no. There is an ethical argument to be made and I suspect (but do not know) that it is valid. My argument however is fundamentally pragmatic and macroeconomic. We have a minimum wage. Get over it. Raising it would increase the money in circulation with money that would be spent immediately and do for the economy what the tax cut for the rich pretended to do. However, this argument is not proof against someone who has never heard of Keynes and does not want to find out. I will not participate in this thread any further. I don't have time and it would not make a difference anyway as you will still, at the end of the day, think that anyone who is against sweatshops is a bleeding-heart liberal. I think Matt had a point. There is a use for rules.
Dana On 11/4/05, Gruss Gott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Dana wrote: > > My position is that since there is one, it might as well be realistic. > > > > To me you're making an ethical argument that attempts to justify the > government's manipulation of the labor market with economic theories. > > You may have noticed that Sen Kennedy's minimum wage amendment (Sen. > Amdt 2063) was defeated when Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) called an unfunded > mandates point of order (i.e., the MW would impose costs on state and > local governments beyond a specific threshold). The vote was 47-51. > > The ironic part is Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart, lobbied for the minimum > wage INCREASE! > > So which one of us is right? Here are a few facts: > > 1.) The minimum wage was last raised in 1996. > 2.) The number of people below the poverty line is roughly the same as > it was in 1996. > 3.) The population, however, has grown by millions. > > Result: the poverty rate is a full percentage point lower than in 1996 > even though the minimum wage hasn't changed with inflation. > > Translation: the facts do not support your economic theories. > > You're justification seems based on compassion. Well, let's say a > person is willing to take a $5.25/hr job but since your MW bill passed > a small business has had to eliminate a job to accommodate it. Now > that person is unemployed due to your manipulation of the labor > market. Who has compassion for him? > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:179840 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
