Obama proposes raising the minimum wage to $9/hour...

[scottprok]

I'll answer yours but I'll expect an answer to mine.

Your question implies a link between slavery and the minimum wage, but there is not one. I would have no problem getting rid of minimum wage. The market would determine the fair rate for unskilled labor and provide motivation for people to acquire skills that the marketplace values. Slavery, on the other hand, should not be reinstated because it is vile and dehumanizing. There is nothing dehumanizing about giving someone a paycheck equivalent to the skill and expertise that they provide. Each job is a trade. I trade my work and receive fair compensation in return. Why should we only abandon this principle at the low end of the wage scale?

If employers are going to overpay for anything, shouldn't it be the unique and valuable rather than the common and easily replaceable?

Who decides what is fair compensation then? I have a lot of skills that I don't get compensated for in the work that I do because my boss doesn't feel like it.

[tpeichel]

Who decides what is fair compensation then? I have a lot of skills that I don't get compensated for in the work that I do because my boss doesn't feel like it.

Find an employer that does value them. That's the beauty of a free marketplace. If there isn't a different employer that values these other skills then you're probably appropriately compensated.

[Wickabee]

Yes slavely is vile and dehumanizing but the powers that be love the system the way it is. Look at it. There are more jobs than people. Employers can pretty much do whatever the hell they want to the employees and as long as they pay them a couple of dollars the employee pretty much is going to suck it up and deal with it. Yes the employee can look for another job but how easy is it to quit your job today and start working somewhere else tommorrow. The employeer can also crack the whip over the employee by saying if you don't like your job and dont like to do as your told there are thouusands of people waiting in line to replace you. No it's not slavery but a lot of these jobs are experts in degrading their workers.

No minimum wage leads to slavery the same way raising minimum wage $1.65 leads to raising it $10, $20 or $100. My slippery slope was as stupid as yours. The answer is raising it that much would be outside the realm of reasonability, not to mention basic intelligence. Raising min wag $1.65 is not comparable to a $10 raise the same way a lack of minimum wage is not comparable to slavery.
My question was as stupid as yours. No more no less.

[mrveggieman]

No minimum wage leads to slavery the same way raising minimum wage $1.65 leads to raising it $10, $20 or $100. My slippery slope was as stupid as yours. The answer is raising it that much would be outside the realm of reasonability, not to mention basic intelligence. Raising min wag $1.65 is not comparable to a $10 raise the same way a lack of minimum wage is not comparable to slavery.
My question was as stupid as yours. No more no less.

I think that you were responding to the wrong quote.

[Wickabee]

I was. I did not mean to quote you, my bad.
That was for tpeichel.

[tpeichel]

No minimum wage leads to slavery the same way raising minimum wage $1.65 leads to raising it $10, $20 or $100. My slippery slope was as stupid as yours. The answer is raising it that much would be outside the realm of reasonability, not to mention basic intelligence. Raising min wag $1.65 is not comparable to a $10 raise the same way a lack of minimum wage is not comparable to slavery.
My question was as stupid as yours. No more no less.

So you agree that at some point that raising the minimum wage would have a negative effect?

[Wickabee]

So you agree that at some point that raising the minimum wage would have a negative effect?

I agree that everything can be taken to a level of stupidity, yes.

[tpeichel]

So do you think this is stupid?

Another measure is the Catching Up to 1968 Act of 2012 (HR 5901). This bill would increase the federal minimum wage to $10 per hour and index future increases to those in the CPI.

If not, how much do we overpay the unskilled before it becomes stupid?

[Wickabee]

So do you think this is stupid?

Another measure is the Catching Up to 1968 Act of 2012 (HR 5901). This bill would increase the federal minimum wage to $10 per hour and index future increases to those in the CPI.

If not, how much do we overpay the unskilled before it becomes stupid?

Forgive my ignorance but CPI?

[tpeichel]

Consumer Price Index (index of the cost of good and services purchase by households).