politics
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
view the rest of the comments
Current NYC minimum wage is apparently 16.50. So a 1.8x increase over 5 years (how long are mayors for in NY?).
I... my inner labor 100% supports minimum wage increases. My inner realist understands that has a very substantial impact on businesses and tends to result in fewer employees doing more work (and rapidly getting them salaried so that overtime doesn't exist). Which has a net negative impact because now one person is getting paid a living wage rather than two people getting paid enough to live in a closet in a flat.
Which is why, like most things, the solution is to decouple life from work. Universal Basic Income is what we desperately need. It resolves the minimum wage issue AND automation. The former because Fred's Khlav Kalash ~~K~~Corner isn't destroying their margins to have more than one person working the counter and the latter because... we are RAPIDLY reaching the point where jobs permanently go away (see: Tech). And it actually fulfills the capitalist dream where the people working (because they want additional spending money or "to have a better life") actually want to be there.
And... I kinda think that is less of a pipe dream than a first term mayor managing to increase minimum wage by 1.8x in 5 years.
I'll also just add that NY, like much of the modern world (not just the US), is largely driven by commuters. People who wake up in Jersey or on the outskirts of town, drive in at 3 am, and then are part of the team that open up the shop at 4 so that you can buy your bagel when you walk out the door at 5:30. And... in a lot of ways that 16.50 goes a LONG way once you get to a place with a semi-reasonable cost of living... that said workers have difficulty enjoying because they are getting back home with just enough time to eat a meal and then go to bed.
Which is a very different problem and also why this kind of rubs me the wrong way the more I think about it. Don't get me wrong, there are LOTS of people barely existing in NYC. But a lot of them are people with REALLY good jobs who just still live in one of the higher cost of living places on the planet. Not so much the people getting minimum wage to make their coffee.
12.5% annualized
Yeah. To me that sounds insane (especially if you are getting the increased passed annually rather than all at once but scheduling the bumps) but, like I said, NYC is weird in that the inflation loops tend to be much more delayed. Or, I guess, have already gotten so fucked that it doesn't matter as much that the staff at the smaller shops that are increasing prices to increase wages already can't afford the stuff they sell.
I'm used to discussions and campaigning for even single digit percentages being A Thing.
I don't know about NYC, but the Federal Wage has been stagnated so long, that 12.5% annualized increase seems like the BARE MINIMUM workers deserve.
I'm in Arkansas, so 30$/hr is probably a little "too much" here, but I believe in a the minimum wage should be a living wage at 40hr/wk.
Oh. There is VERY much a big gap between what people deserve and what they get (and where that money should come from but...).
My point is more that if you tell the average voter you want to raise the minimum wage by 10%, you get some knee jerk reactions that almost immediately translate into calls to ALL the representatives.
I don't think that's right. The average voter wants the minimum wage raised by quite a bit. Capital voters paint nightmare pictures no matter how small the increase is.
There is a pretty good It's Always Sunny joke about how they are pro mental health but anti taxes an it more or less loops around until they decide the important thing is a new stadium for the Eagles. It is a disingenuous comparison but it also kind of sums this up.
People are, by and large, pro minimum wage because even the chuddiest republican knows how much those jobs tend to suck. Just like people, by and large, want to get rid of tipping and just bake a cost of living into the price itself.
Then you put it up for a vote (either just as legislature or as a proposal for the general public). And you suddenly see all the people who realize that money comes from somewhere will lose their god damned minds and start finding excuses.
There are definitely ways to sell it but it is always an uphill battle.