Fetterman on backing $15 minimum wage: 'That's a hill I would die on'

[JacksinPA]

Fetterman on backing $15 minimum wage: ‘That’s a hill I would die on’

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who is running for the Senate, said Wednesday that supporting a $15 per hour federal minimum wage is “a hill I would die on.”Fetterman, who is seeking retiring…

thehill.com

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who is running for the Senate, said Wednesday that supporting a $15 per hour federal minimum wage is “a hill I would die on.”

Fetterman, who is seeking retiring Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R-Pa.) seat, told Hill.TV’s “Rising” that he would promote a higher minimum wage as a senator, calling it “a fundamental issue of our time.”

“That’s a hill I would die on,” he said. “It's a lie that has been in our society for generations that you can do anything closely resembling getting by on the minimum wage. It is reprehensible.”
===========================================================
I'm very impressed with my future Senator. But converting his future Senate to buy in to this remains to be seen.

I thought there was a systematic way to adjust the minimum wage. I worked for $1.25/hour in 1961. But a dollar then was worth a lot more than today.

 

[Roadvirus]

Raising the FMW right now is a bad idea.

And the FMW should be canned anyway. Leave MW to states.

 

[Rogue Valley]

Fetterman on backing $15 minimum wage: ‘That’s a hill I would die on’

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who is running for the Senate, said Wednesday that supporting a $15 per hour federal minimum wage is “a hill I would die on.”Fetterman, who is seeking retiring…

thehill.com

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who is running for the Senate, said Wednesday that supporting a $15 per hour federal minimum wage is “a hill I would die on.”

Fetterman, who is seeking retiring Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R-Pa.) seat, told Hill.TV’s “Rising” that he would promote a higher minimum wage as a senator, calling it “a fundamental issue of our time.”

“That’s a hill I would die on,” he said. “It's a lie that has been in our society for generations that you can do anything closely resembling getting by on the minimum wage. It is reprehensible.”

Good the MW of today is not a livable wage.

 

[mrjurrs]

Raising the FMW right now is a bad idea.

And the FMW should be canned anyway. Leave MW to states.

You mean like education? What could go wrong?

Brown v. Board of Education: Summary, Ruling & Impact

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a landmark 1954 Supreme Court case in which the justices ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional.

www.history.com

 

[Roadvirus]

Good the MW of today is not a livable wage.

And jacking up the MW while small businesses are drowning is the dumbest idea in the world (which is why Democrats love it)

 

[Rogue Valley]

And jacking up the MW while small businesses are drowning is the dumbest idea in the world (which is why Democrats love it)

Republicans opposing Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus bill is the dumbest idea in the world.

Republicans are voting against money for vaccines, tests, schools, small businesses, and the unemployed.

 

[post]

Raising the FMW right now is a bad idea.

And the FMW should be canned anyway. Leave MW to states.

Federal legislation is not mandating an immediate increase to $15 per hour. Proposals include steps with a final increase to $15, four years from now, in 2025.

Federal legislation has intervened since 1938, but all too infrequently. What alternative do you propose in "slave wage" states such as Georgia and Wyoming where the legislatures do not represent the interests of most voters?

I've rarely noticed an executive signing away his own authority, have you?

Georgia Governor Basically Kills Medicaid Expansion
www.governing.com › news › headlines › georgia-gov...
April 29, 2014 "Gov. Nathan Deal signs legislation to .. takes the power to expand Medicaid away from the governor and gives it to the General Assembly. The move ensures that even if a Democrat were elected governor, he or she couldn't expand Medicaid.."

2-1/2 years ago :

Amazon raises minimum wage to $15 -- plus 8 other ...
www.marketwatch.com
Oct 2, 2018 — "follows the lead of companies like Target, Costco and The Gap ... its minimum wage to $15 an hour for all U.S. employees, which includes its ..."
https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-costco-walmart-target-compare-minimum-wage-2019-4

Walmart to Raise Wages to Average of More Than $15 Per Hour
www.thestreet.com
2 days ago — ... an average of more than $15 per hour, joining other companies and the ... The retailing giant, which currently pays its employees an average of $14 an hour, ... found that Costco Wholesale (COST) - ...

The current situation.:

This state has the lowest minimum wage in America

Each state has interpreted what a minimum wage is differently, so which one has the lowest?

www.foxbusiness.com

"The state currently with the lowest minimum wage requirements as stated in data from the DOL is Georgia. Paying just $5.15 per hour, Georgia has a minimum wage of more than $2.00 below the federal mark of $7.25.

..Wyoming with a minimum hourly pay rate of $5.17..."

If you have experience managing wait staff, especially at the "Outback, Olive Garden" to the fine dining level, you would be aware
one of the valid complaints of black servers is that management and hosts disproportionately seat black customers with black servers,
cutting appreciably into the quantity of their tips.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/03/19/a-tough-place-for-a-power-lunch/c40f676a-8907-49e7-bdde-a3a3687f12ca/

A Tough Place for a Power Lunch

March 19, 2001

"... Prince George's is widely viewed, .. as a gastronomic wasteland of chain restaurants and takeout counters.
..
....Curry..attributes the shortage, in part, to race. How else, he asks, do you explain why restaurateurs wouldn't want to serve a population so loaded with professionals?..."

Race Differences in Tipping: Questions and Answers for the Restaurant Industry...
ecommons.cornell.edu › handle

Study shows blacks tip less -- but they may have good reason ...
www.latimes.com › archives › la-xpm-2006-mar-26-tr-...
Mar 26, 2006 ...

Georgia Minimum Wage | 2023

Small business employers and their employees should be aware of the minimum wage requirements in Georgia.

squareup.com

"Since the Georgia ... The federal hourly minimum wage exemptions include:

• Tipped employees, for whom the minimum wage is $2.13 per hour (employers may utilize a maximum tip credit of $5.12 per hour)
• Employees under the age of 20, who may be paid a training wage of $4.25 per hour during the first 90 days of employment.."
• 
  
• The federal minimum wage of tipped employees was not raised in the 2007 legislation, It has been $2.13 since at least 1992, twenty-nine years ago. In 2000, the state of NY raised the tipped minimum wage to $3.00.
• Recent changes in New York:
• https://www.touchbistro.com/blog/what-s-happening-with-restaurant-minimum-wage-in-nyc/
  1. In NYC, tipped workers are paid a $10 wage by the employer and must make up the remaining $5 with their earned tips to reach the $15 minimum. If an employee falls short, the employer must make up the difference.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Fetterman on backing $15 minimum wage: ‘That’s a hill I would die on’

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who is running for the Senate, said Wednesday that supporting a $15 per hour federal minimum wage is “a hill I would die on.”Fetterman, who is seeking retiring…

thehill.com

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who is running for the Senate, said Wednesday that supporting a $15 per hour federal minimum wage is “a hill I would die on.”

Fetterman, who is seeking retiring Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R-Pa.) seat, told Hill.TV’s “Rising” that he would promote a higher minimum wage as a senator, calling it “a fundamental issue of our time.”

“That’s a hill I would die on,” he said. “It's a lie that has been in our society for generations that you can do anything closely resembling getting by on the minimum wage. It is reprehensible.”
===========================================================
I'm very impressed with my future Senator. But converting his future Senate to buy in to this remains to be seen.

I thought there was a systematic way to adjust the minimum wage. I worked for $1.25/hour in 1961. But a dollar then was worth a lot more than today.

$1.25 in (January) 1961, adjusted for CPI inflation, would be $10.97 today.

CPI Inflation Calculator

www.bls.gov

 

[post]

$1.25 in (January) 1961, adjusted for CPI inflation, would be $10.97 today.

CPI Inflation Calculator

www.bls.gov

Again, proposals are to raise wage in steps to $15, four years from now.

CPI is not a reliable measure, it is meant for the government's messaging and to contain Social Security COLA increases.
I can recall my dad's purchase of a new VW beetle in October, 1959. He paid $1,600.
He bought another VW beetle in early 1970, for $1,900. Enhancements in 1970, vs. in 1959. A fuel guage, a radio, high back
bucket seats, seat belts front and rear, shoulder harness in front. A month after the 1959 purchase, the rear of the VW was
struck. Unlike the collision absorbing, safety bumpers on the 1970 model, the flimsy bumper supports in 1959 buckled, pinning
the rear engine compartment lid shut until repairs could be made.

In December 1967, dad purchased a new Chevy Biscayne, full sized 4 door sedan for $2,700, 307 C.I. V8, "3 on the tree" manual
shifter, six sets of seat belts, two shoulder harnesses, and all of the 1970 VW enhancements vs. the 1960 VW. 1960 was the first year
of the larger, beetle rear window.

One example of many, Median home purchase price.:

Historical US Home Prices: Monthly Median from 1953-2024

See United States historical monthly median single family home prices from 1953-2024. Non-seasonally adjusted values, with and without inflation.

dqydj.com

Month of Observation

Median Home Price (NSA)

Inflation Adjusted Home Price

2/1/61

$19,298.20

$166,946.91

Pre-pandemic price, it is closer to $300,000, now! :

3/1/20

$276,391.44

$276,050.92

 

[ttwtt78640]

Again, proposals are to raise wage in steps to $15, four years from now.

CPI is not a reliable measure, it is meant for the government's messaging and to contain Social Security COLA increases.
I can recall my dad's purchase of a new VW beetle in October, 1959. He paid $1,600.
He bought another VW beetle in early 1970, for $1,900. Enhancements in 1970, vs. in 1959. A fuel guage, a radio, high back
bucket seats, seat belts front and rear, shoulder harness in front. A month after the 1959 purchase, the rear of the VW was
struck. Unlike the collision absorbing, safety bumpers on the 1970 model, the flimsy bumper supports in 1959 buckled, pinning
the rear engine compartment lid shut until repairs could be made.

In December 1967, dad purchased a new Chevy Biscayne, full sized 4 door sedan for $2,700, 307 C.I. V8, "3 on the tree" manual
shifter, six sets of seat belts, two shoulder harnesses, and all of the 1970 VW enhancements vs. the 1960 VW. 1960 was the first year
of the larger, beetle rear window.

One example of many, Median home purchase price.:

Historical US Home Prices: Monthly Median from 1953-2024

See United States historical monthly median single family home prices from 1953-2024. Non-seasonally adjusted values, with and without inflation.

dqydj.com

Month of Observation

Median Home Price (NSA)

Inflation Adjusted Home Price

2/1/61

$19,298.20

$166,946.91

Pre-pandemic price, it is closer to $300,000, now! :

3/1/20

$276,391.44

$276,050.92

Yep, housing costs are way up compared to the 1950s and 1960s, as is the number of sq. ft. of living space per person in those homes.

Have American Homes Changed Much Over the Years? Take a Look. |...

Of course, the average American home today is markedly different than the average home in the 1950s and '60s, but you may be surprised to learn just how different they are -- in ways you might not have expected.

compasscaliforniablog.com

 

[Mr Person]

And jacking up the MW while small businesses are drowning is the dumbest idea in the world (which is why Democrats love it)

It might conceivably help someone. We can't have that. Much better to do stuff like blow up the deficits to over a trillion a year in the "best economy ever" with another round of tax cuts for the upper crust.




Some of us tire of always hearing doom & gloom predictions about what Democrats' policies will do - predictions that never materialize - while also watching the people who make those predictions continually vote for politicians who repeatedly **** everything up for everyone and only ever seek to help the richest.

But more than being tired of it, it's a reason to simply stop listening.

Every single time something is proposed that might help everyone it's "nope, nope we can't do that. Jobs. Gonna kill jobs." Want to tell polluters not to poison the water? Can't do it. Jobs. To not poison the air? Nope, jobs. Gotta have jobs. Want to require businesses and those businesses customers to shoulder the cost of labor, rather than having the tax payer make up for absurdly low wages with safety net programs? Lemme guess. Jobs again.






Can't do anything. Because jobs. Always jobs.

 

[ttwtt78640]

It might conceivably help someone. We can't have that. Much better to do stuff like blow up the deficits to over a trillion a year in the "best economy ever" with another round of tax cuts for the upper crust.




Some of us tire of always hearing doom & gloom predictions about what Democrats' policies will do - predictions that never materialize - while also watching the people who make those predictions continually vote for politicians who repeatedly **** everything up for everyone and only ever seek to help the richest.

But more than being tired of it, it's a reason to simply stop listening.

Every single time something is proposed that might help everyone it's "nope, nope we can't do that. Jobs. Gonna kill jobs." Want to tell polluters not to poison the water? Can't do it. Jobs. To not poison the air? Nope, jobs. Gotta have jobs. Want to require businesses and those businesses customers to shoulder the cost of labor, rather than having the tax payer make up for absurdly low wages with safety net programs? Lemme guess. Jobs again.






Can't do anything. Because jobs. Always jobs.

Labor costs represent a smaller percentage of cost of sales for larger employers than for smaller employers. Be careful what you wish for.

 

[poweRob]

Robert Reich busting the myths...

 

[ttwtt78640]

Robert Reich busting the myths...

Hmm... $800M (annually?) split among 225K workers is about $3,137/year each which is about the FTE of $1.53/hour raise.

 

[Gaius46]

Robert Reich busting the myths...

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2019 1.6 million people (1.9 of the workforce) earned the miminum wage or less and half of those were 25 or younger. While i suppose it’s possible that almost of third of adult minimum wage workers live in W Va I rathwe doubt it.

Far more egregious though was Prya Jalapal the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who stated on CNN today that increasing the minimum would affect 30,000,000 Americans. I love to know where she learned to count.

https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/minimum-wage/2019/pdf/home.pdf

 

[Kushinator]

Raising the FMW right now is a bad idea.

Great argument!

And the FMW should be canned anyway. Leave MW to states.

The problem is some states won't raise their MW. As the greatest economy in the history of the world, we don't want to further incentivize low-skilled / low-cost labor. If you disagree, i am more than willing to explain why.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Great argument!



The problem is some states won't raise their MW. As the greatest economy in the history of the world, we don't want to further incentivize low-skilled / low-cost labor. If you disagree, i am more than willing to explain why.

The problem is that a MW simply declares that any labor not profitable at $X/hour is illegal. The higher that $X amount becomes, the harder it is to get an entry level job and the longer it takes an employer to recover any on the job training expenses incurred.

 

[Kushinator]

$1.25 in (January) 1961, adjusted for CPI inflation, would be $10.97 today.

CPI Inflation Calculator

www.bls.gov

You do know that the $15 MW proposal is based on incremental increase, and then will be tied to the increase in average hourly wages? I believe it hits $15 in 2025.

 

[VanceMack]

Yet another dumbass that 1-doesnt understand business, 2-has never run a business, and 3-is actually stupid enough to believe that the minimum wage is somehow supposed to equate to a wage people can live on.

 

[ttwtt78640]

You do know that the $15 MW proposal is based on incremental increase, and then will be tied to the increase in average hourly wages? I believe it hits $15 in 2025.

The $15/hour MW amount is not based on CPI inflation, it is simply a random number chosen for (current?) political appeal. I am all for (annually) indexing the federal MW to CPI inflation, as is now done for Social Security (SS) retirement benefits, but that link does not exist in the $15/hour MW bill.

Why aren’t SS retirement benefits also being “tied to the increase in average hourly wages”? Changing the relationship between the SS benefits and the FTE of the federal MW is going to hurt those elderly and/or disabled folks much more than it will help those still in the workforce.

 

[Kushinator]

doesnt understand business

That would be you.

has never run a business

A person doesn't have to have run a business in order to understand the economics behind a wage floor.

is actually stupid enough to believe that the minimum wage is somehow supposed to equate to a wage people can live on.

You are attacking a strawman because you don't know the difference in the terminology. A minimum wage ≠ living wage. You may now proceed to test the post filter system.

 

[VanceMack]

That would be you.



A person doesn't have to have run a business in order to understand the economics behind a wage floor.



You are attacking a strawman because you don't know the difference in the terminology. A minimum wage ≠ living wage. You may now proceed to test the post filter system.

Yet another dumbass that 1-doesnt understand business, 2-has never run a business, and 3-is actually stupid enough to believe that the minimum wage is somehow supposed to equate to a wage people can live on.

 

[Kushinator]

The $15/hour MW amount is not based on CPI inflation

Nobody claimed it was.

I am all for (annually) indexing the federal MW to CPI inflation (as is now done for Social Security (SS) retirement benefits, but that link does not exist in the $15/hour MW bill.

I believe it is better to tie it to wages, as the minimum wage will be more reflective of the overall labor market.

Why aren’t SS retirement benefits also being “tied to the increase in average hourly wages”?

Because that would be idiotic. You can't get a higher payout because you become more retired.

Changing the relationship between the SS benefits and the FTE of the federal MW is going to hurt those elderly and/or disabled folks much more than it will help those still in the workforce.

I'm disappointed in your weak strawman... you are better than this.

 

[Kushinator]

Yet another dumbass that 1-doesnt understand business, 2-has never run a business, and 3-is actually stupid enough to believe that the minimum wage is somehow supposed to equate to a wage people can live on.

Repeating your ignorance does not 1.) address the topic, 2.) address the person you've quoted, 3.) provide valuable information regarding the subject. It's just a random internet guy who has a history of being financially and economically illiterate posting his opinion.

Your opinion doesn't matter, and you are clearly incapable of providing anything of value to this thread.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Nobody claimed it was.



I believe it is better to tie it to wages, as the minimum wage will be more reflective of the overall labor market.



Because that would be idiotic. You can't get a higher payout because you become more retired.



I'm disappointed in your weak strawman... you are better than this.

SS retirement benefits are based on past wages earned. Changing the method for establishing current wages without regard to its impact on current pension benefits is foolish. One does not become “more retired” if mandated increased labor costs drive up the prices of most US goods/services, but they become less able to afford to live with those price increases.