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From the CBO, we have it outlined like this… If we raise minimum wage to 10.10, we lose 500,000 jobs. If we raise it to $9.00 we lose 100,000 jobs…
Is it better to work and receive more money, or is it better to have more people working for less, but at least they are working….
Great question. There were 3.3 million people making minimum wage in 2013…. The wage will jump from $7.25 to $10.10 or jump from $7.25 to $9.00. The first is an increase of $2.85; the second is an increase of $1.75… The impact of that increase on 3.3 million people are as follows.
3.3 million X $2.85 = $9.405 million/hour increased purchasing power
3.3 million x $1.75 = $5.775 million/hour increased purchasing power
3.3 million X $0 (no change) = $0.00 No change; same as it every was.
But wait. Job losses are bound to occur. If we take the CBO’s estimate, we get the first minus 500,000; the second minus 100,000.
(3.3 million -500,000) X $2.85 = $ 7.98 million/hour economic benefit
(3.3 million -100,000) X $1.75 = $ 5.60 million/hour economic benefit
(3.3 million- 0) X $ 0 (no change) = $0.00 no change from the past
There you go… We get more economic push by going with the $10.10 number despite the possible loss of jobs. .We got an answer. Gee. What was so hard about that?
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Appendix:
Someone else brought up the idea that those people put out of work, have a negative influence upon the equation… To be honest prior to their mentioning it, at first, I really hadn’t thought about it. It never occurred to me, because mathematically they would be zeros. Interesting, huh? How the brain works? My focus was on how much positivity a minimum wage increase would generate… And because of my positivity I have trouble accepting that there is a negative influence for letting those people go. But just in case there is, let me put it down here as well since someone brought up the fact that those leaving the work force would be decreasing the total pool of potential earnings by their future estimated earnings with which had they been previously working. Which in this case, would be the minimum wage rate… applied at both the levels of 500,000 and 100,000….
((3.3 million -500,000) X $2.85) – (500,000 X $7.25) = $ 4.355 million/hour economic benefit
((3.3 million -100,000) X $1.75) – (100,000 X $7.25) = $ 4.875 million/hour economic benefit
(3.3 million- 0) X $ 0 (no change) = $0.00 no change from the past….
That changes the impact. There are several problems with this last model. One, is that its total, is a theoretical rate representing everyone working per hour. Those being laid off can’t really be a negative against this because everyone who is still working, IS making that much… This is the net increase amount which will be reported, earned, and taxed. Secondly, if you are out of work you are making zero dollars, and not an actual negative amount which challenges whether the principle is sound to deduct a cost away from the benefit when making this particular comparison. One could do so, if one was expostulating a potential benefit which would have to be benchmarked against full employment, and not against the incremental amounts. For example if we had access to the number of hours worked at minimum wage in this country over a set time period, we could actually make that comparison by plugging in these two rates..
As it stands we can already compare these totals to the status quo, and there is a definite positive bump in economic activity… Plus, if those temporarily laid-off people get other jobs, ones that actually pay more than minimum wage, then they are off the chart, and that negative is not there at all. The underlying assumption for there to be an existing negative, is that these people losing their jobs, immediately and forever stop contributing to the economy…
Therefore probably the best comparison to achieve that would be painted like this…
3.3 million X $2.85 = $9.405 million/hour increased purchasing power – (.5 million X 7.250 = $9.405 – $3.625 = $5.78)
3.3 million x $1.75 = $5.775 million/hour increased purchasing power – (.1 million X 7.250 = $5.775 – $0.725 = $5.05 )
3.3 million X $0 (no change) = $0.00 No change; same as it every was.
That probably is the best description since it contrasts against the potential possibility of earnings.
But as policy this shows Delaware’s Tom Carper to be very wrong when he was quoted as saying that the lower amount of increase would be best for this country…
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Let us start here. A good leader takes his people where they want to go. A good leader does not force his people to go where they definitely don’t want to go… That is ruling. Not leading.
A good leader convinces his people why they must do something. He makes sure he puts in how it will benefit them. If it doesn’t benefit them, he is ruling. Not leading.
A good leader creates good out of evil. There is a moral equivalency to leadership. It can be defined shallowly at times. Such as calling Hitler good leader based on his strategy of conquering France. But time makes such affirmations short lived. I don’t think anyone looking over the rubble left of Germany in 1945 at that moment considered Hitler a good leader after viewing his legacy.
A good leader does not follow the rules… He decides when and where the rules apply. Some would apply the name “great leader” to one who never wavered. Well, such a leader would have ruined the life of a little boy whose grandmother sent along a knife to cut the cake, not knowing that knives in school were grounds for expulsion. A lot of misdirected people in leadership positions in that particular school district, made bad decisions based on their mistaken view of what makes a good leader. A good leader does not always follow the rules.
A good leader decides when and where the rules apply.
In Syria we have controversy. We have one argument stating that Syria must be punished. We have the other that says War must be reserved only for something Huge. That “Huge” is of course undefined and fits in with “we know it when we see it.”
As the executive of the world’s largest force, militarily, economically, and morally, our president pretty much get to decide.
Here is what a great leader would do. He would find a way to unite the two sides into one… He would find a way to punish Assad of Syria in a way that would scare any other despot thinking of using chemical weapons, and do it without going to war.
That would be great leadership.
So what would scare Assad the most? It’s hard to tell, but my guess is that his biggest fear as a man, is if his palace is overrun by Syrians, who basically tear him apart, and do his wife and children, then systematically erase any acknowledgement that he or his dad ever existed… That whole reign of terror becomes ridiculed, laughed at, for the rest of History. i would guess that is how you could get to Assad.
So, we, (not just the US but the rest of the world) have to make that threat real.. We don’t have to carry it out necessarily, but we have to make it real. How can that happen?
I think first, is that we make crossing the border out of Syria a real good move for Syrians… Send the signal, that if you leave Syria, the world community will settle you somewhere, give you a job, and a chance to begin a life of freedom and prosperity. ideally what we are doing is a Cold War. Over time we are saying: “See how great the Rest of the world lives? Oh, you poor Syrians… Escape and come join us”. Where could we relocate them? Iran could step up, Jordan,, and Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States,
This is how your hurt Assad… Turn his own people against him… No ruler can rule a group of people who don’t want to be ruled. He can use brutality to a certain extent, but the numbers are completely on the side of the population wanting him gone. With our intelligence capacity, he will never be safe… Every bodyguard is a potential killer..
And that, more or less, is what we should do… It is what a great leader does… He solves problems in ways where the evil get punished and the good win out.
Going to war, rewards those doing evil, and hurts the good….
It is time our President, become the great leader. Not by digging down and reinforcing the costly methods promoted in the past.. But to devise and implement new methods which because of their success, will be utilized far into the future….
There was little to report in Sanford. The big event was a bust. The police would not allow anyone in front of the courthouse and directed everyone to a park far away. Anyone without a GPS got lost. At most there were about 45 people at one time and probably 70 total stretched over the two hours. Everyone was well behaved, and the town is surprisingly not hostile. In fact, they prefer protesters over the media that has worn out its welcome lately.
A circle of the few gathered, a pastor said prayers, then anyone was allowed to go into the circle to speak. It was filmed in its entirety from a roof top on the edge of the park. Met one really nice Hispanic girl from Jacksonville who had come down to add her culture’s victims to the group. We all understood the importance.
It was a nice gathering, most were Southerners, Miami had the largest contingent I think. But the world is not going to change, at least from here. From what I hear, it was 10 degrees cooler here, a thousand miles closer to the tropics. :).
Turkey Erupts Into Protest
Photo courtesy of Seattlepi.com
An amazing thing happened in Turkey. Something probably that could happen no where else in the world!… A spontaneous demonstration against the government bulldozing a centuries old park into a shopping mall, erupted into a large wave of protests across the Anatolian peninsula that is known to most simply as Turkey.
The protest was supposed to be minor, but a vicious crackdown on families for the most part, launching tear gas and water cannons into their midst, now has the talk of bringing down the current government.
Of particular interest, the Turkish military which was on hand in case things got out of control, which was repeatedly asked by the police forces to assist, refused to side with the police or with the government. It appears they like the park too. In fact there were many anecdotes of the military encouraging the protesters and advising them where and when to protest so they would not receive the full force of the police.
The idea of the government, representing the top 1%, kicking regular citizens out of a park to build a mall as their investment, became the straw breaking the camel’s back.
The ATP, has been the ruling party since 2003 which would make it 10 years. Although Muslim it is very business oriented and is responsible for rebuilding Turkey into the powerhouse it is now. This is almost a miracle if one considers its neighbors, Cyprus, Greece, the Balkans, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and the principalities of the Caucasus….
Coming into power off the backs of the economic crash or 2001 and 2002, the ATP first rebuilt the banking industry, then focused on the economy and unemployment, get the budget under control, and then invested everything it could into its infrastructure, health, education, and technology.. . Now home to some of the top construction firms in the third World, it is landing contracts though out Asia and Africa. It has invested heavily into renewable energy, and is exporting energy to its energy starve neighbors.
The ruling party and its leader, Erdoğan, have been re-elected three times, each time with a consistent higher percentage of the vote.. Ironically what no one inside Turkey could accomplish, Erdoğan has done himself. Put his government in jeopardy, and solidified opposition to his rule.
He has made some mistakes. Most particular are his cozying up to the influence of Allah. Turkey is mostly Muslim but… it has one of the largest populations of non-Muslims of any other Muslim nation. Turkey since Atatürk founded it in the 1920’s has had a secular constitution. Recently, the curtailing of late night selling of alcohol, has as one would certainly expect, made a lot of people angry. He also alienated a large population by naming the third bridge across the Bosporus, after an Ottoman sultan known for his massacre of minorities….
So when the bulldozers started uprooting Century old trees in one of the few green parks in its largest city, it was as if Saruman had come back to life. The arrogance was too much for large numbers of its citizens. Taking children in hand they occupied the park in a silent and peaceful demonstration. Without warning, the trucks moved in, water cannons fired, and tear gas cannisters launched.. It galvanized the opposition.
By the third day, protests, some violent, had taken place across all of Turkeys cities, and in foreign countries with numbers of Turkish immigrants.
Although the park was the instigator, the cause is arrogance. There may be a big price to pay. Will investment flee turkey? Already as this is written, the Turkish Lira is dropping on the Asian markets.. The press which has so far been supportive of Erdoğan is very harsh to him right now.
Perhaps he can hang on, but his once untouchable position has head of the most stable of muslim countries, is now a lot closer in reach.
On a personal note, I can see parallels with our own Governor in his arrogance towards our current schools, teachers and districts, as possibly being the step for him that undoes his aura of invincibility…. People are angry.
It’s not the genetics. We are all pretty equal there.. It’s the environment. We’ve Got To Change The Environment. Standardization is not helping. Not helping one little bit.
My friends, we are gathered here today to celebrate one of life’s greatest moments, to give recognition to the worth and beauty of committed marital love, and to add our best wishes to the words which shall unite these two people in marriage. In the words of our Creator, what God hath brought together, let no one cut asunder.
The commitment that the two of you are about to make, is the most important commitment that two people can make; you are about to create something new, the marriage relationship, an entity that never ends.
As you stand here today, are you now prepared to begin this commitment to one another? (I am)
Have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage? (I have)
I would ask that you both remember to treat yourself and each other with dignity and respect; to remind yourself often of what brought you together today. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your marriage deserves. When frustration and difficulty assail your marriage – as these do to every relationship at one time or another – focus on what still seems right between you, not only the part that seems wrong. This way, when clouds of trouble hide the sun in your lives and you lose sight of it for a moment, you can remember that the sun is still there. And if each of you will take responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight.
Will you have this person to be your wedded partner? (I will)
Will you love and comfort then, honor and keep them, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto them as long as you both shall live? (I will)
Will you have this person to be your wedded partner? (I will)
Will you love and comfort them, honor and keep them, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto them as long as you both shall live? (I will)
Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, join your right-hands, and declare your consent (before these witnesses) by repeating after me:
I, take you to be my partner, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as we both shall live. Take this ring as a sign of my commitment and fidelity to you. …
I, take you to be my partner, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as we both shall live. Take this ring as a sign of my commitment and fidelity to you.
In so much as the two of you have agreed to live together in Matrimony, have promised your commitment to each other by these vows, (and) the joining of your hands (and the giving of these rings), by the authority vested in me by the State of Delaware, I now pronounce you a married couple. Congratulations, you may now kiss as a married couple….
Ladies and Gentlemen here who are witnesses. May I present to you the world’s newest couple….
Awwwww. How can anyone vote against something as wonderful as that?
- In case you are waking up, you won’t get this story until noon.
The Daily Mail London just opened a can of worms on Benghazi….
Breaking News: The Daily Mail is reporting from inside sources that General Petreaus and the Ambassador Stevens were not informed that parts of the CIA had one day before, attacked the very same group of Libyan insurgents who returned the next day to attack at Benghazi. Furthermore, the Petreaus scandal was orchestrated by a rogue element of the CIA itself(7th floor) who were the ones behind the pushing of the FBI into investigating General Petreaus bedside manners.. (remember that fishiness of how the rogue FBI agent kept pushing his superiors? It makes sense now.)
Now get this. The same John Brennan who just testified to become the next CIA director, was who ordered the clandestine attacks the night before and who did not brief Petreaus, or the official side of the CIA, that they had done so.
So not only are Republicans completely wrong on Benghazi, they are now laughingstocks for every single word they said about it….
- We did know about the security threat.
- We did do something about it.
- We didn’t tell Obama, Clinton, Panetta, or Petreaus.
- All were in the dark, not to propagate deceit, but because they had no idea….
Every Republican needs to apologize to every Democrat starting now by getting down on their knees, and bowing their head to the ground in supplication… :)(Dick Morris can lick our toes).
One always fails if they bluster against competent people when all they have is their own hot air. That’s why good Democrats always win over bad Republicans.
How were you taught the Federal Government worked… way, way, way back in High School physics…?
You were probably as was I, taught that two parties campaigned and all the candidates campaigned and when the votes were counted the winners went into office….. When legislation came forward, everyone voted yea or nay, and if the yea’s had it, it went forward. If the nays won, it died. But the idea was that a majority rule was sufficient to govern the body of politics. Of course there were times like impeachment we learned or treaty passage, where making a wrong move would be dangerous, and to make sure it was the correct action, the founding fathers made 2/3rds be the deciders… If that muster wasn’t reached, it died….
In 1994 this 205 year old idea died. After that group came into power, suddenly Congress was not on the debate-and-vote platform anymore. The will of the people stopped mattering. Instead, keeping one’s party values prevalent, was the new order of all that would forever more transpire in Congress.
Last November America sent a decisive message. America elected the first president since Eisenhower to be elected over 51% of the popular vote two time. And Eisenhower was just back from winning the war in Europe! Americans elected more Democratic Senators than they did Republican Senators. And in the House, far more Democrats voted for their Congress people than did Republicans….
The Americans are sending a loud and clear message that “this” is the way they want to go…. and it is getting ignored. Instead the Republicans are being anti-American by acting against all those wishes of the majority of voters, and conniving on “how can we prevent the American people from doing what they want done?”…..
The proper way would be to put up all bills, debate their merits and vote up or down. One could use arm twisting, public humility or any other personal trait to convince someone to come to your way of thinking, and if they did, that would be ok…. That is not what is happening.
What is happening is that bills passed in the Senate are not being released in the House. The House is sitting on legislation that needs to go forward because the Republicans in the House do not have enough votes to stop it.
Appointments are unfilled. Because the Republicans do not have enough votes to block, so the appointments never get voted upon.
And it is obvious to see where the problem lies. Those in Congress are saying “but this is what we have to do to save our way of life because we don’t have the votes to do so otherwise”. At worst it gets laid bare this way when they speak: “I represent the majority views of my district and in order to fully represent them, I need to use subterfuge, crafty tricks, dirty pranks, and just plain meanness to make sure changes don’t get voted over top of us….”
But you can do that by voting your conscious with each vote. After all, it is recorded. You are not constitutionally required to hold up the entire government because you have an idea that only exists in your head. That is not how Congress was designed. If you are in the minority… you lose, and America wins…. After all, if your way of thinking was so great, more people would have voted for it….
A. A woman, with two small children, separated from an abusive husband. He has just started violating a no-contact order, and is making threats over the upcoming divorce.
B. A father of three boys, married, lives in rural area. Owns 97 acres of woods. Has a two mile driveway. Then fifteen miles of one lane road to the nearest major highway, whose junction is 38 miles from the nearest police station.
C. A 15 year old urban dropout, who was jumped and beaten up badly when he was twelve in an act of random violence; he was in the wrong place when they were looking for something to do, allegedly to “teach him a lesson”; the reality? There was no reason for it.
D. A thirty year old man, who was raped over 100 times while a child by a neighbor, and that neighbor now is politically well connected, who boasts on talk radio of how big his arsenal is….
E. A bright, attractive professional woman of twenty five, who has a high powered job, lives alone out of necessity and convenience, lives on an international schedule, enters and exits often between midnight and 6 am.
F. A 43 year old mother, who at 18 became state’s witness and testified against her acquaintance and he, is being freed tomorrow, sentence done….
G. A 62 year old pill popping DJ, who excels at conservative talk radio, by stirring up hate, spinning lies into truth, and coining derogative names to be recycled by bitter old white me, like “femminazi’s”….
H. Pastor Washington, who has taken the calling of walking around the inner city on very cold nights, and persuade homeless people to swallow their pride and come inside to a warm shelter…
I. One day, you?
kavips 