Posted on 05/11/2014 12:03:54 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
In the past few days, three candidates who ran for the last Republican presidential nomination, including nominee Mitt Romney, have endorsed a higher minimum wage.
Yahoo!Finance asks Mitt Romney Calls for Higher Minimum Wage. Does it Matter?
Mitt Romney, the GOP presidential nominee in 2012, called on Republicans Friday to raise the minimum wage, going against the congressional leadership of his own party.
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"I think we ought to raise it, because frankly, our party is all about more jobs and better pay, and I think communicating that is important to us," Mr. Romney said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
In recent days, two other Republican presidential hopefuls from 2012 – former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania – have also called for a minimum wage hike. The trend may signal that in presidential politics, some Republicans see the issue as a way to soften the party’s image across a broad electorate.
On MSNBC, Romney linked his support for a higher minimum wage to the GOP’s effort to reach out to working Americans, including Hispanics. Romney lost the Hispanic vote to President Obama, 71 percent to 27 percent.
“I also believe that key for our party is to be able to convince the people who are in the working population, particularly the Hispanic community, that our party will help them get better jobs and better wages,” Romney said.
Matter in What Sense?
The senate has blocked debate on the issue. It needs 60 votes to advance but only has 52. The fact that Mitt Romney flip-flopped twice (from for, to against, to for) does not change Senate math.
Nonetheless, Romney's flip-flopping does raise this question once again: From Obamacare to war-mongering to minimum wage, what real differences were there between Obama and Romney?
About all I can come up with is war-mongering and abortion. On the war-mongering front I remain convinced that if Romney had won the US would have attacked Iran and we would be engaged in a hopeless trade war with China.
Non-Differences
There are probably a few other differences, but arguably not on anything the President can directly control. Here are some distinct non-differences.
The 2012 election offered a classic choice of Tweedle-Dum vs. Tweedle-Dee. I said so at the time and numerous Republicans attacked me for that view.
Perhaps Republicans can see the truth now, but I doubt it. Self-assessment by bureaucrats and political parties is about zero.
Hopefully the 2016 election provides a real choice. Don't count on it. However, you can count on bluster, huffing and puffing, finger-pointing, and name calling even if there are few real differences.
... as long as we go along with your take, naps. I'm with Jabba.
If a minimum wage is really a good idea, and really doesn’t hurt industry or cause the loss of jobs, then why be a piker and ask for only $10/hour. Why not $20, or $50 per hour, beginning immediately?
The impact on employment will be worse this time. Electronic sensors now exceed human capabilities. Machines are stronger, faster, and now smarter than many humans. Robots don't need sleep, food, break time, sick time, health or workman's comp insurance, and can speak English. Robots decline in price about 10% per year while humans get more expensive. Raising the cost of low end human labor will just speed up the process of automation.
You are probably right.
That is fine but Jabba’s way sure is screwing us.
See the irony on this thread?
Starts out with everyone trashing Pawlenty, Romney, Santorum. Then devolves into FReepers (!) advocating government suffocation of economic liberty.
These people think they’re conservatives? It’s hopeless.
I agree. How big a bureaucracy would you need to send these prebate checks to everybody?
And that’s in addition to the already-huge, crippling bureaucracies that the 23%-inclusive Fair Tax was intended to support until cuts could be made.
Plus the fair tax continues to take money from people and give it to those who paid nothing.
How can you ask that after as many times as I've posted the answer on your threads?
Restore the import tariffs. Lower income taxes by an equal amount. We might have to drop out of the WTO, but it's not working for us anyway.
Require military and government purchases to be made in America, with American parts.
“Restore the import tariffs. Lower income taxes by an equal amount. We might have to drop out of the WTO, but it’s not working for us anyway. “
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Increasingly I agree with you.
America needs jobs. A lot more jobs.
Bring back jobs.
So the math:
$2.85 an hour more for 30 (THIRTY) hours a week will add a gross $4446.00 to the gross payroll of any business for EVERY employee.
Add the Federal matching Medicare, Soc Sec taxes, Fed unemployment eaxes, state unemployment taxes & workmen’s comp and you could be up to $6-000 per employee.
Hoe many small businesses today have that kind of room in their profit for such a move?
Also- most of the people who would get such a raise already do not pay income taxes & they would continue to NOT do so with this ‘raise’. Most would also still qualify for food stamps, free meals at school for their kids. etc.
What ever taxes the business was paying on their profits would disappear.
Got 10 employees? take $60,000 out of your company profits & tell me what taxes you will be paying.
20 employees? do the math.
This is entirely a handout to every UNION contract in the USA. THEY & THEY alone will benefit.
And like electronics robots will get cheaper as they learn how to speed up production.
I believed Reagan when he convinced us of the merits of big busniness tax cuts and 'trickle down economics'...It made sense...Those of us at the bottom would likely have a better standard of living and all that extra cash flow would provide growth and new jobs...
Big business got their tax cuts with millions upon millions of new cash and just as had been planned, all that cash trickled down...
Plenty of it went to stock holders and the rest trickled down to new business and jobs in China, Europe and Mexico...
I think American business should make all the profits they can, and their business investments go to investments in America...
Personal income investments, that's a different story...They should go where their owner wishes...
Perhaps I am a little too pro-America to be a Republican or a Democrat...
Of course they could always try immigration restriction. That is probably as popular as raising the minimum wage and would have similar effect.
Indeed Republicans could strike a populist note by pointing out how the Democrats on immigration agree with The Wall Street Journal, Chamber of Commerce, and tech Billionaires like Zuckerberg. That the three million new entries per year that immigration ‘reform’ proposes would hardly help to raise wages.
Of course they won’t do that because the donors don’t like it. However, if they are willing to displease the Chamber of Commerce on the minimum wage (I doubt Zuckerberg cares much about that - he is only trying to lower the wages of middle-class programmers) why not also immigration restriction. That would truly benefit, and win the votes of, the people they are claiming to help with the minimum wage rise.
I agree. I am with you on that comment!
Bump.
Wrong, naps. YOUR way has screwed us six ways to Sunday and threatens to do so again in 2016.
MEGA-BUMP
And ... Perhaps I am a little too pro-America to be a Republican or a Democrat...
That is a quandary I believe you share with many millions of decent, hard-working, honest Americans. I am pro treating government as a force that is a dangerous servant. Hack it back and trim it out of the way in business, education, energy and food production, how people deal with declared homosexuals, charity, health care, commerce -- and watch the economy (not to mention innovation and morality) blossom. I am pro American enough to want that, and if it means abandoning the Republican leftist, I'm already there.
RE: Restore the import tariffs. Lower income taxes by an equal amount. We might have to drop out of the WTO, but it’s not working for us anyway.
Require military and government purchases to be made in America, with American parts.
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I’ll agree with most of what you said with the exception of import tariffs.
The history of that has not been kind to the economy of the USA. The most recent disaster being the tariffs on steel imports under George W. Bush.
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