'Biden's inflation crisis is here': Inflation jumps to 5%

[pondwater]

business could just pay workers more and they'll get an abundance of applicants

You know that those costs of higher wages will be passed on to you and everyone else right. Just because you're willing to pay higher prices doesn't mean I'm willing to pay higher prices.

Then we can add in all the higher corporate taxes you guys want to implement. Those will be passed on to everyone too. You're not going to beat corporate America at their own game of making a profits.

[Dave Gray]

I think we have to find ways to make the lowest earner at a company and the highest earner at a company closer together, in cases where those don't happen naturally.  That's kinda the bottom line.

Can't have a situation where the top of the pyramid are billionaires and the bottom are working below the poverty line.  So, there is a give and take to that process.

[CF DolFan]

I think we have to find ways to make the lowest earner at a company and the highest earner at a company closer together, in cases where those don't happen naturally.  That's kinda the bottom line.

Can't have a situation where the top of the pyramid are billionaires and the bottom are working below the poverty line.  So, there is a give and take to that process.

That service already exists. You bust your ass and get rewarded for it. If you do the bare minimum then you are paid like it. I have yet to meet a "good worker" who left a place where they weren't appreciated to a place where they could advance and then didn't.  

I used to deliver furniture for Badcock but left for a career where I could move up. If I was expecting to make a six figure salary, or anywhere close, because I wasn't motivated to do so then I deserve to be poor.  Plenty of uneducated people in the trades making great money because they bust their butts. I know of a whole concrete crew of old black guys who use symbols to sign their name because they can't read or write but are making top money because of their concrete work.  

I saw this morning that McDonald's is testing voice activated drive thru. Looks like they will be dropping more jobs than they already have.

[pondwater]

I think we have to find ways to make the lowest earner at a company and the highest earner at a company closer together, in cases where those don't happen naturally.  That's kinda the bottom line.

Can't have a situation where the top of the pyramid are billionaires and the bottom are working below the poverty line.  So, there is a give and take to that process.

I don't oppose a minimum wage hike to $10-11/hr and link it to inflation every 3-5 years. That seems to be what a lot companies have set the bar at recently. That hike would make the other companies immediately meet and keep that bar. That seems fair to me. $10 an hour is around $21K a year, that's a far cry from poverty level of $13K. 

Otherwise if someone doesn't like the wage they're making, do what you have to do to get a better paying job. It's not anyone else's fault that someone dropped out of high school, had a bunch of kids, or just unmotivated to better themselves.

Like I said, it's not going to come out of the companies pocket anyhow. Are you ok with retail consumers subsidizing higher wages and corporate tax increases?

[CF DolFan]

As we've seen recently rich people and corporations pay little to no taxes. Time for a fair tax system where there are no outs but then we'd see much less donations.

[Fau Teixeira]

You guys are speaking out of both sides of your face? Don't you even realize that ?

I have yet to meet a "good worker" who left a place where they weren't appreciated to a place where they could advance and then didn't. 

Otherwise if someone doesn't like the wage they're making, do what you have to do to get a better paying job

They did. People decided when they got shit-canned by fast food places or restaurants, that they'd look at other employment and they got better jobs.

So now shit companies are complaining there aren't enough people wanting to work for shit pay under shit conditions.

So which is it? The workers left for greener pastures like you tell them to do, and now it's a problem?

Or are you all believing the right wing "welfare queen" fantasy that all these employees magically just decided to not work at all because they're getting $300 more a week?

So now what happens when these unemployment benefits expire and McDonalds or chipotle suddenly don't get the raft of candidates? What's the excuse going to be then ? Maybe a push to do away with medicaid? How much do you want to punish poor people until they're no better than indentured servants to taco bell?

[Fau Teixeira]

As we've seen recently rich people and corporations pay little to no taxes. Time for a fair tax system where there are no outs but then we'd see much less donations.

I'm ok with not incentivizing donations via tax breaks. I think taxes are taxes, charity is charity. If you want to donate, then do it, that's up to you. It shouldn't impact your taxes what-so-ever. I also think we should do away with non-profit tax exemptions. If you're a non-profit that's good for you, but income is income, you still use the public roads and infrastructure, so pay your fair share.

[pondwater]

As we've seen recently rich people and corporations pay little to no taxes. Time for a fair tax system where there are no outs but then we'd see much less donations.

Do you know how rich people and corporations and politicians pay little to no taxes?

2 reasons

1. Corporations and politicians on both sides actually make the laws in their own interests. Realistically, I don't expect that to change in my lifetime.

2. Taxes are based on income. If you park a majority of your money in assets, normally they aren't taxed until they are sold. So even though your money is growing in the background, it's not taxed because it's not income.

Hell, since my parents died I fit that 2nd category. 95% of that is still sitting in retirement accounts and mutual funds, I don't feel rich. Most people I know living paycheck to paycheck have nicer shit and live better than me.

[pondwater]

So now what happens when these unemployment benefits expire and McDonalds or chipotle suddenly don't get the raft of candidates? What's the excuse going to be then ? Maybe a push to do away with medicaid? How much do you want to punish poor people until they're no better than indentured servants to taco bell?

Are you proposing that we extend this supplemental unemployment stimulus money and pay people unemployment benefits to do nothing when there are suitable jobs out there?

[Fau Teixeira]

Are you proposing that we extend this supplemental unemployment stimulus money and pay people unemployment benefits to do nothing when there are suitable jobs out there?

Extended supplemental unemployment doesn't offend me. But I do support the idea of UBI. I think it's an idea that's worth exploring. Alaska has had it for years and I guess people still work there.

[pondwater]

Extended supplemental unemployment doesn't offend me. But I do support the idea of UBI. I think it's an idea that's worth exploring. Alaska has had it for years and I guess people still work there.

Does everyone get UBI equally? Also, where you going to get the money to give people free money?

[ArtieChokePhin]

Does everyone get UBI equally? Also, where you going to get the money to give people free money?

And herein lies the problem with socialism.  Sooner or later, you will run out of other people's money.

[Fau Teixeira]

Money is fake anyways.  Even the "money" in your bank account doesn't technically belong to you.  By depositing money you've loaned the bank that sum of money and they've promised to repay it to you when you withdraw it. But they can default on their obligations. Governments can and do print up more money out of thin air. Money is debt. In fact if a government had 0 debt in the context of fiat currency, it would have 0 money.

So lets talk about socialism. We live in a socialist country. We live in a socialist society.  I know you libertarian types want to just outright reject that notion and flag wave something or other. But look at how the world is and not how you think it should be.

The Military
    - is funded by all (taxes)
    - provides services to all citizens equally regardless of income with 0 cost at the point of service
    - Is under centralized control of the federal government
    - provides affordable housing and food to its workers
    - provides tuition assistance and free college to current and former workers
    - provides universal healthcare for life to the workers

Police departments and Fire departments are funded by all, cost 0 at the point of service, and provide a service for all citizens. Governments from federal to state and local provide for roads and bridges, highways and dams with tax payer money. For the benefit of all.  Government provides tax payer money for basic research that is then appropriated at no cost by private drug companies who then turn around and charge an arm and a leg.

So just take a minute, think it over and accept it as reality. The USA is a socialist country. When you've reconciled the reality you live in, we can talk about degrees to which you want society to function.

I'm comfortable with government using efficiencies of scale and providing universal health care.

I'm comfortable with exploring a system of UBI. What that would look like or if it even makes sense, I can't answer. Alaska has a system that seems successful. Canada's been experimenting with UBI regionally and it's different than Alaska's system and it seems ok.

I'm comfortable with government helping the poor. Utah decided to end it's homeless problem by giving every homeless person a home. And in the process saved millions of dollars. Sure there was probably some abuse here, but I'm ok with a few people taking advantage of the system if the end result is that 90+% of people helped are legitimate cases where the help mattered.

So "how do we pay for all this", to be blunt, what do you care? We'll find a way. We'll tax what needs to be taxed, and even then like in the case of universal health care, we'll still come ahead when compared to the expensive system we have now.  Start from the point of what you want government to do and what they can do well, and then figure out how to pay for it.

[Dolphster]

And herein lies the problem with socialism.  Sooner or later, you will run out of other people's money.

I was quite fond of Margaret Thatcher too. 

[Spider-Dan]

Bullshit.  We've upped starting pay for our business by $2 more an hour and can't get one interview.  It's an easy thing to say when you're not actually doing the hiring.

Sounds like your business should try offering more than an extra $2/hr.

When the economy is bad and businesses "have to" lay people off, it's a business decision.
When prices increase - as they have for all of our lives - it's a business decision.
But when people aren't lining up to apply for low wage jobs (and everyone who is complaining is offering low wage jobs), suddenly it's a national outrage.

And it's not hard to find success stories of companies who have decided that maybe offering more money ISN'T the end of the world:

The owners of Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor had hit a wall.

For months, the 98-year-old confectionary in Pittsburgh couldn’t find applicants for the open positions it needed to fill ahead of warmer weather and, hopefully, sunnier times for the business after a rough year.

The job posting for scoopers — $7.25 an hour plus tips — did not produce a single application between January and March.

So owner Jacob Hanchar decided to more than double the starting wage to $15 an hour, plus tips, “just to see what would happen.”

The shop was suddenly flooded with applications. More than 1,000 piled in over the course of a week.

“It was like a dam broke,” Hanchar said. Media coverage that followed his decision soon pushed other candidates his way.

From the same article:

For Patrick Whalen, co-owner of the 5th Street Group, comprising five restaurants in Charleston and Charlotte, the breaking point came in late March. The restaurants were getting busier as more people started venturing out to eat. But applicants for the dozens of positions the company was trying to hire for were scarce. Understaffed and busy, the company was starting to get shredded with negative reviews online.

After one of his managers told him that a line cook needed to borrow money to get groceries, Whalen was moved to reconsider wages at the company.

“It was just one of those moments where you just kind of stop and you say, ‘Is there a real problem in our industry?’” he said. “We always kind of knew it was there, but we didn’t really know what to do with it.”

The company raised the starting wage for all of its staff to $15 an hour, up from $12 to $13. And it created a “tip the kitchen” program, adding a second line to table checks for gratuity for the back-of-the-house staff, which the restaurant matches up to $500 per night. That move has increased wages for non-tipped employees such as line cooks and dishwashers to an average of $23.80 an hour, Whalen said.

Applicants began pouring in nearly overnight, Whalen said. A manager at one of his restaurants, Tempest, told him that 10 people walked in to drop off résumés over the course of one week after the policy change, compared with just 15 people over the four previous months.

Within three weeks, the restaurant group went from about 50 to 60 percent staffed to nearly fully staffed.

“There is no one in Charleston or Charlotte that can compete with what my guys are making,” Whalen said.

Aaron Dearing, a sous chef at Whalen’s 5Church Charlotte, said the tipping initiative had raised his pay by about $1,000 a month — the biggest raise he has received in 20 years in the industry.

“It puts everybody in a better position in their home life, so they come to work a lot happier,” he said.

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People in this country are legitimately pissed at the idea of lower income workers having enough income to live a decent life.  This is why you see people fighting against increases to the minimum wage, while arguing that you're not supposed to be able to provide for your family working somewhere like McDonald's or Walmart... even though millions of Americans have to do so every year.  They talk all this trash about "Go find a real job if you want a decent income," and when workers try to do so, these same people complain that no one wants to work these crappy jobs for terrible wages.