@tomathon Entirely correct! It’s also proof that there is no “magic wand” solution as any simple solution will screw somebody royally. Right now, it’s the working class that is getting bent over the barrel first and hardest.
First, your points…
1) If the people who profited greatly from the Bush tax cuts actually had their investment dollars lead to job creation, that wouldn’t be an issue. Theory versus reality :/
2) That depends on how well they can compensate with volume. On the one hand, that gives big companies a severe advantage over small businesses that stifles competition and promotes monopolies. On the other hand, that’s already been happening for so long that I am surprised that small businesses even still exist.
3) No easy answers there. To expect one is foolish.
4) Well, considering how many people would be forced onto government assistance which would result in higher tax rates, I’d say it depends on how many value a quick buck at the expense of long term sustainability and at the expense of the nation.
5 + 6 + 7) Those happen a lot already. The big companies are looking to maximize margins, and the small ones cannot compete due to volume, so I’m not entirely sure it would be appreciably different from the current situation.
8) How many slowed/stopped already because that cut into executive compensation packages?
So, how about we take steps to reduce the required minimum wage then? Of course, that would limit profit margins as companies would no longer be able to charge what they can get away with. On the other hand, Costco seems to be doing well for itself.
As for @Jaxk, I would think that (as a small business owner), he of all people would have a great interest in cost-cutting. After all, for him (and those like him), those profits aren’t just a way to buy Bugattis; @Jaxk has his own bills to pay too.
Raising the minimum wage is, admittedly, the worst way to handle things like this, but it’s also the only real feasible way as the alternatives would require regulating businesses in ways that they refuse to regulate themselves; an option I find unpalatable. Or a third option, and by far the least likely; massive reforms across the board.
Maybe the easiest solution that wont bone anybody too bad is to roll things back a bit. What has changed that caused things to go awry?
One change is wages that fail to keep pace with inflation for the majority while rapidly outpace it for the elite; a rising tide has failed to lift all ships. While it would be unfair to limit executive compensation as a multiple of the income of the average worker (especially since much of that is in the form of stocks/options) there is no denying that that is a rather drastic change. Sure, executives work hard to get results, but productivity per worker has also increased dramatically too; isn’t everyone entitled to compensation for work performed?
Another change is an increase in regulation of things that really don’t need to be regulated. Following rules isn’t cheap, and following stupid rules is an expensive waste of money that could be better spent elsewhere. Now, some of the newer regulations had to happen, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that many of the regulations (both new and old) really cause more harm than good.
There are many other things to consider, but by far the biggest obstacle (and something that that has also changed in recent years) is that hyper-partisanship has made compromise impossible. In fact, I am rather surprised that the two parties even agree to being the same chamber together, and am waiting for a filibuster against roll call. No matter what he optimal solution is, there is no way any reform will happen, especially not when a vocal minority amongst one party proudly proclaims that negotiation is weakness.
The only way we will get anything done is if all sides are willing to listen, and there is some give-and-take. Workers need a decent wage to live, but those wages are paid by businesses which need to keep costs down to survive. How do we balance those contrasting needs? The only answers I can give to that are, “better that we do now”, and, “We used to do better”.
BTW, by answering in a rational manner that promotes civilized discussion instead of party-line naysaying, you have proven me wrong by pleasantly exceeding my expectations. After so many of these discussions over the years, I expect to just be called a stupid Liberal/Democrat simply because I don’t toe the Republican line.