Politics Thread

[Strange Brew]

The significant decrease in activity of this thread, at least seems to comport with his governing style being boring. And I think that is a change for the better.

Or some of us put people on ignore...

[bobbiemcgee]

Oh well, at least we know Democrats can’t use the budget reconciliation again this year.

Actually, they get two this calendar year:

"Lucky for Democrats, Congress did not enact a budget resolution for the current 2021 fiscal year. That means two reconciliation bills can be enacted this calendar year (one for this fiscal year and one for the next)."

[boozehound]

As for activity of thread, think is just the ebb and flow on here. People get heated and some say wild stuff and posting stops only to start back up a week or two later. Yes his characteristic style is boring which is a good thing vs the last four years. But his style on creating policy is a bit concerning at this point. Go alone President and party is not exactly a good form of government IMO. Oh well, at least we know Democrats can’t use the budget reconciliation again this year.

In all honesty, then you should consider writing your congressmen and urging them to work together for the good of the American people. They seem to have made a political calculus that doing so is to their detriment.

I'm really not up in arms about anything that Biden is doing yet, other than the fact that I don't think a $15 minimum wage should be passed as part of reconciliation. I'm not sure I'm completely against a $15 minimum wage - however the concept of a minimum wage at the Federal level is not something I'm crazy about due to the extreme discrepancy in cost of living across different states and cities. If you are in San Francisco $15 is nothing, but if you are in rural Louisiana you can live a pretty decent life on that. I also think it has the potential to impact small businesses and should not be taken lightly and shoved through as part of a reconciliation package.

[94GRAD]

In all honesty, then you should consider writing your congressmen and urging them to work together for the good of the American people. They seem to have made a political calculus that doing so is to their detriment.

I'm really not up in arms about anything that Biden is doing yet, other than the fact that I don't think a $15 minimum wage should be passed as part of reconciliation. I'm not sure I'm completely against a $15 minimum wage - however the concept of a minimum wage at the Federal level is not something I'm crazy about due to the extreme discrepancy in cost of living across different states and cities. If you are in San Francisco $15 is nothing, but if you are in rural Louisiana you can live a pretty decent life on that. I also think it has the potential to impact small businesses and should not be taken lightly and shoved through as part of a reconciliation package.

Not sure everyone knows, but we employers have to add 6.2% to SS and 1.45% to Medicare. A $15 min wage is effectively $16.15 our cost.

[Mrs. Garrett]

Or some of us put people on ignore...

This.

Congratulations, you made the cut. So far ...

[Mrs. Garrett]

In all honesty, then you should consider writing your congressmen and urging them to work together for the good of the American people. They seem to have made a political calculus that doing so is to their detriment.

I'm really not up in arms about anything that Biden is doing yet, other than the fact that I don't think a $15 minimum wage should be passed as part of reconciliation. I'm not sure I'm completely against a $15 minimum wage - however the concept of a minimum wage at the Federal level is not something I'm crazy about due to the extreme discrepancy in cost of living across different states and cities. If you are in San Francisco $15 is nothing, but if you are in rural Louisiana you can live a pretty decent life on that. I also think it has the potential to impact small businesses and should not be taken lightly and shoved through as part of a reconciliation package.

I believe that there are some people not making $15 an hour that should be.

There should also be a scale based on age. Do high school kids working their first job get the same as a minimum wage worker in their 40s? I guess that probably open up legal issues with ageism when employers start hiring only kids.

Guess I'm old school as I always though of minimum wage jobs as something you did when you were younger for spending money with the goal of progressing to a living wage as you got older.

On the other hand there are a lot of minimum wage jobs that paying $15 an hour for makes no sense. I also think of small businesses that this could hurt. More factors have to be taken into account than everyone gets $15 an hour, no questions asked.

[Mrs. Garrett]

Not sure everyone knows, but we employers have to add 6.2% to SS and 1.45% to Medicare. A $15 min wage is effectively $16.15 our cost.

I don't think legislators in favor of this are thinking about the impact to small businesses.

[GoMuskies]

Minimum wage is an absurd political issue in its current form. It shouldn't be $7.50 or whatever ridiculous thing it is now. And it certainly shouldn't be $15 everywhere in the US. If you simply indexed it to inflation from its beginning, it would be about $10.50 right now. Move it there, update it every year based on the change in the CPI.....and you're done. Never talk about it again.

[xu82]

This.

Congratulations, you made the cut. So far ...

That almost sounds like a challenge!!!

[boozehound]

I believe that there are some people not making $15 an hour that should be.

There should also be a scale based on age. Do high school kids working their first job get the same as a minimum wage worker in their 40s? I guess that probably open up legal issues with ageism when employers start hiring only kids.

Guess I'm old school as I always though of minimum wage jobs as something you did when you were younger for spending money with the goal of progressing to a living wage as you got older.

On the other hand there are a lot of minimum wage jobs that paying $15 an hour for makes no sense. I also think of small businesses that this could hurt. More factors have to be taken into account than everyone gets $15 an hour, no questions asked.

Exactly. The sliding scale based on age is an interesting idea, but carries a potential unintended consequence of incenting business to hire high school and college kids at the expense of older workers, so that would need to be accounted for.

It's all well and good for Bernie Sanders to say "McDonalds makes $1B per year but pays workers an average of $8/hr", but there are a ton of small businesses that aren't particularly lucrative and can't necessarily stomach a doubling of minimum wage.

All this goes to further highlight that this is a complex issue that shouldn't be buried in a budget bill and pushed through via reconciliation.