Minimum Wage

Today there seems to be a lot of concern about the lowest wage that an employer can pay his employees - and get away with it. This is an ongoing conflict between labor and management. There are good arguments on both sides of the minimum wage debate as we try to strike a balance between making sure that companies pay their workers enough to get by on and making sure that those same businesses aren't forced to pay so much to their employees that they have to lay off some of the workers to compensate - or worse yet go out of business.

I don't suppose that we can ever strike a perfect balance in the ongoing labor dispute and make everybody happy, at least not for long. It's a shame that this issue even needs to be addressed but it has always been a problem in a free market economy. It especially becomes a problem in a greedy society. As we have watched our society become more selfish and greedy we have seen many business owners try to get by with paying their workers as little as possible while amassing millions and millions of dollars for themselves and/or the stock holders.

From time to time we see just how bad this gets when we hear a news report about a CEO of a particular company getting a yearly salary or bonus amounting to 50 or 100 million dollars while his workers have to work two jobs to make ends meet. You may remember a few months ago when Warren Buffett, the second richest man in the country, decided to give away much of his fortune. Most of it was designated to help Bill Gates in his philanthropic endeavors. The media made a big deal about this since it was the biggest charity gift of all time.

But how much did he designate to go to those employees who made him so wealthy? There were no reports of Mr. Buffett calling his former employees and asking them what he could do for them. I didn't hear anything about him designating any of this money to pay for the medical bills of those who made him rich. Wouldn't it be nice if he would have divided a lot of that money up and given it to those who worked hard to make him wealthy? But instead he gave the money away to be used for projects that have nothing to do with his former employees.

Our society and the American people have really changed over the last 4 decades. As we care less about our fellow man and become more greedy and selfish we can expect the divide between the workers and the business owners to grow wider. It's simply an out growth of greed in a free market economy where people have taken a back seat to money. Selfishness and greed mean that I get as much as I can get away with and I give you as little as I can get away with.

This issue is yet another example of how the American people have forgotten about the responsibility that automatically comes with freedom. This principle not only apples to morality and decency. It also applies to our economic system. With the freedom to start businesses and hire employees comes the responsibility to pay them properly - not to use them, wear them out, and then throw them away. You do that with machines, not people.

Those selfish and greedy businessmen who try to get around this principle get the reputation they deserve and often find themselves facing a labor movement designed to force them to pay their employees properly. If they don't do right they will usually find themselves saddled with disgruntled employees who will do as little as they have to.

Because of greed (on both sides of the labor dispute) we can expect this problem to be ongoing. Forcing employers to pay their employees a minimum wage by legislating it at the federal or state level has always been a sign to those who oppose American Capitalism that our system is not perfect. Nevertheless, when one considers the alternatives it becomes clear that legislating a minimum wage is not the end of the world, and our free market economy should continue as it always has.

One idea that I never hear addressed is legislating a limit on how much money a business owner should make. Everyone seems to be occupied with how little a business owner can get by with paying his employees. Why is no one discussing legislating the other end of the labor spectrum - the management? Most of us would not want to see that happen but the enormous amounts of money that CEO's are getting for their employment is not good for the morale of the low paid employees. The buyouts that COO's and CEO"s are receiving these days are also causing more than a few eyebrows to raise. All of this greed at the management level is not good for our country.

I am not sure if we need to address this issue (publicly) at the national level. These problems seem to work themselves out over time. I just figured that you may want to know my views. However, if the American Taxpayers want to talk about this issue in an open forum it's fine with me. I'd be interested in knowing what the working people want done (if anything) about the enormous amounts of money that greedy big business owners are making sure they get. If big business owners are not willing to be fair with those who make them wealthy should they be forced to be?

The "Meet and Vote" program is made for issues that the taxpayers want addressed. That includes this one if the taxpayers want to address it. Never has there been such a program that will allow the people to express themselves and get their way via the vote. Meeting about an issue to get informed and then getting the opportunity to vote on the issue to decide it's course is what the "Meet and Vote" program is all about. This program is designed to restore the will of the people back to preeminence since our leaders have proven that they need public guidance. All of this is natural to the "Meet and Vote" program.

I'm not a socialist or a communist so I bristle at the thought of a "one salary fits all mentality" or a mentality that says we all should share equally. But excessive greed and selfishness has become a very big problem. The working people deserve to be paid properly by their employers, that's all there is to it. People need to pay their bills. Unfortunately we need a minimum wage law to contain this problem and keep it in check. Maybe we also need a "maximum wage" law, to further help contain the greed that is getting to the bizarre level. No laws would be necessary if wealthy Americans treated their employees with enough respect to pay them properly. But that's not been the case.

[To fully understand the "Meet and Vote" program please go to Index 1 and click on the "Meet and Vote" button. Understanding this unique program - offered only by the American Taxpayer party - is mandatory if you are to understand this new political movement. Without it we are just another political party with vague promises.]

INDEX 1 - AGENDA

INDEX 2 - ISSUES