458 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 18 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing Summarizing
General News   

Hardly even the minimum

Quicklink Submitted By   1 comment
Author 24983
Managing Editor

Scott Baker
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Scott Baker
Become a Fan
  (78 fans)
NYC Rally To Raise The Minimum Wage
NYC Rally To Raise The Minimum Wage
(Image by The All-Nite Images)
  Details   DMCA

The minimum wage that isn't...yet.  Because the minimum wage will take up to 5 years to kick in, the employees that would benefit have to wait up to 5 years in poverty, even if they work 40 hours a week (not 35) with no vacations, and never getting sick, and even assuming no inflation.

The B.I.G. solution is the Basic Income Guarantee - an income above poverty level for every man, woman and child, regardless of other income, with no means-testing (the country would save billions on bureaucracies that don't even do a very good job of qualifying/disqualifying people).  a B.I.G. would let people live in dignity, would end the subsidies to the richest corporations on Earth for jobs that pay below a living wage, would end as the Times Union article linked here puts it having "society (be the) benefits department for these (large) corporations for years to come."  It is affordable (particularly if one considers that low wage workers and other poor recipients spend everything they get on the economy, providing a direct stimulus the economy still needs because economic demand is still so weak (and getting weaker at that strata).  Demand drives growth, not more mega-profits subsidized by the taxpayer for the top 1% who merely inflate asset classes.
Read the rest of the story HERE:

At blog.timesunion.com
Well Said 2   Supported 2   Must Read 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Scott Baker Social Media Pages: Facebook Page       Twitter Page       Linked In Page       Instagram Page

Scott Baker is a Managing Editor & The Economics Editor at Opednews, and a former blogger for Huffington Post, Daily Kos, and Global Economic Intersection.

His anthology of updated Opednews articles "America is Not Broke" was published by Tayen Lane Publishing (March, 2015) and may be found here:
http://www.americaisnotbroke.net/

Scott is a former and current President of Common Ground-NY (http://commongroundnyc.org/), a Geoist/Georgist activist group. He has written dozens of (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend