It's time for me to push slavery again. House republicans just voted down an increase on the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to the $10.10 that the democrats are proposing. This doesn't mean it's politically dead. It just means it will come to life again this fall, in time for the mid term elections. Evidently that is supposed to be good timing for republicans because their people vote in the mid-terms more so than democrats. Now mind you- we the people won't be voting on raising the minimum. We the people will be voting on the future of the assholes who vote on those things for us. Do we the people want assholes who care about us? Or, do we want assholes who care about 'our' corporations? That's what the mid-terms are about.
If the republicans can maintain control of the House and gain control of the senate, then they don't have to bother with the White House. You think there has been obstruction of Obama with a republican House? Try two houses controlled by republicans.Democrats can have all the President Hillary's they want. Not a fucking thing will get done unless the republicans say so. Now ain't that America?
I mention slavery because historically, slavery is a real money-saver for slave owners. After than initial expense of buying a person, you pretty much just have to feed and water them to recoup your losses on the initial purchase. As a bonus, you can breed them yourself and save on the front end. Prior to the War Of Northern Aggression (which is fun to say in a Foghorn Leghorn accent) and coincided with what the winning side refers to as "The Civil War", the greatest concentration of wealth in this country was in Vicksburg, Mississippi. This was largely due to the cotton trade and the low, low overhead of slavery.
You can argue about the causes of the American Civil War but you can't argue that not-paying workers is great for the bottom line of business!
No one actually is arguing for slavery but they sure are hinting about it. The GOP has been calling for the elimination of the minimum wage for decades. They claim it restricts people and actually keeps them from making more. I think they might be confusing minimum and maximum. They claim that doing away with the minimum means that instead of being stuck making the minimum at Walmart or some warehouse somewhere, you can ask for more instead.
The thing is, you can ask for more than the minimum now. You probably won't get it but, you can ask. Your fall-back wage would be the current minimum of $7.25. But, they say, without that minimum, you could ask for $20 an hour! You might not get it though and the fall-back rate would be whatever the boss was willing to pay you. It could be $18 an hour! Or, it could be $2. Or food and water. But, it could be the $20 you asked for!
Republican trolls on the internet will concede that, yes, it could be $2 an hour- if the invisible hand of the free market says so- but, you are free to move on down the road until you find an employer willing to pay your price or until your hat floats. Whichever comes first.
So, eliminating the minimum could bring room and board wages if the invisible hand of the free market went that way but it could also swing the way of $20 an hour. It's fickle, that invisible hand, isn't it? There are no guarantees in life though, especially if we eliminate them.
There are two economies at work here in America. There was no "Worst Recession Since The Great Depression" for rich people. The Koch brothers and lesser assholes like the Papa Johns fuckhead and the Walton family and the CEO of McDonald's all have made A LOT of money these past six years. All the one and two percent that you hear of did great. They almost always do. For all the bitching they do about him, these assholes have done very well under President Obama. The thing is, they could do better.
Letting that invisible hand of the free market setting wages would be better. Slavery would be better. It worked before. Very little overhead. FULL employment.
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: "That's not America. That won't ever happen!"
Why not? It happened before. And, it makes good fiscal sense. As long as you don't think it will happen to you, why worry about it? And, it makes good fiscal sense.
Relax. We're not going to legalize slavery! Why do that when we can just expand unpaid intern programs? That sounds so much nicer. And, did I mention it makes good fiscal sense?
It's a world economy and, like Mitt Romney pointed out when he ran for POTUS in '12, the Chinese factory he visited had to have barbed wire fences with guards to keep OUT people who would otherwise force their way in for a chance at one of those 99 cent an hour jobs inside. We're America. We can do better. No, not $2 an hour. The other way. We're not communists! Sheesh!
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