Minimum Wage

[KRSESQ]

A funny thing happened a few years ago regarding the miniumum wage:

The Republican leaders put forth a proposal to reform the miniumum wage law and tie it to the inflation index, thereby giving minimum wage earners, Federal and State, inflation protection. It passed the house with votes to spare.

Unfortunately the Democrat leadership nixed it in the Senate by threatening a fillibuster (debate lockdown). This while the rank and file Democrats were willing to vote for it.

Why? It would have largely solved the problem, and without that problem there is no campaign issue.

Pretty much the way their leadership treats many other issues, even if the rank and file Democrats want to join with Republicans and actually solve the problem(s) at hand.

A few months ago Sen. Clinton and others sponsored a bill which would have raised the minimum wage each time congress voted itself a pay raise. It failed, of course, and is largely viewed as a purely political move to make the sponsors look good. It would certainly have made things interesting if it had passed.

I got royally shafted a few years back when I was working as a car stereo installer. My employer was able to pay me a fraction of the state minimum wage because I was an "apprentice" and I needed 250 hours on the job to qualify for the full minimum. By the time I'd accumulated 250 hours the car stereo season was over and I was summarily laid off. Fortunately the law has been changed since.

Kevin

[Nowhere]

Which brings up another question.
Do any other countries have a flat tax on payrolls that applies only to middle and lower incomes that compares to the US's payroll tax?
Inquiring minds want to know...

What exactly would compare?

...
A funny thing happened a few years ago regarding the miniumum wage:

The Republican leaders put forth a proposal to reform the miniumum wage law and tie it to the inflation index, thereby giving minimum wage earners, Federal and State, inflation protection. It passed the house with votes to spare.
...

I wouldn't be surpised if something like this causes creation of positive feedback loop...

[Greebe]

It was blocked by the Democrates because the Republicans tied it into another bill which would have lessened the tax base on the wealthy.

Please keep the facts straight!

[cjolley]

What exactly would compare?

That's what inquiring minds want to know.

[Nowhere]

Oh you mean how big, precisely (and at which steps), are the taxes for individuals in places without "linear tax"?

If yes...something like this here: (taxes for 2006, the number is gross payment per year)
0 zł - 2 789 zł - 0% (2789 is important number for students )
2 789 zł - 37 024 zł - 19%
37 024 zł - 74 048 zł - 30%
74 048 zł - 227 992 zł - 40%
over 227 992 zł - 50%
Minus 530,08 zł in every case. Oh, and it isn't, for example, 30% from 60 000zł, only the part above 37 024 is under 30% tax. Yes, when going above 2789, from 0% to 19% taxes, this doesn't apply. 0% is sort of "amnesty" when you're below 2 789 (you have go get it from tax office).
And that's still not the whole picture, the whole system is a bit overcomplicated...

edit: currently
1€ = 3,9819 zł
1$ = 3,1322 zł

[Sasq]

not sure the min wage here, but I havn't seen anything below about 800yen an hour for people under 20.
Usually about 1050 yen/hr for *adults*
oh and we have a flat 6% income tax

[Dr Mordrid]

It was blocked by the Democrates because the Republicans tied it into another bill which would have lessened the tax base on the wealthy.

Please keep the facts straight!

You mean the 'wealthy' that already pay 95% of all income taxes

[Greebe]

No the "Wealthy" that pay less percentage than you or I do

Only thing they see is the total and that impacts their ability to buy their 10th home in yet another resort or another business where they can outsource half the staff out of country or close a plant and setup shop in far east asia

It's wiping out the middle class. Everything I learned in Economics is coming true and it's dragging the country down badly. Why do you constantly deny these facts? Obfuscate the truth constantly?

You really should run for office, why haven't you?

[Dr Mordrid]

I was just quoting IRS stats

2003 numbers (*.xls): http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/03in05tr.xls

Line 194.

Top.............Pays

50% ------- 96.54% of taxes
25% ------- 83.88%
10% ------- 65.84%
05% ------- 54.36%
01% ------- 34.27%

But if you can't deal with real numbers and prefer urban legends....

As for outsourcing: yes, it's a problem....in States like Michigan where a combination of high taxes, a single business tax (only one in the nation), outrageous workers comp., union excesses (remember this is a former union steward talking!), lotto civil courts and poor policy has driven jobs away running.

[KvHagedorn]

Okay, Doc.. if the top 1% pays 34.27% of the taxes, even with all the loopholes in place that their tax attorneys take advantage of for them, what does that tell you? It tells me that the top 1% are making far, far too much money compared to the rest of us.

[Greebe]

LOL

Just like you slammed the Democrates for the late 70's early 80's inflation when in reality it was the Federal Reserve? Yeah right

You can keep you IRS info. The goverment is still in denial over the actual cost of living. The Fed Res is slowly starting to wake up about these facts. It's "Reaganomics" combined with "Global economy" and a dash (smathering) of Big Business making the most out of what's left to be had before the bottom drops out that'll ruin this country.

You should step out of your bubble sometime and talk to real life people ie not over the internet or your well off friends to get a feel for what is really going on and how it has impacted their lives.

D*mn, good thing I'm a Republican, or this would get nasty.

and if you have to know, my family is one of the 42% whom doesn't have health care in THIS country. Not because it's not offered, but because it's so expensive that we could have if we wanted to forget about our indulgences... you know like eating and car insurance and gas/electric all at the same time or simply the roof over our heads.

[Dr Mordrid]

The actual percentage of un-insured in the US is 15.7% (bi-partisan National Coalition on Health Care; 2004 numbers/latest available).

If you want this to change enact California-style reforms to the health tort laws, which limits punitive damages to ~ $250,000. Not actual damages...just punitive which are often set by lotto-agent juries to unreal levels.

Oops....can't. The pols who take Trial Lawyers Assn. donations won't let them go to the floor

It was the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, Nixons wage/price controlls and the Yom Kippur War oil embargo that set off stagflation. It was a change in Fed policy under Volcker and tax cuts under Reagan that started the recovery.

What rich friends?

[KvHagedorn]

I don't have health insurance either, and can't get it. Why? Because insurance companies are corporations and corporations are by definition only allowed to care about profit. I have a pre-existing condition that would require surgery, so I'm not qualified to be insured.

[Greebe]

"If you want this to change enact California-style reforms to the health tort laws, which limits punitive damages to ~ $250,000. Not actual damages...just punitive which are often set by lotto-agent juries to unreal levels."

Guess what, Florida already has done that, Jeb Bush pushed it through

It was the ending of the Bretton Woods system and no substituite being put in place that set off stagflation, spurred on by the Yom Kippur War oil embargo. It was a change in Fed policy under Volcker and tax cuts under Reagan that started the recovery.

I remember a couple 3 years ago on this very fact and I posted a link to the real reason and there was no further comment. Now it's brought up again and you're still firing away with the same poppycock.

Guess another fact, Florida is one of the few (if not the only) where you can be a Doctor after being run out of everyother state for malpractice.

Didn't say rich, said well off, but I suppose that doesn't count YOU?

[Jessterw]

I don't have health insurance either, and can't get it. Why? Because insurance companies are corporations and corporations are by definition only allowed to care about profit. I have a pre-existing condition that would require surgery, so I'm not qualified to be insured.

It's definitely a sad state of affairs. I can get health insurance, but most of the things I would need coverage for are preexisting conditions, nevermind those of my wife and kids. Truth be told though, we don't have health insurance for my wife and I because we can't afford it. Our kids are luckily covered by state medical, but we're at that income tipping point that they won't be much longer.

Oh and when we do get our own coverage, it's damned likely our eldest daughter won't be able to receive coverage. Why? Because she has Down Syndrome. The reason the insurance companies give is that people with DS have heart defects and other major health issues. Funny that our daughter hasn't suffered from any health problems but those that any other child suffers from. Now, a lot of the insurance providers will say that they can review her records and see if she is at risk and thus now able to be covered, but the reality is that the conclusion they reach is always the same - not able to be covered.