Molly Calls for a Living Wage

[KeithE]

[Ed Pettibone]

Ed: Keith i agree that application of can be applied, however it is quite clear that Jesus supported the "fairness" and "right" of the employers decision to pay all those he hired on the same day the same wage that the first hired had agreed to. I said nothing of giving blanket approval to employer(s). His approval there was of that employers fairness and his right to determine what he would pay.

[ET]

[ET]

[ET]

Let's boil it all down to this: I own a business. There is always some kind of work to be done. A teenager or college student or a senior citizen or a mom looking for a little bit of income comes by my shop and asks if I have any work to do. Based on what I need done and the value it is to me and what the person is willing to accept, we reach a mutually agreed-upon price. That price is $6/hr. Based upon what moral and/or Christian principle does government or anyone else say that the transaction cannot legally take place at that price and must be set at $7.25, $9, $10.10/hr or whatever those dictating the rate specify?

Too bad someone can't ask Elizabeth Warren this question.

[William Thornton]

Sandy, I love you man, but you show a decided lack of understanding of business, economics, and finance. You raised profit margins without understanding what those are. Do you think that franchisees have an excessive profit margin while company owned restaurants do not?

How do the Krocs own part of McDonalds?

You need another target. Try Big Pharma.

[KeithE]

[Haruo]

[ET]

[ET]

[Sandy]

[KeithE]

ET

You're continued cynicism about government (and now unions) and complete lack of cynicism toward private businesses ( as evidenced by your lack of support for regulations) continues to amaze me and amuse me.

[KeithE]

If I have not said so in the past, I add unions to the list of organizations requiring ACCOUNTABILTY. Any power holding individual or groups are prone to bend their power towards themselves. 10% spent on independent reviewers is well spent if they have real teeth. Those are good jobs as well.

[Sandy]

No human institution is perfect, and unions have had their share of the greedy. However, if you want to get into a comparison of institutional accomplishment on behalf of its constituency, unions overall are going to come out well ahead of private business, probably ahead of government "of the people, by the people and for the people," and at the risk of sounding cynical, at least as well as the institutional, American church. If it were not for unions, the US would look a lot like Mexico, in terms of both lifestyle and the position of labor.

[Haruo]

[Sandy]

[Ed Pettibone]

[Haruo]

[Haruo]

My guess, for instance, is that the average owner of a single share of RJR or Philip Morris stock has suffered more as a result of the profit-driven actions of those companies than he or she has gained in dividends or positive changes in share value per se.