Is US Minimum Wage really $7.25?

Originally posted by TiM3LoRd
reply to post by xlb40

 

your not better off than Australia from a resource point of view

In terms of oil, coal, and natural gas, the US is MUCH better off. America is an absolute gold mind in terms of resources/raw materials. Combined with Canada, the Americas pretty much rule world energy.

reply to post by xlb40


Largest oil producer? hmm, why are those other countries so important then? WHY are we over there? OK, lets say we are the largest oil producer. TELL ME, where are all the refineries? ALSO, i thought this was about the US MINIMUM WAGE. Are you trying to confuse us? OR DERAIL THE THREAD?

if you dont live large(ie, try to live in a big city you cant afford to live in) its pretty easy to live on actually.
I did for most of the last decade.. i went out to bars all the time, ate out most of the time, smoked like a chimney, and bought a whole bunch of crap i didnt really need. i really miss college...

i wouldnt want to raise kids on it, but i know what a condom is for, so i never had to face that problem before i was ready for it.

Yep, you got it figured out.
It is all about the circle jerk that exists at the top:

Wall Street - Government - Mega Corporations - CEO's

The insider trading criminals on Wall Street and in our Government give each other the reach around, while screwing all American's. Like George Carlin said, it is a big club, and you and I are not in the big club!

Democrat or Republican by name, the ones running this country serve each other, not the American People.
Obama serves Wall Street and the MIC, while Bush served the Mega Corps and also the MIC.

They both agreed on NAFTA and other utopian Trade Pacts, that destroyed American lives but raised the pay of Mega CEO's and Banksters on Wall Street for more profits. None of them have done anything about illegal immigration, because again, it creates more profits for their Wall Street Cockroaches.


There is only one consoling fact in this though, and that is I believe in karma, and also the life review at the end.
They will have to see the damage they caused to others, and there will be no denying or obfuscating it as they do now. Then I hope they are thrown in hell afterwards.

Originally posted by David9176
reply to post by jacobe001

 

As it is now, the Market is rigged for people to exploit others for their own gain.

The Market is rigged for shareholders and their hunger for profit. It's not about the workers, it's about the profit. That's all that matters. That's why all the major corporations left after free trade was implemented.

Originally posted by cloaked4u
reply to post by xlb40

 

Largest oil producer? hmm, why are those other countries so important then? WHY are we over there? OK, lets say we are the largest oil producer. TELL ME, where are all the refineries? ALSO, i thought this was about the US MINIMUM WAGE. Are you trying to confuse us? OR DERAIL THE THREAD?

edit on 9-12-2011 by cloaked4u because: (no reason given)

I already addressed this in a post that you ironically enough responded to...Either you lack total and all reading comprehension abilities, or you are attempting to troll.

Originally posted by xlb40

Originally posted by cloaked4u
reply to post by xlb40

 

Largest oil producer? hmm, why are those other countries so important then? WHY are we over there? OK, lets say we are the largest oil producer. TELL ME, where are all the refineries? ALSO, i thought this was about the US MINIMUM WAGE. Are you trying to confuse us? OR DERAIL THE THREAD?

edit on 9-12-2011 by cloaked4u because: (no reason given)

I already addressed this in a post that you ironically enough responded to...Either you lack total and all reading comprehension abilities, or you are attempting to troll.

OK, show me what post of YOURS i responded to.

Text Our government supplies free electricity , water ,education and healthcare. Then there is welfare for people with disabilities, HIV, too many children etc.

reply to post by LiquidAsh


Hey thanks for that. Alot of governments around the world try to ensure basic needs are met. It seems crazy to alot in the west to hear some get free electricity,water,education,healthcare etc

Originally posted by Helious
reply to post by theovermensch

 

Thank you for making the post my friend, it is eye opening, not to me per say but hopefully to others. America is not the greatest country to live in these days. I often ask myself if it could be worse and then I slap myself in the face for asking because it can be MUCH worse, the problem is, I AM AN AMERICAN and I wan't what I was taught about what our country was SUPPOSED to be growing up.

I want my freedoms and my rights and right here and now, I have neither. While there are alot of places where I would be worse off, I wasn't born and raised in those places and have no ideals as to how life should be lived there, I was born here and I know exactly what I want out of this country and were along way off.

edit on 9-12-2011 by Helious because: (no reason given)

Originally posted by cloaked4u

OK, show me what post of YOURS i responded to.

SMH

Do you see "Responded to post by *insert name here* at the top of the posts. It will be highlighted, click on it and it takes you to the exact post from which you responded.


Christ, I'll do it...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by xlb40

Originally posted by cloaked4u

OK, show me what post of YOURS i responded to.

SMH

Do you see "Responded to post by *insert name here* at the top of the posts. It will be highlighted, click on it and it takes you to the exact post from which you responded.


Christ, I'll do it...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

edit on 10-12-2011 by xlb40 because: (no reason given)

no, it does not say that on the top of the posts. It says this post and when you click on it nothing happens.

while only two million in the US may be at minimum wage you also have to look at the hours. right now i make $7.45US per hour but i only get 30 hours a week. the Au minimum wage is weekly at $570Au per week. that would give me in $19.40US per hour. so while i dont fall in the minimum bracket, i lack the hours. and finding a secound job is pointless because as my boss puts it, "i dont need someone with a second job, if i treat them bad they just walk out the door." my last check was $398 after taxes for two weeks of work. almost a third of what id make down under. as for the cost of living. well i live just outside of Houston Texas. I have a cousin in Au that just bought a Holden Manaro with a 400hp V8 for about 7k. that car in the US(pontiac GTO) will run you 14k+. also a 2011 Toyota Yaris base model $14,115US and $14,990Au.

Originally posted by GeorgiaGirl
reply to post by theovermensch

 

You watch a gop debate and hear people cheer at the idea of letting the poor die because they are poor.

No, you don't.

That has never, EVER, happened.

NO ONE at these debates cheers at the thought of poor people dying.

I won't get into the rest because I don't have time now, but I had to call you out on that one.

What you meant to say was "I missed that debate and it sounds indefensible so instead I will just lie and say it never happened."

I hope that helps.

Originally posted by xlb40

Originally posted by cloaked4u

OK, show me what post of YOURS i responded to.

SMH

Do you see "Responded to post by *insert name here* at the top of the posts. It will be highlighted, click on it and it takes you to the exact post from which you responded.


Christ, I'll do it...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

edit on 10-12-2011 by xlb40 because: (no reason given)

I did not respond to you, I clicked on the article you gave out to read and i read it. I personally did not type to you at all. THUS, i did not respond to you.

TextI have a cousin in Au that just bought a Holden Manaro with a 400hp V8 for about 7k. that car in the US(pontiac GTO) will run you 14k+. also a 2011 Toyota Yaris base model $14,115US and $14,990Au.

reply to post by darthlung1


I know guys that pick fruit here in Australia than earn well over $1000 a week. There is money everywhere.
I agree with everything you are saying.

reply to post by theovermensch


There are parts of the country where minimum wage is almost doable...but here in California things are expensive. Our minimum wage is $8, but I currently live in the Bay Area south of San Francisco...it is twice as expensive as when I lived in Sacramento rent wise, gas is 10 cents more per gallon on average, and other things are more expensive too. The average rent for a 1 bedroom apartment in the bay area is around $1700 a month!!!!!! I was lucky to find a ghetto apartment that is half decent for $925 but I make $10 an hour working full time and can barely afford anything. Many houses and apartments here are filled with 4 or 5 people all trying to pay rent, and yes, many full time workers are on food stamps or supplemented income...ridiculous

Originally posted by theovermensch

We dont pay our CEOs as much as you guys,maybe that is throwing the income stats out? It just seems that the poor in America are treated badly from healthcare to education. It seems there are alot of Americans that dont see that.

edit on 9-12-2011 by theovermensch because: typo

Nope, we are number 1 in everything. We are the best and greatest country in the world. You know you will love us the next time you get invaded because you will probably be invaded by us and we know how to win hearts and minds. In fact, based on this thread I think you need to be invaded because you guys are living wrong by having CEOS make a reasonable salary and adults make a reasonable wage. That smells like big government socialism. We like really love the fact that some people in the US do really really well and the rest of us defend them from our foodstamp hud homes.

I'm not saying that some, have not worked, where they got to be in life.

But the fact of the matter,

They do, have more money to pay the debt. Yes or No?

But yet, choose to spend it elsewhere, on meaningless things and not our country.

Why go after the middle class for that, or even the poor?

They wouldn't even be rich, if the government didn't make it happen, for them to be rich.

Yes or No...??

A stroke a luck, at the lottery, and you're dead in a year? How'd that happen? Yeah, I won't be playing the lottery anytime soon. No worries. Just convenient.

We all know, it's family in seconds.

reply to post by theovermensch


It is pretty pathetic. I have several scholarships and the GI Bill, but tuition is so high that I still have to work so I can afford basic amenities (food, gas, car insurance, etc) I'm a cashier at a big American retail chain. At least a third of the people in my checkout line everyday use some form of government assistance (welfare, food stamps, social security, WIC). That's the only way they can get by. I don't see many of Reagan's 'welfare queens'. I do see lots of people in my line with the basic amenities of life, and then they tell me they can only pay for 'X' amount. So it becomes a haggling of cereal versus diapers versus fruit versus laundry detergent versus school supplies.

These people are often blamed for their health issues such as obesity, heart disease, or diabetes. But if you have a family to feed then you have to stretch your dollar as much as you can. So do you pay extra for healthy food that takes time to prepare and will more than likely leave someone in your household with a less than full or empty stomach? Or do you pay less for the more processed food that will at least ensure everyone gets something to eat? A box of twelve packets of ramen or 4 apples? But somehow it becomes their fault that they don't go for a jog every night after they get back from two or more shifts that have them on their feet for hours doing all manner of crappy or dangerous work?

Several of my coworkers are in a similar predicament. These people aren't lazy by any means, but when you have no bargaining mechanism then it doesn't matter how much you work. Many of those people also work two jobs since companies will do everything they can to keep a worker at part time. That enables them to avoid any obligation beyond a paycheck. So no insurance, no retirement, no bonuses, and so on. It's a step above slavery that keeps people in a holding pattern of just barely getting by, if they can get by at all. As soon as they can't get any more work out of you then you're tossed on your ass, and left to fend for yourself.

I'm fortunate that I'm in a position to be able to attend college, so I won't have to do this for my whole life. But that still leaves millions who for whatever reason are stuck treading water to just barely keep above the poverty line. The 'American Dream' is supposed to guarantee a comfortable (if modest) existence as long as you work hard. Nowadays it doesn't matter how hard you work. Even if you can manage to pay all your bills each month it is no guarantee you'll stay there. An injury, baby, death in the family, disablement, or even retirement can get you hopelessly stuck in a cycle of debt, illness, and poverty that you can almost never escape.

Originally posted by Manhater
I'm not saying that some, have not worked, where they got to be in life.

But the fact of the matter,

They do, have more money to pay the debt. Yes or No?

But yet, choose to spend it elsewhere, on meaningless things and not our country.

Why go after the middle class for that, or even the poor?

They wouldn't even be rich, if the government didn't make it happen, for them to be rich.

The only people that the government makes rich are the ones who are in the government. (ie the politicians)

As an engineer, I make over $120k per year. That is MY money, not the governments. The error of your post is that you seem to think that its the governments money, and they're just "allowing" the citizens to take a cut. That is completely irrational, perhaps once you graduate, and move out of your parents house and get a job, you will realize this.

And why should I pay the government more? Why should taxes be raised at all? Do you realize that raising taxes wont do anything so long as spending is not greatly curtailed?

Its aching to giving a drug attic his fix.

Originally posted by Manhater
I'm not saying that some, have not worked, where they got to be in life.

But the fact of the matter,

They do, have more money to pay the debt. Yes or No?

But yet, choose to spend it elsewhere, on meaningless things and not our country.

Why go after the middle class for that, or even the poor?

They wouldn't even be rich, if the government didn't make it happen, for them to be rich.

Yes or No...??

A stroke a luck, at the lottery, and you're dead in a year? How'd that happen? Yeah, I won't be playing the lottery anytime soon. No worries. Just convenient.

We all know, it's family in seconds.

I'm confused, WHAT the hell? Can you comunicate more on what the hell, you are talking about, because i have absolutely no clue as to where you are going, or what you are talking about.