Republicans successfully block minimum wage bill

[Orlong]

The minimum wage in Seattle is already higher than federal. It's currently at 9.75$ and we have one of the strongest economies in the country. Microsoft and Amazon have been expending, even during the recession. We are also the top producer of clean energy and are home to Boeing, Nintendo of America, with campuses of every telecom. We are booming... Go Hawks!

And Boeing is moving to South Carolina because of your high labor rates and unions. Of course the unions are trying to force them to stay but there should be no way to legally force a company to stay. Microsoft and Amazon arent anywhere near minimum wage employers either, so those are poor examples. How many less fast food restaurants and coffee shops do you have compared to other cities. Id wager a lot less. Why open onein Seattle when you can open one next door in Oregon for a lot less

[obdigore]

And Boeing is moving to South Carolina because of your high labor rates and unions. Of course the unions are trying to force them to stay but there should be no way to legally force a company to stay. Microsoft and Amazon arent anywhere near minimum wage employers either, so those are poor examples. How many less fast food restaurants and coffee shops do you have compared to other cities. Id wager a lot less. Why open onein Seattle when you can open one next door in Oregon for a lot less

... Did you just ask how many coffee shops are in Seattle?

I take it you've never been to Seattle? Place is amazing for small mom and pop shops, both cafes and coffee shops and small businesses.

This entire post of your is just a giant joke from someone ignorant of what they are talking about.

[Orlong]

Google is neat. Apparently higher minimum wage per state vs unemployment in that state have no real correlation. http://econbrowser.com/archives/2013/02/minimum_wage_an

So basically the net gain is that people are happier maybe? I think that's a pretty good idea.

True however things are a LOT more expensive in states with higher minimum wages. Where I live I rent my house (half a duplex) 2 bedroom, 2 bath, basement, and attic for $475/month. In Seattle or San Francisco where the minimum wage is at least $3 more/hour the same place would be $2500+ per month. I pay $3.50 for a gallon of milk, whereas they pay $5. I pay $1.50 for a loaf of bread, they pay $3. I pay $3.59/gallon for gas, they pay $4.25, so its all relative

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$350 a month? Is that for a box with a pot to piss in?
Normal rent is $600+ in suburban areas here - probably near the thousands in the city. I guess if my rent and all expenses added up to $350 than $10/hr would seem decent. However in most places this is not the case...

Rent $650 + Cable $60 + Phone $40 + Utilities $120 + Food $250-300 + God forbid you want to go out that month and do something (and I didn't even include car) = $10/hr ain't shit.

You could always pay $100 to rent a Uhaul for a day and move to different town where you could get one of those $350/month places

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If people can't afford shit how the fuck are they going to move? No people aren't mouthing off. You are just regurgitating fantasy. Moving isn't free nor cheap.

Depending on how far you move, a Uhaul only costs between $25 and $100 to rent for a day

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That "house" for rent for $295 is in reality a studio/efficiency apartment on the 3rd floor. I know it's too much for you to read your own links so, find a new hobby.

Unfortunately the people in this thread think minimum wage should be high enough to rent a 2200 SQ FT 4 bedroom single family home

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... Did you just ask how many coffee shops are in Seattle?

I take it you've never been to Seattle? Place is amazing for small mom and pop shops, both cafes and coffee shops and small businesses.

This entire post of your is just a giant joke from someone ignorant of what they are talking about.

Yeah, I shouldnt have mentioned coffee shops. But to be fair, coffee shops in Seattle charge like $7.50 for a cup of coffee. I can buy one for 75 cents at a good gas station here, or $2.50 for a "deluxe" coffee/cappucino

[Deleted]

Since I can't post links/videos yet, this will have to do:

youtube.com/watch?v=ca8Z__o52sk

youtube.com/watch?v=Rls8H6MktrA

Oh, how you truly are missed professor Friedman!

[Cthulhu 2020]

True however things are a LOT more expensive in states with higher minimum wages. Where I live I rent my house (half a duplex) 2 bedroom, 2 bath, basement, and attic for $475/month. In Seattle or San Francisco where the minimum wage is at least $3 more/hour the same place would be $2500+ per month. I pay $3.50 for a gallon of milk, whereas they pay $5. I pay $1.50 for a loaf of bread, they pay $3. I pay $3.59/gallon for gas, they pay $4.25, so its all relative

But that has little/nothing to do with it having a higher minimum wage, and everything to do with it being an urban area, being farther from oil/gas shipping lines, farther from dairy farms, etc.

You can find the the same phenomenon out in rural bumfuck areas of states with no additional minimum wage laws. Housing will be cheap, but other goods will vary in price due to how far away they are from various resources.

New York is one of the most expensive cities on the planet to live in, and yet it's only 75 cents above federal minimum wage, meanwhile it's cheaper to live in countries that have a $20 minimum wage.

Yeah, I shouldnt have mentioned coffee shops. But to be fair, coffee shops in Seattle charge like $7.50 for a cup of coffee. I can buy one for 75 cents at a good gas station here, or $2.50 for a "deluxe" coffee/cappucino

You're comparing gas station coffee to what is effectively starbucks coffee. Try going to a starbucks wherever you live and buying a coffee for that cheap.

[Stormdash]

Fans of dining out in Seattle are going to be kicking themselves for having a "$15 Now" t-shirt, looks like. Funny what actual operational facts about restaurants in particular/small business and general will do --

Washington Restaurant Survey if $15 min. wage increased:

80% of full service respondents said they would either lay off employees, close their business, declare bankruptcy or close a location.
69% of Full Service Restaurants said they would lay off employees.
49% of Quick Service Restaurants said they would lay off employees.
45% of both Full and Quick Service Restaurants said they would close or close a location.
Due to labor costs alone, restaurants will effectively turn into non-profits.

...

Small Margins
It is difficult for restaurants to turn in a profit. As of 2013, Seattle full service restaurants had an average net income of four percent before taxes.

Heavy Debts
Fifty-eight percent of an average restaurant’s annual total revenue equals debt service. Sixty-two percent of restaurants that responded to WRA’s survey did not earn enough profit, in 2013, to meet fundamental capital investment “pay off” plans.

...

Impact of $15 Minimum Wage on Labor Costs
If the minimum wage jumps to $15 per hour, the effects of this mandate would be far reaching. The cost of labor, in restaurants would increase an average of 34 percent, moving the cost of labor to 47 percent of the restaurant dollar. This minimum wage increase would lead to annual operating losses of under existing models. No business can sustain such losses. Restaurants would need to make big changes in order to survive.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "$15 Minimum Wage Hike : Seattle Restaurant Survey shows Devastating Impact"

Oh, I'm sure they are all just lying 1%-ers who are hiding a tree that grows cash behind their shops

[Xeones]

The same people also said that Obamacare was going to ruin the nation but it's ended up being cheaper than they suggested. I really don't believe richies when they are fighting to deny fair compensation to people.

[Stormdash]

The same people also said that Obamacare was going to ruin the nation but it's ended up being cheaper than they suggested. I really don't believe richies when they are fighting to deny fair compensation to people.

Honestly, I could have typed it for you, couldn't I have? I click, you whirr. Those full-service and QSR franchise owners aren't "richies" as you so eloquently call them, is very much the point. A lot of restaurant owners are basically check-to-check. An average of 58% of revenue is just service on their debt. An average of 4% profit margin. Owning a franchise restaurant, full service or QSR, is not something that makes anybody rich unless they really catch lightning in a bottle of location, demand, service, product, etc -- for most, it's just a decent upper middle class job, just like one might get, except they bear the risk of loss on almost everything. Small business owners are the middle class in the United States for the most part.

[Deleted]

Fans of dining out in Seattle are going to be kicking themselves for having a "$15 Now" t-shirt, looks like. Funny what actual operational facts about restaurants in particular/small business and general will do --



Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "$15 Minimum Wage Hike : Seattle Restaurant Survey shows Devastating Impact"

Oh, I'm sure they are all just lying 1%-ers who are hiding a tree that grows cash behind their shops

unless they raise prices to pay for it.
The only way that would actually happen, is if A) the prices goes up so much that people stop going to restaurants altogether, and as purchasing power increases more than prices, that's unlikely. B) there are a lot of restaurants who skimp on paying their employees and thus get a unfair advantage, that's illegal, so leaving C) that's Bullshit.

[Daelak]

Fans of dining out in Seattle are going to be kicking themselves for having a "$15 Now" t-shirt, looks like. Funny what actual operational facts about restaurants in particular/small business and general will do --



Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "$15 Minimum Wage Hike : Seattle Restaurant Survey shows Devastating Impact"

Oh, I'm sure they are all just lying 1%-ers who are hiding a tree that grows cash behind their shops

OH my gawwwdd Seattle is going to be like Detroit right!

[Stormdash]

OH my gawwwdd Seattle is going to be like Detroit right!

Do you think Detroit just woke up as Detroit one day?

[Endus]

Fans of dining out in Seattle are going to be kicking themselves for having a "$15 Now" t-shirt, looks like. Funny what actual operational facts about restaurants in particular/small business and general will do --

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "$15 Minimum Wage Hike : Seattle Restaurant Survey shows Devastating Impact"

Oh, I'm sure they are all just lying 1%-ers who are hiding a tree that grows cash behind their shops

No, they're just presenting an overly-narrow view to try and bias the conversation. And what I have to assume are deliberately misleading graphics.

For instance; labor costs aren't going to go up 47.8%. Nor will they become 47.8% of the restaurant's budget. They present that number without really explaining it, but they sure show it in big digits.

What it is, is that currently, labor costs are ~35.6% of a restaurant's operating costs. And those will be increasing about 34.1%. They multiplied those, so that with the current budgets, the new labor costs would be 47.8% of costs, but this is a ridiculous thing to do, because those budgets will adapt. What it really means is that operating costs will go up about 12% overall. A 12% price increase means that the restaurant makes more money (since they're getting 12% more on their profit margins, too). And a 12% price increase isn't gonna break the bank. At a sit-down restaurant, a $15 entree would end up around $17. That isn't the huge big deal it's being played up to be.

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/arc...of-your-burger


And, again, increasing your prices by 10-15% while the lowest earners are seeing their wages increase by 50% means those earners are still seeing an increase in net buying power. Which is the point of the increase, in the first place.

[Daelak]

Do you think Detroit just woke up as Detroit one day?

Oh so liberal policies slowly creep up on unsuspecting cities?

[Saucexorzski]

Good! That's the way to make this change, in a single state. Lets now await the out come, if the left is correct then all the better no? if the right is correct then we have it isolated in a single state economy instead of the entire nation as a whole. I'm so glad when a state use their right of sovereignty.

[Adam Jensen]

True however things are a LOT more expensive in states with higher minimum wages. Where I live I rent my house (half a duplex) 2 bedroom, 2 bath, basement, and attic for $475/month. In Seattle or San Francisco where the minimum wage is at least $3 more/hour the same place would be $2500+ per month. I pay $3.50 for a gallon of milk, whereas they pay $5. I pay $1.50 for a loaf of bread, they pay $3. I pay $3.59/gallon for gas, they pay $4.25, so its all relative

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You could always pay $100 to rent a Uhaul for a day and move to different town where you could get one of those $350/month places

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Depending on how far you move, a Uhaul only costs between $25 and $100 to rent for a day

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Unfortunately the people in this thread think minimum wage should be high enough to rent a 2200 SQ FT 4 bedroom single family home

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Yeah, I shouldnt have mentioned coffee shops. But to be fair, coffee shops in Seattle charge like $7.50 for a cup of coffee. I can buy one for 75 cents at a good gas station here, or $2.50 for a "deluxe" coffee/cappucino

It's more than a Uhaul.

There's gas.
There's the security deposit, which is two month's rent for most landlords.
There's possibly food and lodging depending on how far you're moving

[Adam Jensen]

I think the real question is when are Republicans going to do ANYTHING to help the poor? They cut food stamps, they say fuck you minimum wage, they continue to subsidize companies who send jobs overseas... and then complain that we have become dependent on the government... :s

They give to their churches and call it "charity."

[Rukentuts]

Oh so liberal policies slowly creep up on unsuspecting cities?

I have yet to see any successful major conservative city.

[Shocktroop]

Good, these people made poor life decisions or are just too stupid to do anything else. Why should they be rewarded?

[Adam Jensen]

Good, these people made poor life decisions or are just too stupid to do anything else. Why should they be rewarded?

Goddamn conservatives are so judgmental.

[obdigore]

Oh so liberal policies slowly creep up on unsuspecting cities?

The reason Detroit is how it is can be placed purely on the globalization of the steel and auto industries, and the failures of American Companies to compete with those industries.

After a score you get a flight of people with money and knowledge to what they view as greener pastures.

I'd be interested in you holding up the 'conservative benchmark' city? I mean I can't think of one? Austerity is bad, as is treating your citizens like dispensable capital.