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Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:01 am
by Ibanez
for Federal Contract Workers. Just them. Not the people at Mickey D's or Office Depot. Oh..and he did it without the consent of the people.
While President Barack Obama’s attempts to increase the nation’s minimum wage through legislation have stalled in Congress, the White House announced plans on Tuesday to use the president’s executive powers to partially address the problem.

Just hours before the President is scheduled to deliver his fifth State of the Union address, the White House revealed that Obama will issue an executive order to increase the minimum wage for new federal contract workers
An administration official confirmed the action will only apply to new contracts, and the White House believes contractors will have time to factor the new wage requirements into future bids.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/20 ... ?hpt=hp_t1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


:ohno: :ohno: :ohno: :ohno: :ohno: :ohno: :ohno: :ohno: :ohno:

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:04 am
by ASUG8
Someone needs to take his pen away. :coffee:

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:06 am
by kalm
Honestly, the single biggest problem I have with raising the minimum wage is that often prevents me from giving raises to more deserved employees in key positions.

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:15 am
by ASUG8
I get giving someone a living wage, but when there's a mandate like this setting an economic floor for wages companies (including government contractors) will find ways to get more efficient through automation or simply asking more of fewer employees. It's hard to argue that this will positively impact unemployment rates in this sector, and may likely have an equivalent impact as the health care mandate to hours worked.

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:28 am
by CAA Flagship
How many Federal workers are making minimum wage? The ones I know are grossly overpaid. :coffee:

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:33 am
by bluehenbillk
CAA Flagship wrote:How many Federal workers are making minimum wage? The ones I know are grossly overpaid. :coffee:
You read my mind.

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:38 am
by Ibanez
kalm wrote:Honestly, the single biggest problem I have with raising the minimum wage is that often prevents me from giving raises to more deserved employees in key positions.
Did you read my post or just stating an overall Min. Wage position?

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:39 am
by kalm
Ibanez wrote:
kalm wrote:Honestly, the single biggest problem I have with raising the minimum wage is that often prevents me from giving raises to more deserved employees in key positions.
Did you read my post or just stating an overall Min. Wage position?
Overall mandated wages.

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:40 am
by Ibanez
CAA Flagship wrote:How many Federal workers are making minimum wage? The ones I know are grossly overpaid. :coffee:
Plenty. They are in the kitchens, warehouses, in the commissary's and exchanges on base. They are the spouses and children of active duty personnel. And locally, they are the janitors supplied by Goodwill Industries. They are mentally handicapped and parolees.

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:40 am
by Ibanez
kalm wrote:
Ibanez wrote: Did you read my post or just stating an overall Min. Wage position?
Overall mandated wages.
I agree with you. I just wanted to make sure you all saw that this was only for a select group of people.

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:44 am
by CAA Flagship
bluehenbillk wrote:
CAA Flagship wrote:How many Federal workers are making minimum wage? The ones I know are grossly overpaid. :coffee:
You read my mind.
And now I'm a mess. :lol:

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:51 am
by CID1990
My total family income went down when I came to work for the State Dept because before my wife could work. Now she can't. So my personal income went up but my family income went down.

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:53 am
by CAA Flagship
Ibanez wrote:
CAA Flagship wrote:How many Federal workers are making minimum wage? The ones I know are grossly overpaid. :coffee:
Plenty. They are in the kitchens, warehouses, in the commissary's and exchanges on base. They are the spouses and children of active duty personnel. And locally, they are the janitors supplied by Goodwill Industries. They are mentally handicapped and parolees.
So let's break this down. The Federal Government will pay these employees a little more money. These are not the type of people that will put it into savings. Probably 99% of this money will be put into circulation within 3 months. AND, they will return a portion of that money, back to their "employer", in the form of taxes.

Financially speaking, I don't see this as having a big impact. The big issues here is the WAY this is happening.
The drunkest person at the party is holding the keys to the car. :ohno:

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:53 am
by Ibanez
I don't recall who said it, maybe Cid, but i'm really starting to believe the following maxim true: minimum wage for minimum effort.

An increase in minimum wage, overall, can have serious and adverse effects. I know when I was working on a contract proposal the last time minimum wage was raised, many companies were cutting the benefits. You may have gotten that $.75 extra an hour, but you lost dental and vision benefits. And what happens to the mom and pop stores that just can't afford the extra money ON TOP of the now mandated Obamacare rules. Someone will likely lose their job. I know there are benefits, but for the sake of playing Devils Advocate, we have to be extremely careful. Remember, minimum wage isn't playing with the countries coffers, it's playing with other peoples money.

Having said that, I believe people should have a livable wage. However, there is an incredibly lazy and unmotivated class of individuals and families that refuse to pull themselves out of the trailer park, ghetto, etc... Have they resigned themselves to living in poverty and Section 8 housing? Are they simple products of their environment? I truly believe it's the person that ultimately has to decide. We all know people from poor backgrounds that have made something of themselves. These are the people that took school seriously, worked hard and became the first in their family to graduate college (high school, even!). Then there are those privileged kids we know, that threw it away and are high school dropouts or graduates that are 31 yrs old, busing tables and tending bar. Trying to eek out a living on wages and tips. When it comes down to it, education will set you free. Education can pull anyone out of the muck and give them the chance.


End rant...NOW.

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:56 am
by GannonFan
As with all minimum wage increases, this will have no long-term effect, positive or negative. Works as a PR move but does nothing else.

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 8:04 am
by ALPHAGRIZ1
Ibanez wrote:
kalm wrote:Honestly, the single biggest problem I have with raising the minimum wage is that often prevents me from giving raises to more deserved employees in key positions.
Did you read my post or just stating an overall Min. Wage position?
Does anyone read your posts?

:coffee:

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 8:10 am
by Ibanez
CAA Flagship wrote:
Ibanez wrote:
Plenty. They are in the kitchens, warehouses, in the commissary's and exchanges on base. They are the spouses and children of active duty personnel. And locally, they are the janitors supplied by Goodwill Industries. They are mentally handicapped and parolees.
So let's break this down. The Federal Government will pay these employees a little more money. These are not the type of people that will put it into savings. Probably 99% of this money will be put into circulation within 3 months. AND, they will return a portion of that money, back to their "employer", in the form of taxes.

Financially speaking, I don't see this as having a big impact. The big issues here is the WAY this is happening.
The drunkest person at the party is holding the keys to the car. :ohno:

I call these measures the "Feel Good" laws. What they do is they make you feel good about getting more money AND you feel better that the Gov't is doing something. It's a false alarm, really.

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 8:11 am
by Ibanez
ALPHAGRIZ1 wrote:
Ibanez wrote: Did you read my post or just stating an overall Min. Wage position?
Does anyone read your posts?

:coffee:
Just you, sweetheart. :kisswink:

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 8:12 am
by Ibanez
GannonFan wrote:As with all minimum wage increases, this will have no long-term effect, positive or negative. Works as a PR move but does nothing else.
Exactly. Obama, trying desperately to not enter lame duck status early, is doing a few PR moves to bolster his ratings. Weak.

Re: Obama raises minimum wage

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:13 am
by CID1990
Ibanez wrote:
GannonFan wrote:As with all minimum wage increases, this will have no long-term effect, positive or negative. Works as a PR move but does nothing else.
Obama, trying desperately to not enter lame duck status early
Way too late for that.

That's why he is talking about that "pen" already