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‘McBudget’ an insult to those living in poverty
Miami Herald ^ | July 27, 2013 | Leonard Pitts, Jr.

Posted on 07/28/2013 7:52:27 PM PDT by NotYourAverageDhimmi

A few words about the McBudget.

Perhaps you’ve heard of it. As fast food workers around the country protest for higher wages, we learn that McDonald’s offers advice to help them live on the wages they make which, while not technically bupkes, do amount to a paycheck you can pretty much have the driver cash for you on the bus ride home. In December, for example, Bloomberg profiled a Chicago man who, after 20 years with the burger giant, earns $8.25 an hour — and doesn’t get 40 hours a week. This, as McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson pulled down, according to the Wall Street Journal, a compensation package worth $13.8 million last year.

Anyway, Mickey D’s isn’t blind to the difficulties of french fry makers and drive-through order takers getting by on not quite bupkes. It partnered with Visa on a showing how to live reasonably well on next to nothing.

The impossibility of doing so has been attested to by everyone from writer Barbara Ehrenreich in her book Nickel and Dimed to noted obstetrician Cliff Huxtable, in that episode of The Cosby Show where he uses Monopoly money to teach young Theo the value of a good income. It has also been attested to by the people trying to do it. But all that notwithstanding, the McBudget insists it can be done.

It envisions monthly take-home pay of $2,060 from working two (!) jobs. Out of that, you pay $600 for rent, $150 for a car note, $100 for insurance (home and auto), $100 for cable and phone, $90 for the electric bill, $20 for health insurance, etc. You save $100 a month and have $750 to play with — if, by “play,” you mean...

(Excerpt) Read more at miamiherald.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: budget; livingwage; poverty
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1 posted on 07/28/2013 7:52:27 PM PDT by NotYourAverageDhimmi
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi
a Chicago man who, after 20 years with the burger giant, earns $8.25 an hour

Idiot.

The job is not intended to last 20 years. You do not buy a house, raise a family, and send the kids to college on this job. It's temporary, while you pick up basic work skills, like showing up on time. Then you move on and get something that pays more than $8.25 an hour.

2 posted on 07/28/2013 7:54:43 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (21st century. I'm not a fan.)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

Yo Leonard - Dr. Cliff Huxtable wasn’t real.


3 posted on 07/28/2013 7:56:03 PM PDT by jtal (Runnin' a World in Need with White Folks' Greed - since 1492)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

Welcome to Obama’s Amerika.


4 posted on 07/28/2013 7:56:11 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Inside every liberal and WOD defender is a totalitarian screaming to get out.)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

What would LP Jr. do if he couldn’t find something to whine about.


5 posted on 07/28/2013 7:56:15 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Let's make it our turn in 2014. Vote early and VOTE OFTEN.)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

Why would someone still be working at McD’s for 20 years? If you haven’t moved up to manager, there’s no reason to stay. Use the job experience on your résumé, show your work ethic, and move on.


6 posted on 07/28/2013 7:56:53 PM PDT by Tanniker Smith (Rome didn't fall in a day, either.)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

>>In December, for example, Bloomberg profiled a Chicago man who, after 20 years with the burger giant, earns $8.25 an hour — and doesn’t get 40 hours a week.<<

Lesson: sit on your duff, don’t learn a g-d thing, don’t go to school, don’t bother to even watch Jeopardy (or even Wheel). Repeat for 20 years. Then complain that the Man is holding you down.


7 posted on 07/28/2013 7:56:58 PM PDT by freedumb2003 ("Task" is a noun. "Ask" is a verb. "Disconnect" is a noun. "Data" is a plural-not collective-noun.)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

Welfare and the minimum wage encourages people to live at a subsistence level, which we have learned destroys incentive and upward class mobility. It does for the poor what confiscatory taxation does for the wealthy, pushing both ends of the economic spectrum toward the middle, where the socialist utopia dwells.


8 posted on 07/28/2013 7:59:12 PM PDT by Spok
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

Cospicuously absent is any mention of earned income credits and EBT cards and other forms of commonly available state and federal assistance.


9 posted on 07/28/2013 7:59:28 PM PDT by FoxInSocks ("Hope is not a course of action." -- M. O'Neal, USMC)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi
a Chicago man who, after 20 years with the burger giant, earns $8.25 an hour

Worth every penny


10 posted on 07/28/2013 8:00:03 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (o : Tagline Test ; -)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

And if McDonalds didn’t do this, he’d be griping that they just don’t care about their exploited workers. You can’t win with the perpetually aggrieved.


11 posted on 07/28/2013 8:00:18 PM PDT by Bob
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

"Hey, I started out mopping the floor just like you guys. But now... now I'm washing lettuce. Soon I'll be on fries; then the grill. In a year or two, I'll make assistant manager, and that's when the big bucks start rolling in."
12 posted on 07/28/2013 8:01:28 PM PDT by Rebelbase (Tagline: (optional, printed after your name on post):)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

Fast Food worker pay is their new target.

They want to sell the idea that employers are responsible for supporting their workers, like its child support.


13 posted on 07/28/2013 8:02:25 PM PDT by sickoflibs (To GOP : Any path to US Citizenship IS putting them ahead in line. Stop lying about your position.)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi
Not long ago ‘rats like B0 ridiculed Bush for creating “McJobs.”

Now all B0 can do is browbeat McD to hire even more part-time workers and to pay them a “Fair” or “livable” wage.

14 posted on 07/28/2013 8:07:11 PM PDT by Zuse
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To: ClearCase_guy

EXACTLY....McD jobs are intended for teenagers working part time....or were, until the Democrats decided they were not. Sucks to be an idiot.


15 posted on 07/28/2013 8:08:26 PM PDT by goodnesswins (R.I.P. Doherty, Smith, Stevens, Woods.)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

Dude from Chicago is a chump. He needs to get on the dole. Right, Lenny ?


16 posted on 07/28/2013 8:10:02 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Resist We Much)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

If you want more from others, do more for others. Simple.


17 posted on 07/28/2013 8:14:53 PM PDT by ctdonath2 (Making good people helpless doesn't make bad people harmless.)
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To: ClearCase_guy
I whole heartedly agree this guy was to darn lazy to work a real job or just to stupid to move on !
18 posted on 07/28/2013 8:19:15 PM PDT by ATOMIC_PUNK (I'm not afraid to say what i mean nor should you be afraid of what you know to be true !)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

I don’t know anyone who has a 90 dollar electric bill these days.


19 posted on 07/28/2013 8:22:38 PM PDT by Shadowstrike (Be polite, Be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet.)
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To: Shadowstrike
I don’t know anyone who has a 90 dollar electric bill these days.

Mine was 54.00 last month. But I live low budget.

20 posted on 07/28/2013 8:30:29 PM PDT by WhirlwindAttack (There is so much I could say. But I'm smart enough not to.)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

When I was young, McJobs were for McKids to make a few bucks and get some work experience. If you wanted extra money, you covered additional shifts.

Individual Operators and their Managers made a “living wage” as their Jobs were their Careers.

McDonalds Business Model hasn’t changed, the influx of unskilled “immigrants” has taken those low wage entry level Jobs and attached an expectation of compensation that exceeds the skill level required.


21 posted on 07/28/2013 8:30:33 PM PDT by Kickass Conservative (They can follow the Communist, I'll follow the Constitution...)
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To: Shadowstrike
I don’t know anyone who has a 90 dollar electric bill these days.

I got mine under 50 dollars a month by keeping all lights but the one next to me off, unplugging all electrical devices not being used, and keeping the thermostat at 78 during the summer and 66 during the winter. Also, did the basic insulation and weather stripping of windows and doors tricks.

It can be done.

22 posted on 07/28/2013 8:39:17 PM PDT by Ophiucus
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To: Rebelbase

23 posted on 07/28/2013 8:47:36 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: Zuse

What people don’t seem to understand is that Minimum wage is a fare wage for the type of work done at a fast food restaurant. It is simply not the type of work that requires high pay to find willing employees.

I heard a local agitator o n the radio today going off on WalMart for paying $8 an hour, yet they never seem to notice that a new WalMart gets dozens of applications for each opening.


24 posted on 07/28/2013 8:49:07 PM PDT by Jim from C-Town (The government is rarely benevolent, often malevolent and never benign!)
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To: jtal

The same people who criticized “Leave it to Beaver” for being unrealistic always praise “The Bill Cosby Show ( Huxtables)” for being an inspiration.

BTW, life was very similar to the way it was portrayed in Leave it to Beaver when I grew up. I could identify with many of the characters. But I didn’t know any Black families where the father was a doctor, mother a lawyer and the oldest kid went to Princeton.


25 posted on 07/28/2013 8:49:45 PM PDT by Cowboy Bob (Democrats: Robbing Peter to buy Paul's vote.)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

Hey, Leonard, those people are free to leave and get a higher paying job. They are free to open their own restaurant and pay themselve high wages too.


26 posted on 07/28/2013 8:51:59 PM PDT by GeronL
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To: ClearCase_guy

I guess $8.25 is a “living wage”...after all, he’s still alive.


27 posted on 07/28/2013 8:52:10 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi
The most vexing thing about that budget is its condescension.

The most vexing thing about the article is its condescension!

Wages are the price of labor. Entry level positions for unskilled workers only justify low wages. Those low wages are part of the reason why businesses such as McDonald's can be profitable while selling a modest product. If there was no profit, there would be no product, jobs, or business.

The author, Mr. Pitts, chooses to ignore that reality in his article. But in his life Mr. Pitts apparently made choices to ensure that he did not permanently work at McDonald's-style entry level positions. Despite his real-life behavior, Mr. Pitts believes that everyone deserves endless bundles of money regardless of effort or achievement.

So I have a solution for Mr. Pitts. I will select an entry level employee who is so worthless he should be fired. And then Mr. will give this employee all of his money for the rest of his life.

Should Mr. Pitts not do this, then his article and his life are an insult. Because ultimately, this is exactly the solution his is advocating for us, but never him.

28 posted on 07/28/2013 8:54:29 PM PDT by DakotaGator (Weep for the lost Republic! And keep your powder dry!!)
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To: FlingWingFlyer

lpitts@miamiherald.com

The comments at the site are amazing.


29 posted on 07/28/2013 8:56:00 PM PDT by GeronL
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To: freedumb2003
Two simple questions this guy never came up with an answer to:

He's going very slowly down a dead-end path but he can't figure out what's wrong.

30 posted on 07/28/2013 8:59:23 PM PDT by eggman (End the Obama occupation of the White House!)
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To: Cowboy Bob

The Left is constantly running down all aspects of the American society of the 1950’s, e.g. “Leave it to Beaver”. IMO it is NO coincidence that during the 1950’s, the USA had domestic Communists on the run from the law!;)


31 posted on 07/28/2013 9:03:32 PM PDT by Frank_2001
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

If you make stupid choices you win stupid prizes.


32 posted on 07/28/2013 9:04:21 PM PDT by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: Tanniker Smith
Why would someone still be working at McD’s for 20 years?

Possibly because that is all he can do. And he might not do even that very well. If you force them to raise his wages then they probably will find they can do without him.

33 posted on 07/28/2013 9:07:16 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Revenge is a dish best served with pinto beans and muffins)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

Instead of the dollar menu he wants the ten dollar menu.


34 posted on 07/28/2013 9:09:11 PM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin (If global warming exists I hope it is strong enough to reverse the Big Government snowball)
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To: Shadowstrike

“I don’t know anyone who has a 90 dollar electric bill these days.”

Ours was $43 last month and we don’t try to conservr energy.

Ileave the lights on and there is at leat 2 TVs on all times if not 3 and 2 computers that are never turned off.


35 posted on 07/28/2013 9:11:41 PM PDT by dalereed
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To: dalereed

Where do you live and what is the size of your house?


36 posted on 07/28/2013 9:29:21 PM PDT by Post Toasties (Leftists give insanity a bad name. 0bama: Eight years of failure and fingerpointing.)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

The new McRobot won’t spit in your food because your a cracka


37 posted on 07/28/2013 9:48:01 PM PDT by GeronL
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi
It envisions monthly take-home pay of $2,060 from working two (!) jobs. Out of that, you pay $600 for rent, $150 for a car note, $100 for insurance (home and auto), $100 for cable and phone, $90 for the electric bill, $20 for health insurance, etc. You save $100 a month and have $750 to play with — if, by “play,” you mean...

Wait.. This simple assclown Pitts thinks flipping burgers at a burger joint is a career? For a grownup?

/facepalm

38 posted on 07/28/2013 9:58:47 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: GeronL

lol


39 posted on 07/28/2013 9:59:18 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: Lancey Howard

I want to start a high-tech burger place “Burger Trek” that has one worker (instead of 5-8 at a time) and all the real work is done by robots. If its a success that one worker will definitely be worth that “living wage”.

heh


40 posted on 07/28/2013 10:01:08 PM PDT by GeronL
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To: ClearCase_guy

In twenty years he should have made it to manager.


41 posted on 07/28/2013 10:24:50 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: Secret Agent Man

The dude likely had no further ambition.


42 posted on 07/28/2013 10:27:14 PM PDT by GeronL
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To: Secret Agent Man

A totally related thread.

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3048436/posts


43 posted on 07/28/2013 10:28:20 PM PDT by GeronL
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi
"If there’s one thing poor people do not need, it is lessons in how to be poor. To the contrary, you will never meet anyone who can wring more value from a dollar."

Actually Mr Pitts many of today's poor do need lessons on how NOT to be poor.

Graduate from high school knowing how to read,write and comprehend basic math.

Get a job.

Show up for that job every day on time.

Do your job to the best of your ability.

Do not have children out of wedlock.

Do not commit crimes.

Do not drink to excess (at least not on school nights).

Do not abuse drugs.

Do not spend your hard earned minimum wage or welfare money on frivolous and unecessary things.

Learn to be self sufficient.

Get a better job.

Keep in mind that 9 times out of ten whatever happens in your life is your fault.

44 posted on 07/29/2013 12:01:53 AM PDT by Eagles6 (Valley Forge Redux)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi
...In December, for example, Bloomberg profiled a Chicago man who, after 20 years with the burger giant, earns $8.25 an hour — and doesn’t get 40 hours a week. This, as McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson pulled down, according to the Wall Street Journal, a compensation package worth $13.8 million last year.

Then the man is stupid to stay there.

45 posted on 07/29/2013 2:41:10 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
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To: ClearCase_guy
When newly elected Congressman Adam Clayton Powell(D.Harlem NY) was asked what his first priority was he replied “To teach the American Negro the meaning of punctuality’’.
46 posted on 07/29/2013 3:03:40 AM PDT by jmacusa (Political correctness is cultural Marxism. I'm not a Marxist.)
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To: Shadowstrike
I don’t know anyone who has a 90 dollar electric bill these days.

My budget bill was $30 last month, even with the air conditioners running. Small house, and I'm not there much.
47 posted on 07/29/2013 4:43:25 AM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia (Truth/Lies; Liberty/Tyranny--WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE??)
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To: Eagles6

Neal Boortz simplified this even more....

1. Graduate high school.
2. Don’t have kids before you get married.
3. Don’t do drugs.

Doing these three things won’t guarantee success, but they’ll pretty much ensure that you won’t fail.


48 posted on 07/29/2013 4:49:17 AM PDT by wbill
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To: Secret Agent Man

Some people have 20 years of experience—and some people have a year of experience twenty times.


49 posted on 07/29/2013 5:28:49 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

Wow!!! McDonald’s must have really super good benefits to have $20 per month health insurance.


50 posted on 07/29/2013 6:39:27 AM PDT by fulltlt
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