House Democrat demands $50-per-hour federal minimum wage: 'Just do​ the math!'

[seer]

Since I'm a preacher, and only work 1 hour a week, I guess I make north of $1800/hour.

That is one job I never wanted. The pastors I know never have a minute for themselves...

[Chaotic Void]

Minimum wage is not about "gouging" workers. It is typically the wage paid to first time workers with little skill and experience. The expectation is that people will better themselves through education and experience, making them more valuable to employers and able to command more pay. Nobody should expect a high wage for doing low skill menial labor.

The current reality, however, is that due to scummy pay-scaling practices, people who are dedicated to their jobs- taking on more responsibilities and learning new skills- tend to wind up making barely over minimum wage the longer they stay at their job. And heaven forbid you try and find similar, better paying work elsewhere... no amount of fancy suits, firm handshakes, and looking them dead in the eye will prevent a potential employer from skimming your resume and rejecting you for anything that they perceive at making you Over-Qualified. And that's even if you have have the luxury of meeting them in person for an interview, since everything is done online these days they can just ignore your application with zero follow-up with no repercussions.

Also, unfortunately, comparing Minimum Wage Back Then(TM) to Minimum Wage Now(TM) makes far too many false assumptions for it to be valid. Just off the top of my head, it assumes that both the buying power of the dollar and the cost of living are similar in both time frames, and it also seems to be under the illusion that Minimum Wage has scaled consistently and properly over the years.

[rogue06]

Anyone else notice that usually whenever someone screeches something like "just do the math" as a response, that usually means they haven't?

[rogue06]

The current reality, however, is that due to scummy pay-scaling practices, people who are dedicated to their jobs- taking on more responsibilities and learning new skills- tend to wind up making barely over minimum wage the longer they stay at their job. And heaven forbid you try and find similar, better paying work elsewhere... no amount of fancy suits, firm handshakes, and looking them dead in the eye will prevent a potential employer from skimming your resume and rejecting you for anything that they perceive at making you Over-Qualified. And that's even if you have have the luxury of meeting them in person for an interview, since everything is done online these days they can just ignore your application with zero follow-up with no repercussions.

Also, unfortunately, comparing Minimum Wage Back Then(TM) to Minimum Wage Now(TM) makes far too many false assumptions for it to be valid. Just off the top of my head, it assumes that both the buying power of the dollar and the cost of living are similar in both time frames, and it also seems to be under the illusion that Minimum Wage has scaled consistently and properly over the years.

When you become over qualified you shouldn't look for another job like the one you're over qualified for but a better one that better suits your qualifications.

[Sparko]

The current reality, however, is that due to scummy pay-scaling practices, people who are dedicated to their jobs- taking on more responsibilities and learning new skills- tend to wind up making barely over minimum wage the longer they stay at their job. And heaven forbid you try and find similar, better paying work elsewhere... no amount of fancy suits, firm handshakes, and looking them dead in the eye will prevent a potential employer from skimming your resume and rejecting you for anything that they perceive at making you Over-Qualified. And that's even if you have have the luxury of meeting them in person for an interview, since everything is done online these days they can just ignore your application with zero follow-up with no repercussions.

Also, unfortunately, comparing Minimum Wage Back Then(TM) to Minimum Wage Now(TM) makes far too many false assumptions for it to be valid. Just off the top of my head, it assumes that both the buying power of the dollar and the cost of living are similar in both time frames, and it also seems to be under the illusion that Minimum Wage has scaled consistently and properly over the years.

No, I know that prices have gone up and so wages need to go up. When I started working, minimum wage was $1.67/hour. Late 70s. I was a teenager (15).

But you know what? For a teenager living at home who needs some extra spending money, minimum wage (whatever it happens to be) is great. That is what it is actually meant for. Those starting out. If the minimum wage is too high, then nobody is going to want to hire some green behind the ears teenager to work at their business because they have no skills and it takes money to train new people. Teens are also notoriously flighty and quit at the drop of a hat. So after investing money on training, and paying them money to learn, they often just quit. That's expensive because you are paying another employee to train this new guy and paying the new guy to learn.

Once you have some skills under your belt you are more valuable. You can take those skills elsewhere. And you have shown you can stick it out and not quit. Hopefully that means your current boss wants to keep you and pay you more. Sometimes that isn't how it works and you can go elsewhere.

The balance between how much a business makes and how much they pay their employers and how much things cost in the local economy is a delicate balance, like a dance. It gradually works its way higher. As prices go up, wages go up to stay competitive, which can drive prices up, and so on. It all stays in relative balance.

But if you suddenly make a huge change, like increasing the bottom wage from $8/hour to $20 or $50/hour, that disrupts the whole system. Suddenly employer's expenses go up exponentially. They have to either lay off employees, or raise their prices to cover the new expense. That causes a disruption in the local economy as everyone else has to raise their prices to cover their employee expenses. It's a scramble. When things settle back down, things will remain the same relatively. If they had to pay starting workers $30/hour, then they have to raise the rates of everyone else who is higher up the food chain. Because everything goes up (food, houses, goods) eventually the minimum wage guy still is at the bottom of the chain and can't afford anything. So he wants more.

The solution is to learn and make yourself more valuable. That is the only way to go from the bottom to the top. Learning a good trade skill in school or as an apprentice. Or on the job learning. In retail skills such as running a cash register, and managing people can be used in any business.

[Cow Poke]

That is one job I never wanted. The pastors I know never have a minute for themselves...

The biggest thing is learning to delegate - then allow those 'delegates' to do their job.
Too many pastors (and employers) worry they will lose control if they're not managing every little bit of what happens.

[One Bad Pig]

Since I'm a preacher, and only work 1 hour a week, I guess I make north of $1800/hour.

On the flip side, when I was in the military, I was working or confined to the submarine rather more often than not. One guy calculated we were being paid about as much as migrant fruit pickers.

[Cow Poke]

On the flip side, when I was in the military, I was working or confined to the submarine rather more often than not. One guy calculated we were being paid about as much as migrant fruit pickers.

Yes, sir - same with my brother on the USS Ranger, but ... not nearly as confined as you.