what this fucking election is all about.

The first of many examples, I'm sure.


http://www.rawstory.com/2016/04/alabamas...ly-biased/

Quote:Civil rights groups and fast-food workers in Birmingham, Alabama, filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday claiming a state law that prohibits cities from instituting higher minimum wages is racially discriminatory.

The lawsuit, which names Governor Robert Bentley and state Attorney General Luther Strange as defendants, says the legislation is tainted by “racial animus” and violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection.

And to the point:

Quote:The minimum wage has become a key political issue, as states like California and New York have recently passed legislation raising their rates beyond the federal level.

The leading Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, have both endorsed a higher wage, while Republican candidates Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Jon Kasich have rejected calls for an increase.

It's about money.  Who gets it and who keeps trying to steal more and more of it.

The problem is, a federal minimum wage makes little to no sense, because living wages depend entirely on where you live.

A better piece of legislation (on the federal level) would be to enforce minimum wages on a county based level, using a standard formula that takes into consideration the cost of living in the county itself.

$15+ an hour wages make perfect sense in cities, but make less sense in rural areas.

There are plenty of republicunts who would do away with a minimum wage entirely and rely on their bullshit "market" to starve people.  Oh.  And then they complain that these people are getting food stamps while the taxpayers subsidize rich corporations. 

I agree it isn't perfect.  It is merely better than what is in second place.

Conservatives might agree to paying $15.00 an hour, if they could get away with paying it once a day.

Boru

(April 28, 2016 at 2:59 pm)Tiberius Wrote: The problem is, a federal minimum wage makes little to no sense, because living wages depend entirely on where you live.

The latter is certainly true.

However, I think there's two factors to consider immediately: One, the current federal minimum wage of 7.25/hr isn't a living wage anywhere in the US that I'm aware of, excepting unconventional housing (dumpsters, large cardboard boxes, etc). Secondly, nearly half of the states either have no minimum wage of their own, or simply parrot the federal wage. I am under no delusion that those states would do anything approximating the right thing if there were no federal minimum wage.

(April 28, 2016 at 2:59 pm)Tiberius Wrote: A better piece of legislation (on the federal level) would be to enforce minimum wages on a county based level, using a standard formula that takes into consideration the cost of living in the county itself.

Such a bill - even if it would pass Constitutional muster - would likely be stillborn in Congress, but yeah - having a local minimum wage set according to local cost of living would make more sense than the status quo. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm not sure the Federal government has any authority at that level.

Indexing the minimum wage to inflation would also make sense instead of the steady erosion of purchasing power that we have today. That might not even be enough - for example, Oregon has a statewise cost of living very close to the national average and indexes it's state minimum wage to the national CPI. In 2015, Oregon had one of the highest minimum wage rates in the nation at 9.25/hr - and even at that, because it tracks the national CPI, it doesn't adequately account for the cost of housing, not by a very long ways. Portland Oregon has introduced a stepped increase to $14.50/hr locally (by 2022), but even that doesn't address many issues (such as the case where someone lives inside of Portland, but works just outside).

or we can just add a zero to all prices and wages and bank accounts and whatever, and then everyone will be rich

It's all about money it really is having a bad middle class and even forcing people into the lower class is a terrible thing to do and
they are really wanting to do that.. make america great again.. heh fuck no... and people want to vote for people like that.. damn
im glad the republican sheep in the nation is a dying thing.

(April 28, 2016 at 2:59 pm)Tiberius Wrote: The problem is, a federal minimum wage makes little to no sense, because living wages depend entirely on where you live.

A better piece of legislation (on the federal level) would be to enforce minimum wages on a county based level, using a standard formula that takes into consideration the cost of living in the county itself.

$15+ an hour wages make perfect sense in cities, but make less sense in rural areas.

Yep, in rural areas cars, food, gas, insurance, and everything else costs only 2 percent of what it costs in the typical urban setting.

In urban areas there is usually some degree of public transportation which is far cheaper than driving your own car.

BTW, I have noted that gas tends to be cheaper in Phoenix than out in the sticks.  Has something to do with transporting it, I imagine.  Funny that no one ever considers that.

Dumb question.
Are big Macs the same price right throughout America or have they been carefully fiscally adjusted to suit demographics.