Nick Hanauer speaks on income inequality

[MillCreek]

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014.html#.U7mH3ZRX-uY

I read an article about this in the Seattle Times that linked to the original article above.  Many interesting comments.

[Perd Hapley]

I guess I should have stopped reading when he claimed FDR as his model. He says we should all emulate Henry Ford, in CHOOSING to pay his workers far above market value; but his apparent goal is to FORCE employers to do so. He uses the term "trickle-down" as if it somehow meant paying workers as little as possible - as if it were somehow the reigning theory of economic policy in the the U.S. today. 

[Ben]

Ha ha, because you have to be penalized for being smarter than me:

They deserve a fair share and no more. So do their workers, the ones who make it all possible.

Sadly, that comment got probably in the top 25% of "thumbs up".

[Perd Hapley]

He could have saved himself a lot of writing, and just said, "You didn't build that."

[lee n. field]

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014.html#.U7mH3ZRX-uY

I read an article about this in the Seattle Times that linked to the original article above.  Many interesting comments.

I saw that, something that my cousin the DC consultantwonk posted on his BookFace.

Problems don't necessarily have good solutions.

[Perd Hapley]

Problems don't necessarily have good solutions.

Problems aren't necessarily problems. So far, the fact that the super-rich are now zillionaires, instead of mere billionaires, has never hurt me.

Also, "the one time you saw a kid with an iPhone"? If this guy had ever seen more than one below-poverty-line person in his life, he would know that smart phones are common among them. The rising tide IS lifting the boats. Even Nick's vast wealth will not buy him his own facts.

[Ben]

Also, "the one time you saw a kid with an iPhone"? If this guy had ever seen more than one below-poverty-line person in his life, he would know that smart phones are common among them.

Yeah, most of the "poverty crowd" seem to have newer and more expensive phones than me. Also rims on their cars that would pay my bills for a year.

[brimic]

Q? How many men would a pharoah have sent to their deaths to recover an artifact with the capabilities of an iphone that could likelh be inthe hands of a low income kid as a plaything today?
A: All of them.

[lee n. field]

Problems aren't necessarily problems. So far, the fact that the super-rich are now zillionaires, instead of mere billionaires, has never hurt me.

The fact that the super rich are now super super rich is not a problem.  The problem is that I'm (with the rest of us) slowly sinking into the mire.

[grampster]

The Left seems to like to say that they adore the Middle Class.  Bull.  The Left are the ones who, with government and bureaucracies,  over-regulate business and industry and well as taxing at the highest rate in the world.  The result is that the captains of industry are doing what they do; captain industry by sailing offshore to avoid the Leftists in government.

Of course the Left blames Capitalism for the destruction that the Left themselves have wreaked.  They've wrecked the family and schools as well so most of the The Folks are too uncivilized and stupid or unconcerned to notice.  Apparently the Statists are not satisfied by keeping the minority blacks, whites and browns on the dole, they want the middle class moving to the plantation as well.

I for one am tired of hearing how the wealthy are wrecking our country.  It's really the effing Democrats and RINO's.

[Balog]

The fact that the super rich are now super super rich is not a problem.  The problem is that I'm (with the rest of us) slowly sinking into the mire.

That is a problem. But not caused or exacerbated by the people at the top having more.

Now, rich people and big companies do have their own legal system. Politicians murder others cough cough Ted Kennedy cough cough and get away with it, and Holder has admitted that he won't prosecute large banks. That's a problem.

[Unisaw]

If he's worried about the masses coming with pitchforks, perhaps that explains why he is one of the big-money donors behind I-594, an anti-gun initiative in WA state.

[Perd Hapley]

That is a problem. But not caused or exacerbated by the people at the top having more.

Now, rich people and big companies do have their own legal system. Politicians murder others cough cough Ted Kennedy cough cough and get away with it, and Holder has admitted that he won't prosecute large banks. That's a problem.

This. A problem no minimum/living wage will ever solve.

[AJ Dual]

The Left seems to like to say that they adore the Middle Class.  Bull.  The Left are the ones who, with government and bureaucracies,  over-regulate business and industry and well as taxing at the highest rate in the world.  The result is that the captains of industry are doing what they do; captain industry by sailing offshore to avoid the Leftists in government.

Of course the Left blames Capitalism for the destruction that the Left themselves have wreaked.  They've wrecked the family and schools as well so most of the The Folks are too uncivilized and stupid or unconcerned to notice.  Apparently the Statists are not satisfied by keeping the minority blacks, whites and browns on the dole, they want the middle class moving to the plantation as well.

I for one am tired of hearing how the wealthy are wrecking our country.  It's really the effing Democrats and RINO's.

This, a million times this...

I pray that the Praetorians who defend them understand what's happening, and one day get the mother of all blue-flu's and what needs to happen can happen.

[KD5NRH]

Yeah, most of the "poverty crowd" seem to have newer and more expensive phones than me. Also rims on their cars that would pay my bills for a year.

I posted something on FB the other day about going to a church activity in my $700 Saturn wearing my $22 Goodwill suit, $5 Goodwill shoes, $4 eBay fitted shirt, and $16 clearance at Burlington Coat Factory fedora and hearing some guy with at least $1k worth of ink and piercings rambling on about "rich people and their fancy clothes."

[lee n. field]

I posted something on FB the other day about going to a church activity in my $700 Saturn wearing my $22 Goodwill suit, $5 Goodwill shoes, $4 eBay fitted shirt, and $16 clearance at Burlington Coat Factory fedora and hearing some guy with at least $1k worth of ink and piercings rambling on about "rich people and their fancy clothes."

"Garage sale life" is how I think of it.  How it is I can have a Seiko* on my wrist.  I get tired of that.


*($2.50 at a garage sale.)

[KD5NRH]

"Garage sale life" is how I think of it.  How it is I can have a Seiko* on my wrist.  I get tired of that.

Come to think of it, my $40 Timex on its $9 replacement band was by far the most expensive thing I was wearing at the time.

[Hawkmoon]

Yeah, most of the "poverty crowd" seem to have newer and more expensive phones than me. Also rims on their cars that would pay my bills for a year.

QFT.

Not to mention "sneakers" that cost what would be a week's pay for me. Seriously? There have been more than one instances where ghetto "kids" have been killed ... for their sneakers!

[dogmush]

I posted something on FB the other day about going to a church activity in my $700 Saturn wearing my $22 Goodwill suit, $5 Goodwill shoes, $4 eBay fitted shirt, and $16 clearance at Burlington Coat Factory fedora and hearing some guy with at least $1k worth of ink and piercings rambling on about "rich people and their fancy clothes."

Bet it was way more then that.  Just one of my tats was a grand all said and done.  Ink is expensive.  Although I hear it's cheaper in prison if you go that route.

But let's be honest, there's enough free/easy to get money for poor folks, the ones that make good financial decisions aren't poor anymore. 

[KD5NRH]

Bet it was way more then that.  Just one of my tats was a grand all said and done.  Ink is expensive.  Although I hear it's cheaper in prison if you go that route.

This was better than prison quality, but not up to the standards of the good local shop.  I'd guess he got it from a legit but inexperienced shop or a trainee at a good one.

[MechAg94]

Bet it was way more then that.  Just one of my tats was a grand all said and done.  Ink is expensive.  Although I hear it's cheaper in prison if you go that route.

But let's be honest, there's enough free/easy to get money for poor folks, the ones that make good financial decisions aren't poor anymore. 

That is the liberal lie that the poor are just upper middle class suburbanites having hard times. 

[Ron]

The minimum wage is in part a failure of the market just like the "need" for unions.

Many sectors of the economy base their wages using the minimum wage as the baseline.

As long as real buying power kept going up, true inflation was low and benefits were good there was no real pent up demand for a minimum wage hike.

In the Obama economy we see wage stagnation on the bottom, real inflation is actually pretty high and many lost their benefits due to Obamacare. Real buying power on the bottom is actually slipping.

Folks on the bottom have no real power to demand higher wages other than unions or electing politicritters to legislate raises for them.

The FSArmy isn't big enough to influence this movement. Politicritters are trolling for votes by exploiting an actual real loss in buying power and benefits by not only the FSArmy but also a substantial segment of the working "poor".

Just my 2 pennies (real world spending power of 1 cent) 

 

  

[Scout26]

The minimum wage increase is fueled by the union SEIU foremost.  Since union contracts and the wage rates therein are predicated on minimum wage an increase in that wage automatically boosts union pay scales.   AKA how to negotiate a wage increase via .gov fiat.  Just look at Obama's new Fed contractor min wage.  Many Burger King's, Subway's and other 'fast food' franchises on military posts are closing simply because they can't afford to pay that wage and also contribute to various MWR funds.   Everybody loses.  Family members that were able to earn some extra money for their families, servicemembers lose places to eat other than the DFAC, and MWR activities lose a source of funding that goes to benefit servicemembers and their families.