Gregoire vs. Rossi on budget cuts
Over on the blog, commenter Yesler Hill wrote:
Would someone care to enlighten me on this, and also what other "safety net mechanisms" Rossi intends to cut?
masaba also expressed a similar concern:Yesler Hill wrote:I sure don't want Rossi hacking back minimum wage and other social safety net mechanisms as the economy drops away in to the ditch. *sigh*
I found these statements to be rather curious, since as far as I am aware, Rossi has not stated any interest in reducing the minimum wage. I've seen this political ad that claims he supports lowering the minimum wage across the board, but when you look at the question he was actually answering, that ad is a pretty heavy distortion of what he actually said:Masaba wrote:However, stating that we should lower the minimum wage by $1.50 when the economy is turning south and executives at AIG are taking $400,000 vacations does seem a little dumbfounding.
I guess I don't see what's so unreasonable about having a "stair-stepped training wage" for under-18 employees just entering the workforce to earn a few bucks while in school. Also, I'm interested to know if anyone has any actual statistics on how many people over age 18 are working at minimum wage in Washington.When asked, Rossi said he was open to the idea of creating a stair-stepped training wage, which would begin $1.50 below the minimum wage.
He said the minimum wage was meant to be an entry-level salary, not a family wage.
"Think of how many young people are being cheated out of their first job," he said. "The idea of going to work, fulfilling a task and being paid for it. That's a very good thing. The work ethic is something very good to instill in our youth. But when the minimum wage gets so high that that job isn't worth that much to the employer, you don't get that first job."
Would someone care to enlighten me on this, and also what other "safety net mechanisms" Rossi intends to cut?
Comments
Also, when's the last time you went into a minimum wage employeer who didn't have a "Help Wanted" sign posted? They almost always do.
Well, that's my argument against.
Beyond the above simple fact, it's already been shown time and again that corporations are more than willing to accept forged documents or create them themselves to falsify the citizenship of their employees. I don't think many would hesitate to do the same for age. But even regardless of this, if Rossi is saying that he would allow people to work for less than minimum wage, then he has set a new minimum wage.
Also, it seems like it should be noted that the only mention I can find of the minimum wage on Rossi's website is this this page, which says: It doesn't sound like something he's really trying to push, and if I'm not mistaken, wouldn't this be something that the state legislature would have to pass first, making it a complete non-starter anyway?
Beyond that, you're the one that said Gregoire's claims on the economy were dumbfounding. To me, Rossi's comments on lowering the minimum wage at a time when the gap between rich and poor in this country is increasing and we are heading towards a recession is much more dumbfounding than Gregoire taking claim for a budget surplus that was created while she was in office.
If Rossi wants to attack how she spent the surplus, I am all for hearing it. But to say that any politician wouldn't be facing a projected deficit right now is a little far fetched.
And, as many have said, I typically enjoy this blog because it offers sound analysis of the housing bubble. However, analyzing political spin is open to a lot more interpretation and usually incorporates biases of the analyzer.
This is a very misleading statement. Any 16-20 year old who desires a job and is willing to put forth even a small amount of effort will have no troubles finding a job that pays more than minimum wage. Most big box retail stores and fast food restaurants have permanent "help wanted" signs. Most kids think a fast food job is 'beneath' them.
So the issue is not the minimum wage deterring opportunity, it's the total lack of work ethic and/or sense of entitlement to a "good" job. Changing the minimum wage in this manner will simply enable employers to reduce the wages paid to 16-17 year olds.
Mainly I was interested in why people believed that cutting the minimum wage was a top priority of Rossi. Who is saying that? I certainly said nothing of the sort, since I have no specific data to back up such a claim. Fair enough. As I said on the blog though, having watched this all unfold since 2005, I was just too frustrated by the claims to let it slide.
The state budget is directly related to the housing market, and has been a subject of numerous posts since the very beginning of this site. The funny thing to me about comments like yours is that in my experience, there is just as much emotion and gray area in real estate as there is in politics.
You said that you are dumbfounded by the fact that Gregoire is claiming that she had a budget surplus, which is a true statement. Therefore, I inferred that you were dumbfounded that she made that statement given the fact that there is a projected budget deficit.
It is more than reasonable for her to take claim for what she has done, since Rossi was the one who started this line of attack by creating an add that stated (incorrectly) that Gregoire has a budget deficit (the correct add would have stated that there is a projected budget deficit).
I admit I haven't thought it all the way through. Gee, I hope there are not any unintended consequences!
Wait...your six children, when ages 16 and 17 (since that's all we're talking about here) used the excuse that they couldn't find a job because the 18-25 year old contingent had taken all the crappy fast food jobs?
I'm going to have to call you out on that. The jobs are out there either way, and they'd be just as crappy at $6 an hour as at $7.50. Starter wages won't encourage high schoolers to work, they will discourage it. They will, however encourage employers to hire a 17 year old over an 18 year old if each applies for the same job.
When I was 15 (1969), I picked radishes and green onions (Auburn valley). I was paid by the number of "twisties" I went through, not even by the hour. Later I was hired by the hour to drive the tractor and wash the veggies before shipping.
When I was sixteen I drove the flatbed truck full of veggies to the Safeway, Associated and other food distribution centers. That work would have gone to a low paid adult had they been forced to pay me the same. And low paid adults would have brought cultural "complexities" to the farm.
Some jobs are for kids. Adults need to get adult jobs.
And when I was 16, I went into a fast-food chain, filled out an application, and was hired almost immediately. 16 year olds have plenty of jobs to choose from. If they don't get a job, it's because they don't want it. I can't even believe we are arguing about this. I bet I could find 30 businesses within 2 miles of my residence who would hire the next 16/17 year old who walked through the door at the current minimum wage. Let's talk about it again if unemployment is ever above 7% and work is truly getting harder to find.
Well, to be blunt, I agree it is funny we are even arguing it. I am so against the entire concept that my blood pressure goes up every time someone even mentions it. For me to even argue nuances tends to violate my core values. It's like arguing if women should have 80% of the rights of men vs 70%. The whole argument is based on a false premise, that it should be anything less or more than 100%.
The government should not be involved in what price is mutually agreed upon between an employer and an employee, other than making indentured slavery illegal.