This one of the rare occasions when we are in agreement, more or less. Jobs are voluntary, both to offer one and to accept one. It is a contractual relationship - I agree to provide my labor and you agree to pay me $X for my labor.
I do have a problem with the pay most CEO's receive. Most of them are untalented boobs who got lucky enough to sit on a hot product. What did the former CEO of Exxon do to deserve an almost $400M retirement package? Lobby Congress to bomb Iraq to steal its oilfields. That's not worth $400M. If I was an Exxon shareholder, I'd be pretty ticked that wasn't a dividend.
For as much as I despise Wal-Mart, its CEO is probably the only guy out there who legitimately earns every penny of his salary. There is no company that can match its efficiency and that is a direct product of the leadership.
Here's my post on a similar topic -
http://intellectualinsurgent.blo...-to-be-
ceo.html
To play devil's advocate -
What happens to society if people can't earn a living wage?
I do not believe unions are scaring our businesses away. That is bull. That is the whiney copout of American auto manufacturers that had poor leadership and were unable to predict the changing market. Tough. Stop blaming it on the unions. The success of foreign auto manufacturers who build plants in the US belies all such claims. Also, it's not the unions that make foreign labor cheaper. Discrepancies in the values of currency create cheaper production hubs.
Political Science 101 says a healthy middle class is a necessary foundation for a democratic society. We are at a stage where the gap between rich and poor is widening and that is not okay. This is not an isolated question of economics - it is a fundamental question about the viability of our republic.
If freedom isn't free, why aren't our businesses willing to pay for it?
I'll play along:
What is a manufacturer's #1 expense? Employees. Where does the money to cover that expense come from? The sales price.
If not cars than what about washing machines? Textiles? Greeting Cards? Chocolates?
Those specific items used to be made here in Tennessee and have been moved to other countries where the cost of labor is cheaper. Currency floats both up and down. Paying $1 per hour to manufacture jeans in China versus $13 per hour in Layfayette TN makes a huge difference in the price of the goods sold regardless of currency rates.
As for those new auto plants, many are not unionized so their pay isn't based on minimum wage calculations.
As far as minimum wage = middle class? Nope, never. Minimum wage = poverty. Period.
The viability of our Republic, indeed the very founding of it, was based on small business. It still is. The minimum wage does so pathetically little to help people willing to work it, yet it hampers some small businesses who are forced to pay it. That hurts the republic more than having a poverty class.
BTW: that Mapco has been advertisning the $10 per hour since February and still needs employees? What does that say about minimum wage of half the amount?
I never suggested that minimum wage = middle class. You are absolutely right that the two do not go together.
The Mapco adds don't say anything about the minimum wage, but it certainly says something about the laziness and arrogance of the labor pool.
If small business is the foundation of the Republic, why have Republicans supported the exponential growth of already behemoth corporations?
Why aren't those other auto manufacturers unionized?
Glad you asked!
Nissan isn't union because it has a friendly relationship with its workers. The company set out from the beginning with a benefits package good enough to short circuit the unions so called benefit. Why give some organization cash out of each paycheck to "represent" your interests when the company makes the offer lucrative to begin with?
"exponential growth of behemoth corporations"?
Missed that memo. Please elaborate.
You missed that memo? You mean the merger of Exxon and Mobil didn't catch your attention? The consolidation of the media and the Republican-controlled FCC's blessing of it; Wal-Mart and its ability to dictate how much security will be used at our nation's ports; Halliburton and Bechtel's continued success notwithstanding billions in failures and proven incompetence.
Not really, but then again I'm not that paranoid.
Mergers and consolidation have been going on long before W got elected.
As for profits in spite of failure, some companies just write better contracts than others.
Also I'm not exactly sure what Wal-Mart dictating security has to do with the growth of business. That kinda sounds like a rant. I'm pretty good at spotting those.
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