2015

    Actually Drake-8 years ago war criminal and corporate tool Bush the Lesser was in the process of ‘surging’ the stupidity of the war they lied us into, while simultaneously crashing the world’s largest economy-
    thankfully stupid was defeated-
    here’s what the douchecanoe has been up to lately-disgusting POS
    http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/09/politics/george-w-bush-100k-veterans-speech/

  51. Hmmm... says - Posted: July 18, 2015

    Well, Drake….not sure how an opinion qualifies as a proven fact, unless your ‘sources for fact’ are comprised of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Rick Perry, Scott Walker and John Boehner.

    You wanna see ‘stupid’ go look in the mirror.

  52. rock4tahoe says - Posted: July 18, 2015

    Drake has been on the playground too long. Time for a nap.

  53. rock4tahoe says - Posted: July 18, 2015

    Parker, we have been around the “not when a new law is passed” argument: Freedom for Slaves being the biggest law passed that helped lower classes. I would say the Nineteenth Amendment helped lower class Women by restoring their right to vote. The Sherman AntiTrust Act and the creation of the Federal Trade Commission helped lower classes by preventing monopolies and their practices. Expansion of Public Education, Child Labor laws and a host of other laws have helped lower classes move up the economic ladder.

    Economist point out the gap between rich and poor increasing in the 1980’s (and continuing) because that is where it started; trickle down as it is called is not a friend to the Middle Classes.

  54. Parker says - Posted: July 20, 2015

    Sorry, I don’t equate slavery with raising the minimum wage, or denying women the right to vote with raising the minimum wage.

    Wages rise when you have long-term growth, that creates a shortage of labor. When businesses have to pay more to recruit and retain labor, that’s when wages rise. Period.

    If the growth is inflation-free, then net incomes rise.

    We can gave a partisan debate on what it takes to have healthy, inflation-free economic growth. But that’s the circumstance that raises living standards for all. Not mandating that businesses provide a certain level of income.

  55. Dogula says - Posted: July 20, 2015

    Parker understands basic economics. Our noble leaders (and far too many posters here) do not.

  56. Dan Stroehler says - Posted: July 21, 2015

    Parker and Dogula, +1.

  57. TeaTotal says - Posted: July 21, 2015

    parker and dogula ‘always wrong, but never in doubt’-they understand basic conservative econ.101-the policies of reaganism which has been a miserable failure-period
    go to http://www.berniesanders.com/issues/ to find out what we need to do to bring back the economic prosperity that created the strongest middle class in the world-and the fairness that once was the American Dream-
    feel the bern

  58. rock4tahoe says - Posted: July 23, 2015

    Parker wrote, “As far as this story, the lowest incomes of our country see financial improvement, when there’s long-term economic growth. Not when a new law is passed.”

    Now he writes, “Sorry, I don’t equate slavery with raising the minimum wage, or denying women the right to vote with raising the minimum wage.”

    Note. Once Slaves were actually freed, they had to be paid for their labor; not forced. Once American Women could actually vote (in 1920), they could no longer be ignored politically or economically.

    There are a whole host of Laws that helped the lower and middle classes in America: The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act aka GI Bill of 1944, The Federal-Aid Highway Act aka National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956, the Hay–Herrán Treaty of 1903 aka control of the Panama Canal Zone. To name just three.

  59. Parker says - Posted: July 23, 2015

    Again, wages go up when there’s long-term growth. Net incomes go up when that growth is inflation-free. Period! That’s the fact!

    Not only is it the fact, but nothing has been posted that contradicts that.

    And the issue of slavery, and the issue of women’s suffrage does not equate with the issue of telling businesses how much they’re supposed to compensate their employees. Employees who are free, and not forced or enslaved, to work for a particular employer!

  60. rock4tahoe says - Posted: July 23, 2015

    Parker. Since the middle class net worth has been flat since the mid 1980’s and the upper 10 percent have seen double to triple digit growth in their net worth and incomes, it is a matter of perspective as to “who’s” net income goes up and by what percentage.

    I am pointing out that Laws DO affect financial and/or economic growth.

    Also, as you know, Worker productivity has a lot to do with economic growth as well. American workers are some of the most productive workers on the Planet; third by GDP per Hours worked and tenth by GDP per Capita. However, many workers are not seeing the benefits of this increased productivity.

    Wages had been consistently above 50% of GDP until the late 1970’s when the number started to fluctuate; as recently in 2001 it was 49% but it now stands at about 43.5%.

  61. Hmmm... says - Posted: July 23, 2015

    How anyone can justify ‘poverty wages’ as an economic policy is ridiculous.

  62. Parker says - Posted: July 26, 2015

    No, it’s not a matter of perspective, it’s a matter of fact: net incomes for all go up when there is inflation-free, long-term economic growth!

    I’m not for, and don’t like the idea that anyone in our Country, especially those working an honest job, lives in poverty! Just believe, and we can disagree, but know the facts show, that people get lifted out of poverty with a healthy economy, not with some law.

    However, I will agree, yes will agree, that increasing worker productivity is a, or the, key ingredient, to long-term, inflation-free, economic growth!

    How that’s achieved can be debated. But I can tell you it’s not achieved by mandating increases in labor costs.

  63. rock4tahoe says - Posted: July 26, 2015

    Parker. Inflation for the entire decade from 1980 to 1989 was about 5.7%; hardly inflation free.

    Growth was sustained by basic Keynesian Economics of deficit spending.

    Now take into consideration taxes on incomes/wealth.

    The Tax Act of 1986 raised the rate from 11% to 15% on lower incomes and lowered the rate from 50% to 28% on upper incomes.

    Person A making $12,000 per year gets a tax increase or if lucky a net neutral effect.

    Person B making $212,000 per year gets a tax bonus of $46,000.

    This is not Rocket or Climate Science but simple math. It also illustrates what happened to the middle class versus the upper class during and after the 1980’s. It even continues today.

    Getting back to wages.

    About 100 years ago Henry Ford doubled his factory workers wages from $2.50 to $5.00 per day. Some people called it Welfare Capitalism, some called it good for Ford’s business.

    Perspective does matter and raising the Minimum Wage is not some “scary monster.”

  64. Hmmm... says - Posted: July 26, 2015

    .One of my profs used to say that ‘powers that be’ try to convince us that ‘the system works, it is incumbent upon the individual to fit into it by figuring out a PERSONAL strategy for success. In truth, though, we have a FLAWED SYSTEM that always keeps some away from the table of participatory democracy by favoring one group over another, then pitting one faction against another whilst fleecing everyone in sight. Example: CEO of Dunkin’ Donuts makes app. a million a year, NOT counting stock options and other non-salary benefits. Say he works 50 hours a week at 50 weeks a year, say, 2500 hours per year, divided into $990.000.00….he’s making about $395.00/hr…and he is calling a New York proposal to raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to $15.00/hr. ‘absolutely outrageous’. Crazy.

  65. Parker says - Posted: August 1, 2015

    Inflation from ’81 on went way down, and was far lower than in the Carter Years!

    But I never said it was ‘scary monster’ to raise the minimum wage. Just don’t think it’s right for the economy, or for those it’s intended to help.

    And I’ll say it again. I’m not for an increase in income disparity. But I am for everyone having an increase in net incomes! And that’s what happened in the 80’s!

    The latest statistics on wages that were just released however, unfortunately do not illustrate an improvement for those currently in America’s working class!

  66. rock4tahoe says - Posted: August 3, 2015

    Parker. That is double talk. You know that income disparity started in the 1980’s and it has been on a steady march south ever since.

    Having increases in “net income” is meaningless when percentages are applied to poor versus wealthy scenarios.

    And we still ended up with a Recession in Bush Sr first term while the “Reagan” trickle down/voodoo model was in effect.

    Again. Every President since FDR created the minimum wage has increased it.

  67. Dogula says - Posted: August 3, 2015

    FDR started a lot of troublesome policy trends.

  68. Drake says - Posted: August 3, 2015

    Sorry to take so long to respond to the morons that wanted to try and respond to my comment. But thank you for proving my point. My guess is the 4 liberal dumb s*(&ts are all on some kind of government assistance. Never really ever accomplished anything in your life. BIG the only thing that is true in you statement is being able to read what the market closed at. Good job Dumb A@#. I trade more money in a day than you have made your entire life. This is the problem with you libtards you don’t understand what you are talking about. Hmmm when I look in the mirror I see a very successful 35 year old man that owns 4 different businesses. What do you do? My guess is nothing but looking for your government check. I could keep going but my Capitalist as# needs to get back to work so I can keep myself Successful. Which none of you4 would know anything about.

  69. Hmmm... says - Posted: August 3, 2015

    Wow….you sound like ‘the donald’….It’s so big. and, and so hard…can i touch it? No, I’m NOT referring to you hair. I’m talking about your inflated sense of importance and your littledick ego..

  70. Drake says - Posted: August 3, 2015

    So it doesn’t sound like I’m wrong. Don’t worry its the 2nd your moneys on the way. Until Donald takes it away from your worthless A@#… NEXT…….. And No you can’t touch it.

  71. Parker says - Posted: August 4, 2015

    It is not double talk at all!! People having improved net incomes is a good thing! The politics of envy is a bad thing.

    If people at the lowest income levels are doing better, the liberal game has been (When Republicans are in the White House this applies, not currently when there’s a Democrat. Well except the poor have not improved under the Democrat, so never mind!) is to in essence go, “Well the poor have an improved situation, but they shouldn’t be happy because look how the wealthy are doing!”

    In other words, don’t look to improve lives, look to divide!

    And there was an increase in the income gap in the 70’s for the record. But so what? Under a Pres. idolized by the Left, there has been a significant increase in the gap. Period! How Obama gets a pass from the Left is shameless! Especially when they latest stats show the poor are seeing no improvement. Even if the false statements about the Reagan times were true, so what? That was the 80’s.

    In the here & now, Obama has enriched the wealthy, not improved the lowest income levels, and mandated wage increases are just an effort to change the subject from that fact!

  72. Hmmm... says - Posted: August 4, 2015

    First…nope, not on ‘the dole’, and since you brought it up, maybe a discourse on ‘trading money’ and what the ethical implications are surrounding ‘trading’ in the context you refer to. You ddo know the word ‘ethics’. don’t you, or have at least seen it somewhere? Anyhow, look it up. See, what gets my dander up are people who justify profiting at the expense of others, be they workers or the general public(citizens). When shareholders/whore-mongers (that would be you) demands for pennies per share multiplied by however many bits they own, the corporations are no longer responsible ‘citizens’. They become whores who leave their soiled prophylactics laying around to infect whoever happens to live in the neighborhood.
    I’m old enough to remember Love Canal and the Ford Pinto, lad, and Bhopal and Exxon Valdez. Your childish attempts to impress me with your ‘worth’ are meaningless to me.
    It appears that I did touch your swollen ego(not surprising as you walk around with it hanging out as you do)…but it’s okay, kid. Bleach will kill any germs I picked up from you, and also get the stench out.

    Looks like your drake just got goosed.

  73. old long skiis says - Posted: August 4, 2015

    I still think people should make enough money to live on. If your employer pays you so little you can’t afford to pay your bills then you have no choice but to look for a second or even a third job just to make ends meet.
    Pay a living wage! OLS

  74. reloman says - Posted: August 4, 2015

    OLS, I seem to remember some of your comments that you at one time worked for min. wage. You must not have beensatisfied with that because you went out and looked for a better job, you probably got a Different DL to drive those big trucks. The point is that you bettered yourself by not being satisfied with the low paying job.
    So there is another option for those with low pay jobs. Improve yourself learn job skills that will get you a better paying job, maybe go to the community college.

  75. old long skiis says - Posted: August 4, 2015

    reloman, Yes I did look for a job. It paid a dollar a day. Sure, I was just as a little kid working at Ski Run Marina in 1963… any job I would jump on it. I was on it, as I was unemployed and seeking some paychecks.
    Yes, I did work for minimum wage for many years and it was rough. Try eating fish sticks for dinner every night! I guess they were on on sale.
    I eventually found myself workig for STR (South Tahoe Refuse) for 31 years. Starting pay? Small! I was still eating fish sticks! Eventually the family run business at STR gave me a promotion and I made a little more money.
    I’m a retired old guy now, and not with some big fat pension.
    I’m just an old dude tryin’ to grow vegetables and rakin’ the yard, pull some weeds and stackin’ wood.
    Be good, Old Long Skiis

  76. Local2 says - Posted: August 4, 2015

    I wound not know, I can’t get a $8.25 part time job up here, due to age discrimination. Could anyone use a old school work ethic multi-tasker on a part time basis?

  77. Drake says - Posted: August 4, 2015

    Good response Hmmm.. LOL That’s “Laugh Out Loud’ didn’t want you to have to look it up.

    Once again you have no clue what your talking about. A Retail investor, Like Myself. Might want to look up Retail Investor. Being old doesn’t make you smart which you just proved.

    And as far as getting min wage. ITS BECAUSE YOU DESERVE MIN WAGE…
    Most likely because your a lazy DUMB AS$. Thats who makes Min Wage.
    Or just a kid which should teach them to work harder and become smarter so you don’t have to work for Min Wage and have a shi%y Life.

    The funnest part is if we make the Min Wage 15$ or higher you Liberal Dumb $hits won’t even be able to afford the services that Min wage workers provide.

    Let me remind you 75% of all money spent by the US gov is on Entitlements and debt servicing.

    Thats do to These Liberal Democrat Terrorest.

  78. Hmmm... says - Posted: August 4, 2015

    Did you spell it correctly?

  79. Hmmm... says - Posted: August 5, 2015

    Ok…couple of things. First, don’t care who you are, and I’m totally okay with you or anyone else making a profit off of their hard work. It is when they profit off of the exploitation of others, and revel in it that I get irritated. So it doesn’t become personal….until you start throwing insulting and judgmental comments around that suggest you have little or no compassion for the well- being of others.

    I do enjoy it when people who profess to try and ‘teach me something’ deconstruct their own credibility by not knowing how to spell the most rudimentary of words. Simple typo’s, I get it. Not knowing the differences between ‘there, their and they’re’ or ‘your and you’re’, or ‘do and due’ indicates a sloppy mind or a lazy thought process, and probably wasn’t paying attention in school. Which tells me that someone(hint hint) doesn’t care much about accuracy or details or the consequences of what they do. Which, to me, casts a dim but long shadow onto whether I want to give their ideas credence.

    Back to point…I think what you’re suggesting is that ‘minimum wage’ is an arbitrary (big word alert) construct…based on a persons worth as a person and as a member of society, chosen by the powers that be, be it business or the government. So a ‘person’ has no intrinsic (another big word – ya’ll may want to get yourself a thesaurus before your yacht yawls cuz your brain is swellig up trying to sound out the syllables-oops-there’s another one!).

    Are we still on the same page or did you get distracted by trying to color within the lines?

    So, we choose the value and the worth…which as you know as a baby-eating capitalist, and pride yourself on being a realist, are NOT the same thing, having very different individual meanings depending on whether they’re being discussed in the boardroom, the backroom or in front of the courtroom.

    What I’m getting is that you and some others on this site are okay with others merely getting to scramble for the ‘remains of the day’ after you and the bigger boys have had their way, or just plain starve, while you scratch your belly and lick the fatty juices off of your fingers, lips smacking loudly. Hell, maybe the most desperate of them will offer their young teenage children into you service, that you and your friends can have their way with them.

    How noble of you. I thought this country was founded on principles that were in opposition to that sort of ‘nobility’.

    I would suggest two things: If minimum wage is ‘arbitrary’, why not set it at a an amount that allows people to survive, with dignity. Secondly…grow up.

  80. Al Terego says - Posted: August 5, 2015

    Hmmm, before you post anything chastising somebody else’s spelling and punctuation, you should proofread your own post! LOL!

  81. Kits Carson says - Posted: August 5, 2015

    LOL

  82. Hmmm... says - Posted: August 5, 2015

    I do try…it was early, and dark, and I was dashing off to work. As I said, the occasional typo is one thing. Using ‘do’ instead of ‘due’ is another. Anyhow, enlighten me as to my error and I will try not to repeat it. Cheers.

  83. rock4tahoe says - Posted: August 5, 2015

    Drake. I agree with Hm. You have some sort of Ithyphallophobia going on there.

    Social Security and Medicare are NOT entitlements, Americans pay into both plans.

    As for the “libtard, government assistance” ploy. I have stated several times on this blog that I have been working since I was 14 years old… not that you will care.

  84. rock4tahoe says - Posted: August 5, 2015

    The “politics of envy is a bad thing?” Envy is one of the deadly sins and since you brought it up, so are Greed and Pride.

    The share of Income Earned by the top 1% in the Late 1970’s was about 8%; it is now about 22%. (The peak in American income inequality was in 1928 at over 25%, but that is another story.)

    Now, 10% of the Population in America control over 70% of the Wealth in America.

    The rise in income inequality started with the Reagan tax rate and deficit spending policies.

    For the most part, we are still living with the Reagan and Bush Jr era tax rates.

    Yes, President Obama wanted to let the Bush Jr tax rates expire at the end of 2012 and revert back to the Clinton era rates, but a compromise was worked out on the top rates of $400,000 and $450,000 income levels.

    As you know, President Eisenhower (now a flaming Liberal to most Republicans) had a marginal tax rate of 91% – 92% on income above $400,000. Yes, the rate came from Truman but Ike did not change it… he, like Truman, had World War II to pay for.

    Also, Ike raised the minimum wage in 1956.

  85. Dogula says - Posted: August 5, 2015

    Why are you lefties SO rooted in the past?? You’re incapable of dealing with a current problem without assigning blame to people’s policies from 50 years ago.
    We are where we are because of a lot of really bad decisions made by powerful and power-mad people. It’s time to start looking at things in an entirely different way. We can blame the welfare mess on Wilson, FDR, and Lyndon Johnson. So what?? It’s bad now. Just stop it.
    Unless of course, you LIKE making the same stupid mistakes over and over again.

  86. Hmmm... says - Posted: August 5, 2015

    Really, Dogwoman? Are you suggesting that there is NO historical context? Are you suggesting that things just got to be the way they are by chance, or because some white haired off world deity waved his magic wand spreading his seeds of creation and things magically appeared yesterday? Are you suggesting that our current problems exist in a vacuum and we shouldn’t use facts and figures AND their context to see not only how things have changed but why? Are you suggesting that history, along with science and physics, are meaningless? Maybe Drake would give you 8 dollars and 25 cents for an hour of that….but I don”t think even he’s that stupid.

    On second thought, maybe he is.

  87. Dogula says - Posted: August 6, 2015

    Sure, if you people would actually LEARN something from looking back.
    But all you do is point at people and place blame, justifying your own antiquated socialist philosophies, rallying behind new figureheads you hope will prove you right and save the day.
    That doesn’t work either.

  88. gigguy says - Posted: August 6, 2015

    If anyone knows the business of Drake, post it, so we can choose not do business with his Noble Self. It’s like Reloman- I’d give my half a million dollar property away before I’d let him handle a sale for me- based on his inability to punctuate and sloppy writing. This site is great for info that helps people decide where they will spend their money or do business. It’s a free-market after all.

  89. reloman says - Posted: August 6, 2015

    MY my ggig guy, I must have really hit a nerve with you. Please let us know your business so we can not go there also. I don’t sell real estate, though I do have a brokers licence that I use to purchase property in my own name or for friends and family. Its working with people like you that stop me from selling RE to the general public. I kind of doubt you even have a property worth that much.