Anybody get a 35% raise last year?

[Lucky]

I certainly agree. Something like 40 or 50% of americans are on some sort of government assistance program, with SNAP and Medicare being the two largest.

Only if you count Social Security as government assistance. It's supposed to be a retirement program. Some of the beneficiaries are upper income, and they contribute a smaller percentage of their income to it than lower-income and middle-income workers do.

Only 35% benefit from means tested programs. A large number of them work part-time or even full-time and supplement their work income with food stamps or other benefits.

The 35% also includes veterans receiving benefits promised to them when they volunteered to serve in places like Afghanistan and risk getting their legs and other body parts blown off by mines.


http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...rect_government_assistance_is_that_true_.html

 

[NelsonRD]

So by your logic... as long as your quality of life is better today than 100 years ago, then it doesn't matter if by today's standards, you're still poor?

And actually many employees have taken pay cuts or completely been laid off when companies have not done well.
If a company is doing well, everyone should get a bonus.. not just the CEO.

No what I am suggesting in that the quality of life has improved greatly for the poor. But as long as somebody makes more than you, there is room to complain right?

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

No what I am suggesting in that the quality of live has improved greatly for the poor. But as long as somebody makes more than you, there is room to complain right?

No. Compare the quality of life, of the poor 100 years ago to the rich of 100 years ago... today's poor vs the rich.
Just because you have things today that other didn't have 100 years ago doesn't mean everything is ok.
The quality of life has improved for everyone, including the rich.
The quality of life has also improved for P.O.C., women, and LGBT community, but that doesn't mean everything is just peachy. Should they just shut up and be happy? No.
It has nothing to do with other people making more than you.... it has everything to do with the economy being able to sustain. They economy can't sustain if the wage gap continues to grow, that is a fact.

 

[Lucky]

"There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning."

This quote is from Warren Buffett. But I suppose he's just jealous of rich people.

(By the way I don't really agree with his statement, but it's no more inappropriate than all of the "makers" v. "takers" rhetoric from the other side that he's responding to.)

 

[Hakunamatata]

I agree, you're right about that. But when I say bonus, it could be in the form of a small raise. Not just a bonus on top of pay.

Raises are generally given for performance (outside of union represented positions) or COLAs. Most people know this going into a job. If I worked at a job where I thought I was a high performer, the company was doing demonstrably well, but I was not rewarded, then I would leave. Some may say you can not do that in Orlando because Disney has a strangle hold on the market. I say that is bunk. Yes there would be difficult almost impossible decisions to be made, but there is the opportunity to make them.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

Raises are generally given for performance (outside of union represented positions) or COLAs. Most people know this going into a job. If I worked at a job where I thought I was a high performer, the company was doing demonstrably well, but I was not rewarded, then I would leave. Some may say you can not do that in Orlando because Disney has a strangle hold on the market. I say that is bunk. Yes there would be difficult almost impossible decisions to be made, but there is the opportunity to make them.

Of course that is what most people would do... However, jobs are still hard to come by for some. Many people are not financial secure enough to up and quit.
I do agree with you though. My fiance got tired of being over worked and under paid, left his old job for his new job. Eventually his old job offered to match his pay if he would return.
But I understand not everyone can do what he did.

 

[MattM]

Enough for a family of one to NOT qualify for public assistance.

See, I see it completely differently. No way in he!! would I work at a place that required me to be on public assistance.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

See, I see it completely differently. No way in he!! would I work at a place that required me to be on public assistance.

You never know what you would do when your desperate.

 

[MattM]

That's the problem. There are a lot of people who disagree with the business practices and decisions that he makes, and they are openly backing up what their examples.

I've seen examples of one theme park within one segment of parks and resorts. I haven't seen anything about media networks, studios, consumer products, or interactive.

 

[MattM]

You never know what you would do when your desperate.

I would find a new job that didn't require assistance. If that is the only job that my education allowed me to obtain, then I would further my education or find a technical skill that would not require me to rely on the government to survive.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

I would find a new job that didn't require assistance. If that is the only job that my education allowed me to obtain, then I would further my education or find a technical skill that would not require me to rely on the government to survive.

I hear you. No one wants to rely on the government.
If you are desperate for work.. most people wouldn't turn down a fast food job.
Currently many fast food and retail jobs are held by recent grads with college degrees who couldn't find work. They only work those jobs because it pays the bills for now. Most don't have the option to just go back to school and create more debt for themselves right now.
You never know what life might throw at you.

 

[Quinnmac000]

The skills gap is a real problem. We have too many who confuse the relative worth of various vocations and their contribution to the overall economy . Ask anyone who has a graduate degree (Masters or Doctorate)
in history, gender or women’s studies, peace studies, hyphenated-American studies, theater majors or literature how much exactly society should pay them for achieving those lofty goals ? It gets more disturbing when you try and calculate the rate of return on investment (ROI) of those fields taking into account if they were achieved in public or private universities or for-profit institutions.

Don't try and equate a persons relative worth as a human being by how much they make, what they have, or how many people follow them. I'm quite sure everyone can think of several poor examples of human beings from every ethnicity and gender who are quite well off but represent qualities that most would not want to emulate.

The skills gap is because of the looking down of america on blue collar work and jobs which actually are vital. If your car didn't work and no one was a mechanic you are screwed. Those same janitors who you wish to never do their job who make sure you get clean bathrooms decided to quit to become lawyers, I think would have mortifying consequences.

That looking down on certain jobs is why we lost most manufacturing jobs because people realize most money is made being a white collar worker so the rush for education and higher education grew and less trade and vocational based jobs which forced manual labor out of the countries as the few who still did those jobs wanted more pay for doing more work and then those companies CEO said no the same ones who probably never worked a day of manual labor in their life and moved the manufacturing plant overseas for cheaper labor and people who won't complain about work conditions.

Which is why we have so many people out of jobs today. Not because the economy because there are jobs out there but because people like to blame them saying they are dredges of society because they work at mcdonalds and that isn't "work" so they don't deserve good pay.
They don't deserve good pay, they deserve a livable wage. Not saying the same as the doctor with student loans, the lawyer with law school loans but enough they can go into work feeling good that they aren't burdened with how they gonna eat get home feed the kids, pay for Suzy's 2 dollar donation for school supplies.


Military, Cops, Firefighters and to an extent EMTs put their lives on the line to help protect and save people which I think is vital to society yet most would agree to an extent they don't make enough to cover the risks of their jobs which help everyone. Yet Bob Iger who supposed worked hard all his life deserves his 46 mil doing what? How did his decisions better anyone besides already rich people and well off people who paid into Disney stock? Cast members aren't making more, you know the ones who actually do the work. Imagineers are getting laid off. Yet everyone wants to be yay capitalism slay. This isn't capitalism. this is the fake stuff that rich men made because they are so insecure with someone having more than them or the same amount as them.

 

[NelsonRD]

I would find a new job that didn't require assistance. If that is the only job that my education allowed me to obtain, then I would further my education or find a technical skill that would not require me to rely on the government to survive.

Most rich people are not well-rounded people with massive skills or education. They learned one thing - to do it well, and learned how to make the most money from that skill.

Sorry, but all the things you were taught in high school are wrong. You do not need to volunteer, be part of clubs, have the best grades, etc. While that may make you a good person, people that are hired are the ones that will help make the company money.

 

[MattM]

Yet Bob Iger who supposed worked hard all his life deserves his 46 mil doing what?

Well, who are you to say who deserves what?

 

[Quinnmac000]

Well, who are you to say who deserves what?

A citizen of this country who pays taxes, serves my country in the military, does not rely on any form of welfare and tired of seeing the little man getting shafted when its the guys at top who screwed things up to begin with.

 

[MattM]

A citizen of this country who pays taxes, serves my country in the military, does not rely on any form of welfare and tired of seeing the little man getting shafted when its the guys at top who screwed things up to begin with.

What does any of that have to do with what any one else gets paid?

 

[Hakunamatata]

A citizen of this country who pays taxes, serves my country in the military, does not rely on any form of welfare and tired of seeing the little man getting shafted when its the guys at top who screwed things up to begin with.

If you want to vote iger out of a job because you don't agree with his compensation then become a stockholder or quite funding the beast.

 

[Quinnmac000]

What does any of that have to do with what any one else gets paid?

Disney gets tax cuts, my tax dollars get used to negate some of Disney's tax bill to the governnment for operating in this country, Disney uses that money to buy back stock which funds Bob Iger's extravagant lifestyle of making bad decisions for WDW, cutting imagineers, and buy IPs instead of creating new fresh material. That directly effects my money and me and directly ties me to how it deals what he gets paid. Then the same tax dollars are going to some of those great CMs who are on welfare which my tax dollars also go to. Its a two way where I'm directly effected by Iger's pay.

And I am a stockholder who wishes I could dictate exec compensation.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Disney gets tax cuts, my tax dollars get used to negate some of Disney's tax bill to the governnment for operating in this country, Disney uses that money to buy back stock which funds Bob Iger's extravagant lifestyle of making bad decisions for WDW, cutting imagineers, and buy IPs instead of creating new fresh material. That directly effects my money and me and directly ties me to how it deals what he gets paid. Then the same tax dollars are going to some of those great CMs who are on welfare which my tax dollars also go to. Its a two way where I'm directly effected by Iger's pay.

And I am a stockholder who wishes I could dictate exec compensation.

Then run for congress and change the laws.

 

[MattM]

Disney gets tax cuts, my tax dollars get used to negate some of Disney's tax bill to the governnment for operating in this country, Disney uses that money to buy back stock which funds Bob Iger's extravagant lifestyle of making bad decisions for WDW, cutting imagineers, and buy IPs instead of creating new fresh material. That directly effects my money and me and directly ties me to how it deals what he gets paid. Then the same tax dollars are going to some of those great CMs who are on welfare whch my tax dollars also go to. Its a two way where I'm directly effected by Iger's pay.

LOL, OK, so should the excess revenue that Disney creates in the form of federal/state/local/county taxes that FAR exceed any subsidies in which are given to them, be withheld from the government?

Should you get a say in how much Tiger Woods gets paid, too? PGA gets tax cuts, especially here in Florida.