ClareP's Comments (3439)

“Have you priced a college education lately?”

“gee, I guess I forgot that wealth, privilege, and opportunity are distributed in direct proportion to moral worth in this country. And that we live in a world where bad things never ever happen to good people. How fortunate we are.”

“I take some comfort in the fact that she also LOOKS the part of a whackjob.”

“That would really make the most sense.”

“It would have been more reasonable if they hadn't just hugely upped their prices in anticipation of the "savings" they agreed to offer.”

“That would really make the most sense.”

“actually, he officially supports it.”

“Ok, who are the dems who would vote against the health care reform bill if it allows for the reimportation of drugs? I'd like to see names and their reasons (if they have any).

And who cares if Pharma "walks away from supporting the bill"-- they aren't the ones who have the power to pass it or not. If congress passes it, it's law. How is "walking away" an option at that point?”

“There are a lot of things that could arguably go into it, but that is certainly a big one. I guess for me the question is, does anyone who puts in a full week of hard work deserve less than to be adequately housed, clothed, fed, cared for when sick, and still able to have some personal life and family? I don't think so. There is a minimum which it is reasonable to pay a full time laborer of any kind, and that is the minimum that someone can earn and still live a decent basic human life.

Work round the clock without ever really being able to take care of even yourself, until you get sick and die (and likely can't even get medical care) is to some degree worse than slavery. In the ancient world, you could sometimes be prosecuted for abusing a slave to death, and you were expected to provide basic food, shelter, clothing, even the ability to have a family, and care in old age. That says something.”

“verashula, don't flatter yourself.”

“and try actually adding in the cost of gas, electricity, heat, phone, food, clothing, transportation, medical expenses, little luxuries like basic furniture.­...

Only in very cheap areas could it come anywhere near a living wage. and in those areas, while housing & food may be lower, transportation may be higher. So who knows.

And of course, there is no possibility of supporting a family. Besides having to add more for each expense and having to add child care, you couldn't actually care for them working this schedule anyway. So I guess the people who think this is just fine don't really believe these people deserve to have families.”

“Based on what a=standard, exactly? And I suppose you are convinced that whatever you do is worth much more.”

“Well, I'm very skeptical about you & your skepticism.”

“And if you have a family it qualifies you for some forms of housing assistance in this area. Check out the variation in housing costs around the nation. Food and heating too. That's another reason why averages tell you nothing. they are only meaningless numbers until you put them in specific context.”

“gotta fan you for that one.”

“Obviously you're jumping to unjustified and unsubstantiated conclusions.

I've actually done factory work. With mandatory weekly night shift overtime. Have you?”

“I'm speaking of what they actually take home once you take tips into consideration. While basic coffeeshop/diner level work may get you about $10 an hour, you don;t have to do fine dining to get significantly more. I worked at a local pizza place in grad school where a weekend night would net $200-250 in tips on most nights. That's a lot better than these folks do.”

“spot on.

why do so many posters accept it? apparently because they have little compassion and humanity and believe that they will profit from it, sad to say.”

“I never claimed there was a problem with :working hard for 40 hours a week." these is more to what is being done here.

You asked for one example: ok. failure to get overtime pay:
"Currently, workers covered by the FLSA are entitled to the minimum wage and overtime pay at a rate of not less than one and one-half times their regular rate of pay after 40 hours of work in a workweek"

You are correct about the lack of federal regulation to require breaks or the ability to take sick days (even without pay). That, frankly, is a serious failure in our labor laws, and ought to be corrected.”

“The problem is not the standing and walking and lifting-- I've done that and more. And worked mandatory overnight overtime.

The problem is not being paid properly for that overtime. Not getting reasonable breaks. Not being able to take sick days or get days off.”

“Between 1947 and 1973, U.S. output per worker chugged along impressively at an annual growth rate of 2.7% per year. Beginning in 1973, however, ...product­ivity [grew] at only a 1.4% annual rate for the next two decades...­.U.S. productivity began to grow quickly again in the late 1990's, and there now are enough data to suggest that this change is for real. Between 1995 and 2004, U.S. output per worker grew at a 2.9% annual rate, even faster than the impressive pre-1973 pace.
http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2005/08/the_underreport.html

to what extent have workers living standards been lifted by the increase in the economy's ability to produce more goods and services per hour worked? Are working families fairly benefiting from the greater economic efficiencies that they themselves are helping to generate?

Figure C shows that working families have generally not shared in the productivity growth over this decade. The wage data here are from the same underlying source as the hourly data above, but they are quarterly data on real median weekly earnings of full-time workers, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).4 Productivity is up just under 20% over the period, while the real weekly earnings of the typical full-time male are down about 1.0% and those of women are up 3.5%.
link for more detail: http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/bp195/”

“It specifically says they get fired for taking a sick day, even with a doctor's note. And there are companies that do this, and they hide behind a screen of "people abuse their sick days" claims to do so, at least until they are investigated or sued. The fact that the shortness and infrequency of breaks could promote illness or injury makes it all the more outrageous.”

“And one of those choices-- perhaps the most important one-- is whether or not we are willing to exploit others for our own convenience and justify such exploitation or whether we behave humanely to others and try to work to be sure everyone, no matter what economic status, receives fair and humane treatment. From your posts, you seem to have made yours.”

“On that basis you can deny anything. Do you have any actual evidence to back up and justify your skepticism?”

“exactly- pay a little better, give actual breaks and sick leave, and don't force overtime without pay.”