Somehow this whole discussion reminds me of the freedom to sleep under the bridges of Paris...
@slappy magoo I really admire your patience.
@slappy magoo I really admire your patience.
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Workers want pay boost
- Thread starter Figaro928
- Start date
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
You and I know well enough that executive orders only apply to the federal branch and laws with a national reach are only passed when he signs a bill approved by the senate and congress.
The following statement doesn't apply to you, but I'm constantly amazed by the number of people in the US who have no clue how laws are made and passed.
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slappy magoo
Well-Known Member
Because he's President, not a king, not a dictator (despite some people claiming that he thinks he's one of those two things). There are some things he has executive authority to do to help stimulate the economy - one recent example being the insistence that anyone who does business with the government has to pay all employees a minimum of $10.10 an hour. He can't magically raise the wage for everyone but he can requirement like that to people who wish to contract with the government. It may only raise the incomes of about a quarter million people, but it changed the tone of the topic in national circles, which has resulted in some companies voluntarily raising their minimum pay, and some states raising their minimum wage as well.
But for things like a giant stimulus package, that affect the federal budget to such a degree, he's gotta work with Congress. And while there was technically a supermajority in the Senate for a brief time during Obama's first 2 years in office, not all of the Dems were on board with the stimulus, notably Dems in redder states who wound up retiring or losing re-election anyway after the fact, and Maine's Republican Senator Snowe who demanded most of that stimulus I wrote about earlier, in order to get past the filibuster.
ratherbeinwdw
Well-Known Member
Slappy magoo you are a man or woman after my heart. Putting forth your knowledge without insulting others is a gift.
slappy magoo
Well-Known Member
...People who know me personally would be amazed by my current display of restraint
Plus, hakunamutata has good taste in music, so I cut him some slack.
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slappy magoo
Well-Known Member
Again, I'm amazing myself today, too.
SherlockWayne
Active Member
I get the point you're trying to make, but the world is changing, and many of those things you list went from being a luxury to being a necessity. I would certainly agree with any kind of television access, except basic antenna for safety purposes. However internet access, for one, is, by many organizations, not considered a luxury anymore, it is a necessity. As more businesses and governmental agencies move their operations to the web, not having access or a working phone can prevent people from getting assistance or finding employment. A few years ago, I found myself unemployed, fresh out of college with very few prospects. Why? Because I spent my free time in college studying and working to minimize costs. I fortunately had awesome parents who let me live at home while seeking a job, but everyday they'd ask to see the applications I gathered, only to get frustrated when I told them all of the places in our area had online applications. The low administrative costs of such sites are enough to convince just about anyone to convert. Had I been on my own, I would basically have been screwed, internet would not even have been on my radar.
The good news is, I ended up with an amazing GPA and a decent degree, but unfortunately, four years of working retail and an internship at the Most Magical Place on Earth didn't make me overly desirable for anyone but the low-wage employer I was so looking forward to leaving. Pulling yourself up is not as practical as many folks think it is. Employers are looking for experienced professionals right out the gate, and those most likely to have that experience are the ones who could afford the unpaid internships while mommy and daddy paid the bills.
I personally have been able to better my situation somewhat, I now have a Masters degree and make slightly more than minimum wage, but given the student loan bills, there's absolutely no way I could live alone. Each time I manage to save a little money, my stupid broken car empties out that one. As long as my student loan creditors ask for their share, a new car certainly isn't in the works. I'm lucky in that I don't have children because there's no way I could make ends meet with them, and I honestly thought I did everything right. I can't even afford to go to the doctor, and I have insurance. The biggest mistake I made is that I wasn't born rich. As long as I have to struggle to make sure my basic needs are met, I'll never be able to get ahead. I'd love to work tons of OT and maybe even get a second job, but OT is a swear word as far as many businesses are concerned. If I'm halving this much trouble and I make more than MW, I can't imagine how hard it would be for these cast members, so I whole-heatedly support their cause. Disney, like every major corporation has a compensation models that skews way too far to the high end, if they just reduced their ratio to a more rational and reasonable level, they could pay for top-quality front line CMs without hurting the bottom line.
willtravel
Well-Known Member
I am sure he can change that with a swipe of the pen also.......
slappy magoo
Well-Known Member
I tried to make this argument before, to the cyber equivalent of deaf ears. Some businesses will only accept resumes online, making internet access to whittle and tailor your resume and cover letters for specific businesses a necessity and get it out as quick as possible before the job is snatched up. Likewise, having a cell phone allows you to get calls about prospective job offers or make calls about prospective job offers, including setting up interviews (if not actually have the interview over the phone). Being stuck with a landline phone or no phone at all minimizes chances at gainful employment, as much as not having that one "dress to impress" outfit you wear to your interviews so you don't look like a scruffy nerf herder. Yet for some people will look at that unemployed person in a nice outfit with a cell phone after an interview, and they're scouring want ads looking for other work because they haven't heard back from the interview and they're not assuming anything, and they'll think "oh, check out this broke punk with the nice phone and the nice suit and the laptop, I guess my taxes are paying for his Candy Crush addiction and downloading Yeezus, lazy dirtbag." You know, there's what we see and how we choose to see it.
Obi
Well-Known Member
i don't know how anyone can survive on a grand a month.
i was going through scenarios, in my head, to see if it's possible. i broke out the calculator and went through the expenses i have. house payment, car payment, insurance on the house, insurance on the car, property taxes, electric bill, water and trash bill, phone bill, groceries, gas, monthly medical prescriptions. these are the things that i immediately thought of that are necessary. not including everything else and that i live in an area where the cost of living isn't as high, it was still over a grand a month. this is just for me.
i have been making jokes with the fiance' that we are marrying each other for a little bit of relief in the finances...
slappy magoo
Well-Known Member
i don't know how anyone can survive on a grand a month.
i was going through scenarios, in my head, to see if it's possible. i broke out the calculator and went through the expenses i have. house payment, car payment, insurance on the house, insurance on the car, property taxes, electric bill, water and trash bill, phone bill, groceries, gas, monthly medical prescriptions. these are the things that i immediately thought of that are necessary. not including everything else and that i live in an area where the cost of living isn't as high, it was still over a grand a month. this is just for me.
i have been making jokes with the fiance' that we are marrying each other for a little bit of relief in the finances...
And while I don't begrudge anyone for having a life outside of the forum, I find it interesting that that's the point WDWDad13 suddenly couldn't post anymore. Oh, well, I'm sure there's a good reason.
i don't know how anyone can survive on a grand a month.
i was going through scenarios, in my head, to see if it's possible. i broke out the calculator and went through the expenses i have. house payment, car payment, insurance on the house, insurance on the car, property taxes, electric bill, water and trash bill, phone bill, groceries, gas, monthly medical prescriptions. these are the things that i immediately thought of that are necessary. not including everything else and that i live in an area where the cost of living isn't as high, it was still over a grand a month. this is just for me.
i have been making jokes with the fiance' that we are marrying each other for a little bit of relief in the finances...
If you both work, you move in together to get relief in the finances. Getting married will cost you in federal taxes. The "marriage penalty" is real, although less than it used to be.
Jrn14
Well-Known Member
This if you don’t like the pay get a better job nonsense is just that! This idea that anyone can just go find a 40k (conservative salary) a year job with a little bit of motivation and hard work is not the case… The system is not set up for all of us to make $40k a year… The jobs are not there… if all the folks working at WalMart, Disney, and McDonalds abandoned their jobs to go seek office/professional jobs even with necessary education the vast majority of them would be turned away… We do not live in a country where everyone can have a “good” job it’s set up so some of us are at the top and take advantage of all those at the bottom… Someone has to lose. There isn’t enough demand for everyone in the US to be a paralegal, an accountant, or an engineer… so even if everyone was able to do professional jobs we still need people to work at Starbucks and Target… and they deserve to be able to survive without government assistance… The same people who don’t want to raise the minimum wage … because the people at fast food and retail chains don’t deserve it are the same people crying about people taking advantage of social services… Do you want them to work at all?
Obi
Well-Known Member
It's possible people who fundamentally disagree to have a conversation about something, still not see the other persons point, but still keep the conversation civil. I have failed at that in the past and at the end of the day, it changed nothing........People who know me personally would be amazed by my current display of restraint
Plus, hakunamutata has good taste in music, so I cut him some slack.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Or maybe it was your field of study... or choice of work. You have a masters degree, yet only work minimum wage? Honestly you can walk into a fast food place and make more than minimum wage.. or any number of other jobs. Whenever anyone blames others for what they lack of... maybe they should look back at all the things they thought 'weren't for them' and reconsider that.
slappy magoo
Well-Known Member
You honestly thought that was helpful, didn't you?
flynnibus
Premium Member
But you can find a job paying more than minimum wage quite easily. The issue is you need to actually do the work required... not just the work you want to do.
It's kind of why they call it 'work'