Elected Math Moron
From FoxNews:
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., called for a federal minimum wage of $20 per hour at an event in Detroit on Sunday night, prompting mockery from conservatives and threatening to force mainline Democrats in the 2020 presidential race to address the issue in upcoming debates.Tlaib's comment came during remarks to the Restaurant Opportunities Center of Michigan and the labor rights group One Fair Wage, and were recorded by the conservative political action committee America Rising. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed a $15 federal minimum wage bill last week, but it has little chance of passing the GOP-controlled Senate.
Tlaib, referring to the federal minimum wage for those workers, said that "tipped employees make $2.13 per hour, federally."
Um, yes, as a sort of base pay.
These Congresspeople have whole staffs to do research for them.
Yet...well, here...from my 2014 book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck":
The U.S. Department of Labor allows restaurants to pay tipped employees a "sub-minimum wage"--$2.13 an hour as of spring 2013--although employers are required to make up the difference between the sub-minimum and the federal minimum wage ($7.25 in 2013) if the employee isn't pulling it in in tips. (Some states require the restaurant to pay a higher minimum base. In Arizona, it's a whole $3; in California, it's $8.)
Waiters earn tips -- with 20% being standard in urban areas now -- that vastly surpass their base pay. Work in a restaurant that's at all "nice," and you're likely to make out quite nicely in tip-land.
Oh, and as we who have an acumen for rudimentary math understand, what goes up (like the minimum wages) must bring something else down. For example, from Alfredo Ortiz, president of the Job Creators Network:
"It's a shame Representative Tlaib didn't hear that Bernie Sanders is cutting his staff's hours to meet their demands for a $15 minimum wage," Ortiz told the paper. "If she won't listen to job creators about the unintended consequences of a higher minimum wage, maybe she'll listen to a socialist politician."
ATM-like ordering in restaurants, coming right up!
Olive Garden, Chili's, a few other big chains already have that, in many places. A tablet where you can order, call a server for refills, pay, and play games while you wait.
I've waited tables and bartended. There were shifts I'd pull $50 an hour. I don't think I ever made less than $15 and that was almost 20 years ago. Not that it's about servers money, of course. Votes and control, always.
Momof4 at July 24, 2019 5:39 AM
Everyone thought Trump was an idiot with those tweets. But you see what he's done: he has established in everyone's minds, including the Democrats, that the extremists Tlaib, Omar and AOC are the face of the Democratic Party. The media is now using "the Squad" as their go-to-source, and they don't realize that Trump has played them. It's the Nancy Pelosi tactic writ large.
Cousin Dave at July 24, 2019 6:35 AM
Not long ago, a waitress I knew slightly mentioned she was looking for a new job. The restaurant she worked for had recently raised their prices by about 10%. She found that her tips, and those of her fellow servers, had decreased or vanished completely.
I don't know why, but I can guess.
Grandma Elizabeth at July 24, 2019 6:38 AM
So why not $50/hour? how about $100? no? why not?
Meanwhile, in BernieLand. Be thankful that Bernie didn't send you to a concen...err...re-education camp.
https://twitter.com/BLaw/status/1153752825148727296
I R A Darth Aggie at July 24, 2019 7:09 AM
The tipping situation is getting out of hand. Used to be 10% then 15, then 20 and now apparently it's crept to 25.
All workers should be paid minimum wage at least, take the tips out of the equation and let tips be tips.
None of this $2-$3 an hour bullshit.
Sorry. I'm in a mood. I'm currently stateside. Everyone is like "Switzerland's so expensive" but it really isn't. In America it LOOKS cheap but the price isn't the price, they add all this bullshit like tax and tip or fees or whatever and it ends up being much more than they say it's going to be.
I just paid $12 for 4 rolls of paper towels. I couldn't find any cheaper ones on the shelf! At Walgreens, these weren't some organic Whole Foods luxury paper towels.
No, pay your damn workers. Don't ask the customer to do it for you after we've paid for our meal. Tips should be tips not base pay.
NicoleK at July 24, 2019 7:26 AM
Ever been to South America, Nicole? EVERYONE wants a tip, including people whose services you didn't need or want.
I always had a problem with bathroom attendants, but I haven't seen one of them in over a decade.
I expect to tip my servers. But, having waited tables, I find it offensive that people who I know are being paid full wages solicit tips. You haven't earned 15% for ringing up my order and handing me a sandwich.
I imagine that plenty of servers will lose money if their minimum wage goes up. If I'm paying your wage in the cost of my meal, why should I tip? Assuming that others feel the same, servers will earn $15/hour (or whatever), but that's it. Right now I think that the bartenders at the only bar in my small town out-earn me on most nights, and they don't pay taxes on the cash.
ahw at July 24, 2019 8:11 AM
Sander's campaign was taking advantage of the workers' union contract and working the staff well beyond the standard 40-hour work week, thus reducing the hourly rate.
Bernie's staff will still get the promised $36,000 per annum salary. The staffers are not losing money with the cut in hours.
The campaign, however, will now face higher labor costs as it is forced to hire more workers to fill those now-unworked hours. Hope he's got a lot of rich socialists to fund his campaign. He's gonna need 'em.
Higher labor costs come with trade-offs.
Higher labor costs = higher prices. Once we hit a $15 an hour minimum and a Big Mac costs $9, the minimum wage earner will still be at the same economic level he was before the increase. The purchasing power of his salary will not increase relative to the final cost of goods.
And it's not just minimum wage earners or industries that will be affected. Most unions peg their wage rates at a percentage above minimum. Even non-union workers making above-minimum will demand an increase to keep their status. So labor costs will rise across the board - and prices will follow.
When you increase the minimum wage to something below the existing market wage rate, this inflation does not ensue as the market is already paying above the new minimum. However, when you increase the minimum wage above the going market rate, this inflation does ensue. And $15 an hour is well above the market rate for unskilled labor.
Conan the Grammarian at July 24, 2019 8:59 AM
My very first job was as a waiter. The pay was the tipped employee minimum for the era. However, the wait staff was not allowed to keep their tips. All tips had to go into a common box to be divided equally among all employees-- including those who got the normal (higher) minimum wage. If you didn't put all tips in the box you got fired. People would try to take me aside and secretly hand me a really nice tip when they felt I had earned it. I told them the score and said they should keep their money. So no matter how nicely someone tipped me for superior service, I didn't really benefit. The manager called me into the office a few times to scold me for not smiling and running as I waited on customers. He couldn't understand why. I didn't stay at that job very long.
The only ethical minimum wage is 0. Anything else distorts (and destroys) the market.
Kent McManigal at July 24, 2019 9:31 AM
Kent:
That is what happens anyway, when people decide to lay off workers or not open businesses.
Ben David at July 24, 2019 10:06 AM
“ and they don't pay taxes on the cash.“ ahw
The IRS doesn’t ignore tips, they estimate something, and you pay tax on that. One can argue it’s too low an estimate but there are some areas where tipping is more and others where it is less.
Joe j at July 24, 2019 10:16 AM
Slightly off-topic, but if 20% is the standard tip at a sit-down restaurant, what's standard at a buffet? The servers don't take your order or bring your food, but they do clear your used plates and refill your drinks. I usually tip around 10%, but I don't know if I'm being stingy or generous.
Rex Little at July 24, 2019 10:43 AM
the minimum wage earner will still be at the same economic level he was before the increase
If they're lucky, they'll be back to the same level. I'm going to guess that when you throw more dollars at something relatively fixed in supply such as housing, those costs will be increased relative to the level.
This is great if you're a slum lord. This also stands a good chance at killing many small mom & pop eateries. The big chains have more capacity to absorb a hit like this, but the smaller shops may not.
I R A Darth Aggie at July 24, 2019 12:17 PM
That's an interesting point.
Due to the limited supply, bidding up the price of housing will drive the price upward higher and faster than costs of manufactured goods which have substitutes and, thus, have at least some downward market pressure on prices.
Unfortunately, the supply of housing is limited. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is reporting that the US is not building housing at the rate it did before the 2008 crunch and supply in most cities is getting tight.
Under those circumstances, raising the minimum wage is doubly negative toward people with low levels of discretionary income. Rents increase as the supply of habitable space tightens.
Conan the Grammarian at July 24, 2019 12:57 PM
Not only that. The union, UFCW, has pressured the campaign to raise the salary to $42,000 per annum with free healthcare benefits.
So, Bernie (and UFCW) might just get that lesson in economic reality they both so desperately need. Healthcare costs money, real money, and making an employer pay for it means less money to hire staff and that means fewer jobs.
Conan the Grammarian at July 24, 2019 1:52 PM
Nobody ever realizes the fundamentals.
You're not arguing about dollars, though I understand if that's all you can think about. You're arguing about An Hour of Work.
Which you CANNOT change.
Radwaste at July 24, 2019 4:04 PM
"Healthcare costs money, real money, and making an employer pay for it means less money to hire staff and that means fewer jobs."
Let us not miss this, either: "making an employer pay for it" really means "increase the price" - which, in this day of rapid shipping, means no jobs and no company. China will do that job.
By the way, activists: are you intending to pay those brown people in the field $15/hour? You're going to get a harsh lesson about costs.
Radwaste at July 24, 2019 4:10 PM
I think you all are just being meen.
Listen, the 21st century is well underway, okayyyy??
It's time for you to absorb some distasteful truths!
First of all, we, especially the youngest of us, know things about people that no one knew before we got here... Because WE were the first humans to understand that people have FEELINGS!!! Your grandma and grandpa never knew that!!! You didn't either, you race-ist anti-transmosexual BIGOT! How DARE you?!?!???!
Secondly, government power is the ONLY source of interpersonal influence! There are no boundaries to its reach!!
Thirdly, we can all (in my circle of friends, I mean) just DECIDE how much things are worth! And then others have to agree! Because that's how it works!!!!!!!!
WEANG, right? Gosh, you Olds are so pathetic....
Crid at July 24, 2019 4:21 PM
Not simply an hour of work, it's an hour of unskilled labor; an important distinction in that it does not require specialized skills, training, or knowledge to be performed. The performer of said labor would, in theory, be interchangeable with any other human on the planet.
Substitutions for the unskilled laborer abound. And where there are readily-available and easily-employed substitutes, economic theory teaches us, prices are elastic and the value placed on said item by consumers tends to be lower.
Conan the Grammarian at July 24, 2019 4:27 PM
And don't forget taxes. The tax rate on $24,000 are surely not less than the tax rate on $30,000.
The Former Banker at July 24, 2019 8:38 PM
As Thomas Sowell correctly observed, young minorities,esp black men, are heavily impacted by a rising min wage--in fact the fed min wage was first suggested as a way of pricing minorities out of the labor market--if employers had to pay more, they would prefer to hire whites was the sales pitch. I have to say, these earlier bigots at least had their economics right. I have heard progressives, when told it will cause young black men to lose jobs, answer "raise it anyway"--showing just how much they care.
The higher min wage is always referred to as a "living wage" which means a single mother with 2 children, but the lowest wage jobs are the bottom rungs on the ladder to allow teens and immigrants to get experience and hopefully move up. Walmart promotes from within. If you want burger servers to make $30,000/yr, you won't be able to eat out anymore. But no one stays at that job. Do you really want people to make a career out of the least-skilled jobs?
cc at July 25, 2019 1:02 PM
Wow. Another politician is buying votes with our fucking money. I’d rather them just hold a gun to my head and say “Gimme your shit”.
Feebie at July 25, 2019 1:15 PM
“Everyone thought Trump was an idiot with those tweets. But you see what he's done: he has established in everyone's minds, including the Democrats, that the extremists Tlaib, Omar and AOC are the face of the Democratic Party. The media is now using "the Squad" as their go-to-source, and they don't realize that Trump has played them. ”
I think you give him too much credit. He just has really bad impulse control. Not the mark of mental giant.
Feebie at July 25, 2019 1:21 PM
"The performer of said labor would, in theory, be interchangeable with any other human on the planet."
Or in many cases, trained ape. Bananas are cheap.
I once saw a documentary about a chimp in the UK that could fly a Cessna, and tended bar alongside his owner/flight instructor in the evenings. The owner kept his tips but provided him a comfortable lifestyle.
bw1 at July 25, 2019 6:27 PM
I would expect that in places with super high minimum wages, the public responds (not necessarily consciously) by tipping less or not at all. I would.
I also believe whenever a proposal like this comes up, the public should be reminded that the minimum wage, when its creation was proposed in the 19-teens, was for the express purpose of forcing the handicapped out of the work force and making their families institutionalize them. And for once, the Progressives who said so were telling the truth. They are still the main group harmed by minimum wages, and a lot of people with borderline conditions shift into the "disabled" category when the minimum goes up. (Only now they no longer get institutionalized, they become homeless.)
I do not for one minute believe that the increasing homeless populations in places that have increased minimum wages, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Baltimore are a coincidence.
Maybe President Trump should see to it that the Labor Dept gives more publicity to these people and how changes in labor regulations affect how many of them there are.
jdgalt at July 25, 2019 8:57 PM
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