Obi-quiet

Gah, I leave for a little while and come back to find almost 10,000 pics I have to go through, 14 notes I haven't read and SO much stuff I have to do!  *sigh* Stupid depression. 

Anyway, I'm here to get on a soap box. *shrug* It needs to be said.

So, they're trying to raise the minimum wage. 

That is the STUPIDEST thing we as a country could possibly allow to happen! Okay, maybe not the stupidest, but dang close!

Right now, where I am, the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.  Not a whole lot, but then the cost of living around here isn't that bad either.  In the last several years, my average rent has been around $350 a month, perhaps $20-$40 more with utilities. I can live quite well on minimum wage.  Now admittedly I don't have any children or dependents, but I do know how difficult it can be to keep a job in this economy--and where I live is supposed to be one of the best in the country.  Yikes for those people who have it really hard in places like Michigan and what not. *shudder*

So some argue that we need to raise minimum wage so that single parents can have the money they need to raise their children. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for helping out people who need it, but that is probably the worst thing the economy could do for anyone in those straits and circumstances!

Why?  Well, let's say that the minimum wage is raised to $10. 00 an hour.  That's a good $2.75 above what it is right now around here.  At 40 hours a week (and with the economy, I know many people who have not been scheduled even half that much) that's an extra $110 an hour.  If a local grocery store has 25 employees, that's an extra $ 2750 they have to shell out.  Many of those stores are barely making a profit as it is (many are doing just fine, but they will continue to want to do just fine and will also do the following), so what do they do? Well, they have four choices: Lower hours, cut jobs, cut benefits, raise prices. 

So if that happens, you can expect gas prices, even with old/established gas chains to skyrocket (although the first thing that will be hit will be the local stores and small businesses.  Why? They're the ones that don't have giant chains from other places around the city and/or state to fall back on, among other things) .  Grocery stores? Good luck finding anything worth while under $3. We're already screwed over with insurance under the new Obamacare that's requiring everyone to have insurance whether they can afford it or not. This will just make it that much more difficult. Utilities like water and garbage duties? They require people to do those jobs so they'll be some of the first things to jump up.

Basically I'm saying the cost of living (rent, food, gas, insurance, etc.) will raise just as much if not MORE with the rise of minimum wage!

That doesn't even take into account those people who have worked at their lower-end jobs for 10-15 years or more and who have worked through the sweat of their brow to a point where their wage would be above $10.00.  Because the cost of living will rise, it's like giving them a $2.75 pay cut; taking 10-15 or more years of their life and shoving it in their face because now for all their work they're making the same thing as everyone else who just started yesterday...and how is that fair?

So what will raising the pay do? 1. Lower hours worked. 2. Raise prices EVERYWHERE. 3. Promote job loss! 4. Make it more difficult for people who have lost a job to A. find work and B. continue to afford to live.

How is this a good thing?!

Please call your local congressman (it's really not that difficult to look up) and put your name down as AGAINST a national pay raise!

Alright, I'm done. *Steps down off of soap box*