2 posts tagged “minimum wage”

On the radio yesterday, I heard Arnold Schwarzenegger playing word games involving the livelihoods of state employees in California.  As the economy tanks, the Governator is looking for ways to save money that don't involve raising taxes.  His solution: cut the salaries of state employees.  In some cases, lowering wages to $6.55/hour, the federally mandated minimum wage.

Help me, here, because I don't quite understand how this is different from a tax.  If you tax me, you take money out of my paycheck.  If you cut my salary, you take money out of my paycheck.  What's the diff?

Oh, right, the difference is that in this scenario, which Schwarzie claims will save the state $1.2 billion per month, the only people being taxed are state employees.  Everybody else gets a free ride, including the governor, who gets to claim he hasn't raised taxes. 

$6.55 an hour.  Think about that one.  I don't know how much money you make, but I don't make a lot.  Hubbicula laughed when he saw our tax return from last year.  Still, $6.55 an hour is less than half what I make as a humble state employee.  At $6.55 an hour, I wouldn't be able to pay my bills, let alone pay my mortgage, or keep the kittens in kibble.  Never mind keeping Hubbicula in college.

Before you even start on state employees, I'll say it for you: we're lazy, incompetent, indifferent, reckless, and greedy.  Fine, agreed.  The only question is: do you want my job?  No, I didn't think so.  We state employees may be the bottom of the barrel, but we were willing to take the jobs nobody else wanted.  No matter how grudgingly and slowly, we provide important services.  Without us, your kids don't get educated, your paperwork doesn't get pushed, and your highway medians don't get mowed.  We guard you while you sleep. Do not... fuck with us.

Here's a message from your elected government representatives:
If you're of average or below average intelligence, if you were never good at school, if you just want to work hard, raise a family and live a modest, but decent life...go fuck yourself. The Senate could not have spoken more clearly. There is no American dream. There is no more "work hard and you'll be rewarded." The Senate has declared a kind of silent war on every average person in America, by saying no to a measly $2 increase to the federal minimum wage.

The current minimum wage has been at $5.15/hour since 1997 and clearly will be for some time to come. Don't just think of this in the abstract, apply your above-average intellect to the issue. $5.15/hour is:

• $206/week


• $824/month


• $10,712/year


• not enough to die on, let alone live on

Imagine you're that person of average or below average intelligence. You're not lazy, you're not greedy. You just want a place to live that's safe. You want to fall in love, get married, raise a couple of decent kids, and retire to enjoy your grandkids. It's so little. It's all my grandparents wanted. Now, try to imagine how you're going to manage that on $5.15/hour. Sure, you and your spouse can both work, bumping up your annual income to $21,424/year. Just take a minute, one whole minute, to think about trying to support four people on $21,000 a year.

And don't waste my time talking about how people need to have ambition, or go to college to get a better job. I taught at the university level for 8 years. There are people who are not smart enough to benefit from college, let alone make it through college. I don't say that to be cruel. I say that because I have compassion for those people. It isn't their fault they're not smart enough to become engineers or lawyers or accountants or even secretaries. (I've taught at community colleges. There are people who aren't smart enough to become secretaries.)

We will always have simple jobs to be done by simple people, but it's a fucking crime for us to treat these people like trained monkeys. The girl who works the cash register at my favorite sandwich shop...she's not ever going to go to college or trade school or anything like that. Her IQ can't be more than about 80. That said, she deserves better. She deserves to earn enough money to own a home, raise a family. She deserves to be treated like a human being.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch. While the Senate was stomping on the lives of millions of little people, the House gave themselves a raise. A $3,000 a year raise. 'Cause the cost of living is so high in DC. Poor guys.