Comments on: What is a Living Wage and Does it Exist in the US? http://cashmoneylife.com/what-is-a-living-wage-and-does-it-exist-in-the-us/ Money Management, Small Business, Career Wed, 23 May 2012 21:16:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: J.Lowery http://cashmoneylife.com/what-is-a-living-wage-and-does-it-exist-in-the-us/#comment-33656 J.Lowery Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:50:50 +0000 http://cashmoneylife.com/?p=1562#comment-33656 I can remember when $10 per hour was considered a good-decent wage back in the early 70's....most of the workers in the documentary Waging a Living were earning around $10-$11 an hour, and the doc. was made in 2005..........that's pretty much all I need to know. Thirty Five years has gone by, people are more productive and working harder, yet real wages have actually gone DOWN for many. The myths that working Americans have been sold are some of the following: 1. Unions are bad...globalism will raise standards of living 2. The days of benefits and pensions are gone...it's your responsibility to save 3. While wage increases and benefits are not acceptable....you can "borrow" the very money you should have been earning on a "credit" card system, with interest 4. The United States is not broke.....but large corporations are paying a smaller and smaller effective tax rate (between 0 - 18%) 5. Capital gains tax has gone from an income tax to a rate of 0-15% 6. A standing army since Vietnam.....cost of foreign aide, intellegence, weapons, personell, tricore health care, 20 yr and out pensions, housing and school assistance, international bases, cia, etc. has taken a larger share of the tax dollar, resulting in 'competition' with dollars used for infrastructure, education, domestic programs. 7. In 1960's it was not a given that all medical school grads would become millionares and nurses with four year degrees would be making 6 figure salaries. The ratio of doctors to people was much higher. Today only about 800,000 doctors in usa....if we exclude specialists like plastic surgeons and psychiatrists, the number is even lower. The largest medical union around "AMA" ensures that the number of docs is limited and therefore at a premium. Notice there are more and more doctors in the us congress elected each term, this is no accident but by design. Essentially you have lawyers and doctors running the United States government.....they protect their interests as well as the multinational corps. that funded their campaigns. In the United States if you do not pay, you do not have a voice. 8. The Republocrats are essentially one party. Notice that the Democrats absorp social movements, only to let them die....Clinton and Obama both supported large corporations as did every Republican after Eisenhower. The prudent thing to do might be to form a REAL LABOR PARTY .......one that the Republocrats can't hijack and absorb.......and start changing State and Federal laws so that such a party could have a real leadership position. 9. Tariffs need to be placed on imports....70% of what comes into usa from China is made for us labels-companies.......if you want to make it in China and exploit peasants there, then sell it in China......you want to sell it in here, pay the tariff....this and DEMANDING that the usa pull of WTO, NAFTA and CAFTA would be a step in the right direction for American families. I can remember when $10 per hour was considered a good-decent wage back in the early 70′s….most of the workers in the documentary Waging a Living were earning around $10-$11 an hour, and the doc. was made in 2005……….that’s pretty much all I need to know. Thirty Five years has gone by, people are more productive and working harder, yet real wages have actually gone DOWN for many. The myths that working Americans have been sold are some of the following:
1. Unions are bad…globalism will raise standards of living
2. The days of benefits and pensions are gone…it’s your responsibility to save
3. While wage increases and benefits are not acceptable….you can “borrow” the very money you should have been earning on a “credit” card system, with interest
4. The United States is not broke…..but large corporations are paying a smaller and smaller effective tax rate (between 0 – 18%)
5. Capital gains tax has gone from an income tax to a rate of 0-15%
6. A standing army since Vietnam…..cost of foreign aide, intellegence, weapons, personell, tricore health care, 20 yr and out pensions, housing and school assistance, international bases, cia, etc. has taken a larger share of the tax dollar, resulting in ‘competition’ with dollars used for infrastructure, education, domestic programs.
7. In 1960′s it was not a given that all medical school grads would become millionares and nurses with four year degrees would be making 6 figure salaries.
The ratio of doctors to people was much higher. Today only about 800,000 doctors in usa….if we exclude specialists like plastic surgeons and psychiatrists, the number is even lower. The largest medical union around “AMA” ensures that the number of docs is limited and therefore at a premium. Notice there are more and more doctors in the us congress elected each term, this is no accident but by design. Essentially you have lawyers and doctors running the United States government…..they protect their interests as well as the multinational corps. that funded their campaigns. In the United States if you do not pay, you do not have a voice.
8. The Republocrats are essentially one party. Notice that the Democrats absorp social movements, only to let them die….Clinton and Obama both supported large corporations as did every Republican after Eisenhower. The prudent thing to do might be to form a REAL LABOR PARTY …….one that the Republocrats can’t hijack and absorb…….and start changing State and Federal laws so that such a party could have a real leadership position.
9. Tariffs need to be placed on imports….70% of what comes into usa from China is made for us labels-companies…….if you want to make it in China and exploit peasants there, then sell it in China……you want to sell it in here, pay the tariff….this and DEMANDING that the usa pull of WTO, NAFTA and CAFTA would be a step in the right direction for American families.

]]> By: Mr.Pibb64 http://cashmoneylife.com/what-is-a-living-wage-and-does-it-exist-in-the-us/#comment-33318 Mr.Pibb64 Sat, 25 Jun 2011 05:35:08 +0000 http://cashmoneylife.com/?p=1562#comment-33318 here's an example of how inflated prices are; let's go back...hmmm summer of 1978. myself, and some of my classmates went on a trip to Oahu, Hawaii for about 4 weeks. we stayed in tents on the beach and in youth hostels. we were transported around in a bus with a big body guard and the bus driver carried around a big boom box with one of those mini tv in it. we saw the dole pinapple plant, and some other tourist activities. i got to try out surfing on oahu beach. the cost for the WHOLE thing; $400!!! heck we even had a disco party(my first and only one) on the beach! today, it would not surprise me in the least that all of that would cost AT LEAST an order of magnitude more! my two cents(or heck my two dollars - their pretty much the same thing) here’s an example of how inflated prices are;
let’s go back…hmmm summer of 1978. myself, and some of my classmates went on a trip to Oahu, Hawaii for about 4 weeks. we stayed in tents on the beach and in youth hostels. we were transported around in a bus with a big body guard and the bus driver carried around a big boom box with one of those mini tv in it. we saw the dole pinapple plant, and some other tourist activities. i got to try out surfing on oahu beach.

the cost for the WHOLE thing; $400!!! heck we even had a disco party(my first and only one) on the beach!

today, it would not surprise me in the least that all of that would cost AT LEAST an order of magnitude more!

my two cents(or heck my two dollars – their pretty much the same thing)

]]> By: Tree Girl http://cashmoneylife.com/what-is-a-living-wage-and-does-it-exist-in-the-us/#comment-25735 Tree Girl Fri, 24 Sep 2010 20:45:44 +0000 http://cashmoneylife.com/?p=1562#comment-25735 I think people did work harder back in the day. I know my mother-in-law used to get up before dawn to milk the cow. She raised 6 kids in a house with no electricity and no running water. She sewed many of their clothes from feed sacks. She raised a garden and canned on a wood stove. They butchered a hog every year and canned their own sausage. And this was back in the 50s and 60s. That lifetime of hard work has won her good health. She is 89 and still lives alone, doing all her own cooking and cleaning. Let's face it folks. We are lazy and selfish and it hurts our health both mental and physical. I think people did work harder back in the day. I know my mother-in-law used to get up before dawn to milk the cow. She raised 6 kids in a house with no electricity and no running water. She sewed many of their clothes from feed sacks. She raised a garden and canned on a wood stove. They butchered a hog every year and canned their own sausage. And this was back in the 50s and 60s. That lifetime of hard work has won her good health. She is 89 and still lives alone, doing all her own cooking and cleaning. Let’s face it folks. We are lazy and selfish and it hurts our health both mental and physical.

]]> By: jim v http://cashmoneylife.com/what-is-a-living-wage-and-does-it-exist-in-the-us/#comment-24949 jim v Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:27:52 +0000 http://cashmoneylife.com/?p=1562#comment-24949 My dad raised a family of 5 on one auto factory income during the 60's and never had debt, plus retired comfortably at 65. Ive raised a family of 8 by working several jobs while my wife stayed home with the kids and we have plenty of debt to pay off. I think that women should never have "fallen" for the idea of adding more income by working outside of the home. The same dollar just ended up shrinking so that it became normal to work two jobs to get by. (And by the way, why did our country allow us to leave the gold standard? We would not have the hyper inflation that we have now if our dollar was still backed by gold.) This was basically a trick to lower the standard of living (by my definition it means having all basic needs met with an in home caregiver there 100%-mom) Additionally,Nobody raises your children as good as you do. We don't need all this extra stuff. Our children need our presence, period. My dad raised a family of 5 on one auto factory income during the 60′s and never had debt, plus retired comfortably at 65. Ive raised a family of 8 by working several jobs while my wife stayed home with the kids and we have plenty of debt to pay off. I think that women should never have “fallen” for the idea of adding more income by working outside of the home. The same dollar just ended up shrinking so that it became normal to work two jobs to get by. (And by the way, why did our country allow us to leave the gold standard? We would not have the hyper inflation that we have now if our dollar was still backed by gold.) This was basically a trick to lower the standard of living (by my definition it means having all basic needs met with an in home caregiver there 100%-mom) Additionally,Nobody raises your children as good as you do. We don’t need all this extra stuff. Our children need our presence, period.

]]> By: Dawn Spiering http://cashmoneylife.com/what-is-a-living-wage-and-does-it-exist-in-the-us/#comment-21907 Dawn Spiering Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:38:59 +0000 http://cashmoneylife.com/?p=1562#comment-21907 Hmmm rich politicians hammering and stammering about our constitutional rights? Sounds just about right. And yet we vote in these representatives to govern over us. Many of those who represent us in goverment come from fairly rich backgrounds, lawyers, doctors, business owners. How did they get to the uppercrust? On the backs of hard working Americans. When a person choses a person to represent them in government shouldn't they chose a person with the same values and background as themselves? We continue to behave like sheep and all we are going to have to lead us is wolfs. Isnt a undereducated and poor population easier to control than one that can actually defend itself and understand the implications of the rights of the constitution? When was the last time a hard working man or woman discussed John Lockes' Right To Pursue Happiness? Hmmm rich politicians hammering and stammering about our constitutional rights? Sounds just about right. And yet we vote in these representatives to govern over us. Many of those who represent us in goverment come from fairly rich backgrounds, lawyers, doctors, business owners. How did they get to the uppercrust? On the backs of hard working Americans. When a person choses a person to represent them in government shouldn’t they chose a person with the same values and background as themselves? We continue to behave like sheep and all we are going to have to lead us is wolfs. Isnt a undereducated and poor population easier to control than one that can actually defend itself and understand the implications of the rights of the constitution? When was the last time a hard working man or woman discussed John Lockes’ Right To Pursue Happiness?

]]> By: yep i'm gonna crash http://cashmoneylife.com/what-is-a-living-wage-and-does-it-exist-in-the-us/#comment-21262 yep i'm gonna crash Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:24:26 +0000 http://cashmoneylife.com/?p=1562#comment-21262 Your opinion just indicates your age. Fact is, people work more hours, work harder, and are more highly leveraged than any group of people in history. This includes minimum wage earners. It is possible to conclude that you have a dim view of people doing these minimum wage jobs, because you expect the world while paying peanuts. I'll bet you even shop at walmart, and think you got a good deal because didn't spend a lot. Get a clue Your opinion just indicates your age.

Fact is, people work more hours, work harder, and are more highly leveraged than any group of people in history. This includes minimum wage earners.

It is possible to conclude that you have a dim view of people doing these minimum wage jobs, because you expect the world while paying peanuts.

I’ll bet you even shop at walmart, and think you got a good deal because didn’t spend a lot.

Get a clue

]]> By: fremmasmind http://cashmoneylife.com/what-is-a-living-wage-and-does-it-exist-in-the-us/#comment-20425 fremmasmind Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:29:32 +0000 http://cashmoneylife.com/?p=1562#comment-20425 I don't know how many of you have seen Aaron Russos' documentary, "Freedom to Fascism". Google it and watch. In this documentary he spent the whole time asking politicians, economists, etc., where in the constitution is there a law that states American citizens have to pay federal income taxes? Well you know how Politicians ramble on and say nothing, same with all the other intelligent individuals he asked the same question and got no real answers. He finally found out that if a person has a business and makes a profit on selling merchandise or services, he is to be taxed on that profit. If an individual has a job making a living wage, i.e.,a job that pays salary or an hourly rate he does not have to pay federal taxes on that wage. Check out the documentary. This, I believe was Aarons' last work before he died. R.I.P. I don’t know how many of you have seen Aaron Russos’ documentary, “Freedom to Fascism”. Google it and watch. In this documentary he spent the whole time asking politicians, economists, etc., where in the constitution is there a law that states American citizens have to pay federal income taxes? Well you know how Politicians ramble on and say nothing, same with all the other intelligent individuals he asked the same question and got no real answers. He finally found out that if a person has a business and makes a profit on selling merchandise or services, he is to be taxed on that profit.
If an individual has a job making a living wage, i.e.,a job that pays salary or an hourly rate he does not have to pay federal taxes on that wage. Check out the documentary. This, I believe was Aarons’ last work before he died. R.I.P.

]]> By: DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad http://cashmoneylife.com/what-is-a-living-wage-and-does-it-exist-in-the-us/#comment-18280 DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad Fri, 22 May 2009 23:27:50 +0000 http://cashmoneylife.com/?p=1562#comment-18280 @Joanna You have hit on an under current here. I have often said that college is the new high school and grad school is the new college. I will not stop any child of mine from pursuing a trade. They will not rack up debt, usually have steady work, be their own boss, and will more than likely be able to retire early-- I know contractors who in a position to retire in their late forties . . . @Joanna

You have hit on an under current here. I have often said that college is the new high school and grad school is the new college.

I will not stop any child of mine from pursuing a trade. They will not rack up debt, usually have steady work, be their own boss, and will more than likely be able to retire early– I know contractors who in a position to retire in their late forties . . .

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