Posted on 10/07/2015 4:40:35 PM PDT by markomalley
President Obama said Wednesday that consumers would be OK paying higher prices if they knew it was the result of an increase in the national minimum wage. He argued that there was therefore no practical reason for anyone to oppose a hike.
"I think that most of us are price-sensitive. We're not looking to over-pay. On the other hand, I'll bet that a lot of folks here, if they go to a restaurant, and they know that the people working there are making a living wage, the fact that they may be paying an extra dollar for a burger, would feel OK," Obama said, adding, "Some people might not be able to afford it, but a lot of people could."
The president went on to say that it "would have an impact" in the debate over the minimum wage if consumers could be made more aware of the connection between a higher minimum wage and higher prices.
Obama made the comments at a White House event dubbed the "Summit on Worker Voice," a day-long event to promote organized labor in the workplace. The comments were part of larger discussion about changing attitudes toward outdated notions about workplace issues. He conceded that many businesses, especially restaurants, operate on tight profit margins and would have to pass the higher costs from a higher minimum wage onto consumers.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton sent a signed copy of her memoir Hard Choices to several of the major Republican presidential candidates. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul responded by signing the book with a message for Clinton and auctioning the memoir on eBay.
"Hillary, you refused to provide security for our mission in Benghazi," Paul wrote. "Should forever preclude you from higher office! Rand Paul."
The book signed by Paul and Clinton has already received several bids online, in excess of $300 as of press time.
Clinton first delivered the book to the presidential candidates with a letter stating that she thought the candidates may want to read the book since they had questioned her record during the most
Obama has supported several increases in the national minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 an hour. In 2013, he endorsed a Democratic legislative proposal to raise it to $10.20. Earlier this year, he endorsed a new Democratic proposal to raise it increase it to $12 an hour.
Organized labor has long supported higher minimum wages because they reduce the amount of cheap, non-union labor available to employers as well as create pressure to raise wages generally.
Said the multi-millionaire who’ll never have to pay for anything for the rest of his life.
This from a man who makes millions and pays for nothing.
A third of us have no employment. We can’t pay any more for anything. And higher wages mean even less jobs and more people put out of work. This is just another of Obama ‘s weaken- America proposals. More and more Americans forced onto welfare
Surely he realizes...”
Surely you jest.
“He argued that there was therefore no practical reason for anyone to oppose a hike.”
Well, let’s see here, what about the fact that rising prices will erode any increase in purchasing power that minimum wage workers obtain, giving them little to no benefit from the policy?
Or the fact that employers are guaranteed to lay off the lowest wage, lowest productivity employees since they won’t be worth employing at a higher wage?
How about the fact that prices will also rise for any products we are trying to sell overseas, making it even more difficult for us to compete in foreign markets?
That’s three reasons, extemporaneously, off the top of my head.
Sure they will, they don’t pay for it anyway, we do.
1.) Hear minimum wage raised by 50%
2.) Order half-dozen food ordering kiosks
3.) Fire the least productive dozen employees
4.) Then prices don't need to be raised. Revenues and profits stay about the same!
Obama, muslim scum, never worked a day in is life, so how would he know.
The days of amateurs running this country are over....
Good odea. I’ve tipped-obertped, in fact-all my life. I hardly eat out at all now-the Jesse Jackson factor multiplied by BlackLiesMatter. But if I do, I’ll make sure to find out what the servers’ pay scale is before I decide whether or not to tip. Maybe I’ll ask the server who they voted for before I decide, too.
His attempt to gloss it over is weak. A lot of people struggle just to survive. I live in a rural area, and I see people searching dumpsters. I never saw suburban people panhandling or squatting until obama.
My husband has worked a second job as a server part-time for over 40 years. Unfortunately, when he was terminated from his sales job two years ago, right before he turned 60, he became a full time waiter, albeit in a swanky steak house that charges 40 bucks for just the steak. He makes a wage of $5.05/hr plus tips, and most of the year he makes about $35 bucks an hour. He’s good at what he does and is very experienced, so he deserves every penny. No server of his caliber would work for only $12/hour and no tips.
“I’ll bet that a lot of folks here, if they go to a restaurant, and they know that the people working there are making a living wage, the fact that they may be paying an extra dollar for a burger, would feel OK,” “
If he is talking about a 20 percent increase then the typical family of five hamburger night out would go up by ten bucks. That ‘if they go’ he states would become ‘they no longer go’.
This arrogant jerk does not speak for me.
So you raise the hourly rate and the price of goods goes up accordingly...so were is anyone getting ahead...not the worker because now everything costs more and not the customer because everything costs more and not the business because everything costs more...Way to screw things up Obama...again
I already don’t tip in places with a minimum wage above $10/hr, so not much effect on my bottom line.
Seniors and minimum-wage earners hardest hit
And don’t those same poor people, that Zero professes to care so much about, now owe taxes on that additional income? They also may lose their welfare freebies like food stamps and subsidized housing and Pell grants. It’s a good thing for them that Zero loves them so, lol.
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