February 12, 2007


IMPEACH BUSH


IMPEACH CHENEY

MINIMUM WAGE GOOD FOR BUSINESS

Every time there is talk of raising the minimum wage there is a great rending of garments by right-wingers. They'll hiss and moan that a minimum wage increase will just destroy small business. It's like the bad banker tying the lovely widow to the railroad tracks. The evidence is that raising the minimum wage actually benefits business. This article by Holly Sklar is at www.commondreams.org:

Minimum wage critics predictably forecast dire consequences with every raise, and are just as predictably wrong. After the last federal minimum wage hikes in 1996 and 1997, the nation experienced dramatically stronger job growth, and lower inflation and poverty rates. States that have raised their minimum wages above $5.15 have had better employment and small business trends than states that have not.

Minimum wage raises aren't put under mattresses -- or offshore tax havens. They are recycled back into the economy.

"Overall most low-wage workers pump every dollar of their paychecks directly into the local economy by spending their money in their neighborhood stores, local pharmacies and corner markets," notes Dan Gardner, commissioner of Labor and Industries for Oregon, which has the nation's second-highest minimum wage at $7.80.

"Higher wages benefit business by increasing consumer purchasing power, reducing costly employee turnover, raising productivity, and improving product quality, customer satisfaction and company reputation," says a statement supporting higher minimum wage signed by the CEOs of Costco, the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Majority, Eileen Fisher apparel company and more than 500 business owners across the nation -- from the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York and Dixie Rod & Custom in Alabama to the Mercury Cafe in Colorado and Broetje Orchards in Washington. From Candle Enterprises in Minnesota and Vintage Vinyl in Missouri to North Georgia Woodworks and Small Biz Survival in Oklahoma.

BELIEVE THE OPPOSITE

I agree with the author of this article. When Bush says something believe just the opposite. If he says it's white, it's black If he says it's bad, it's good. Bush makes claims about the incredible economy. If you're Exxon-Mobil, it's great. If you're Joe Six Pack, it's not so good. This article by Ed Naha is at www.smirkingchimp.com:

In a surreal way, Bush's dazzling American economy does exist. It just doesn't exist for ordinary Americans.

For instance, if my name was "fast" Eddie Exxon, I'd be dancing in the streets right now. Exxon Mobil, last week, revealed that it racked up record earnings in '06, $39.5 billion bucks - the biggest profit an American company has ever made. (The previous record holder was...Exxon Mobil in '05 with $36.13 billion.) Exxon's '06 profit averaged out to about $4.5 million an hour. (Why, some of us have to work, uh, 9.5 million lifetimes to earn that hourly amount before we croak! And that's only if we use public transportation!)

Also rolling in dough with best-ever profits were Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Marathon Oil Corp. and Valero Energy Corp. Suprisingly, Jed Clampett didn't make the cut.

The same week that Exxon revealed its "Happy Days Are Here Again" figures, The Commerce Department reported that the savings rate of Americans for all of '06 was negative 1 percent. Translation? Not only didn't any of us save but we also spent more than we earned. On the plus side, we didn't top the existing negative savings record, 1.5 percent, set in 1933 during The Great Depression.