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SEATTLE’S MINIMUM WAGE CRASH: $15 to ZERO! Profits Tumble!


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SEATTLE’S MINIMUM WAGE CRASH: $15 to ZERO! Profits Tumble!
 

November 16, 2014
 By Bill Chandler


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Seattle, Washington, one of the strongest remaining bastions of liberal philosophy left in the country, passed a phased-in $15 minimum wage law earlier this year. The highest minimum wage in the country. The vote was unanimous and the throng outside cheered, but for many this is a loss from which they will never recover. It is a blow to the profitability of businesses that they just can’t take.


 

Even the left-leaning Seattle Times expressed concern wondering if Seattle had indeed “gone too far.”

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According to the National Review Hotline, Kathrina Tugadi owner of Seattle’s El Norte Lounge, no longer hires musicians for her restaurant, she said she can’t justify expenses that don’t directly “add to the bottom line.” And, she says, hours will have to be cut: El Norte Lounge plans to stop serving lunch and only serve dinner.

 

“I am concerned about my business and others in the community, but it isn’t just about any one business. It’s about how the entire economic community,” she said. El Norte may be unable to remain open once the ordinance is fully in effect, she said. Even Pagliacci Pizza, a Seattle-area pizza chain, is moving its call center and some of its production facilities outside the city. That’s a lot of job loss, a lot of new people with a new wage of ZERO.
 

Socialist Council-member Kshama Sawant was the main proponent of the $15 ordinance. She and her supporters denied that the policy change would hurt businesses in the city. In one interview, Sawant said there need be “no unintended consequences.”

 

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“No Unintended Intended Consequences?” Who is she kidding? There are always consequences. In this case the consequences are the businesses that are downsizing, closing and failing, jobs that are lost, and most of all, people whose new hourly wage is ZERO. No unintended intended consequences? Are our politicians really that . . . stupid? Yes, I said it, Stupid. Do they really think taxes are irrelevant, businesses are omnipotent and that they can be drained in the name of politics without “any intended consequences?”

 

Do our politicians really not understand that our standard of living is the direct result
of one thing . . . the vitality of our businesses?

 

She went on to state that “any additional costs could come out of ‘extravagant profits’ rather than consumers pockets.” You have got to be kidding me . . . squared! Extravagant profits? Tell that to all the entrepreneurs out there who are trying desperately to make ends meet. Explain that to the mortgage companies they are trying to pay. And please pass that on to those on the street who’s job no longer exists. And, by the way: where do you think every paycheck every employee has ever received came from?

 

Yes, Kshama, they came from business, all of them. And where do you think these businesses came from? They came from regular people like you and I who took a chance, rolled the dice, worked hard and were able to provide the people with something of value. All of them, that is where every single business you deplore came from.

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You may think there are no intended consequences, but survey results tell a different story. Seattle Time contracted with a survey research firm to contact businesses in a broad range of industries likely to be impacted by the law. These are not businesses you’d describe as extravagant. Not surprisingly, nearly 70 percent of respondents in Seattle said that the $15 minimum wage is causing a “big increase” in their labor costs, and over 60 percent planned to pass on what they could to customers through higher prices.

 

But, according to Michael Saltsman, research director at the Employment Policies Institute, “price increases are not a silver bullet. After all, were businesses able to raise their prices at will without reducing sales, the minimum wage would be an afterthought. Customers have a choice: If prices increase, they could dine out less often or see one fewer movie a month. That’s why businesses are forced to adapt to a compulsory wage hike in other ways.”
 

In Seattle, 42 percent of surveyed employers were “very likely” to reduce the number of employees per shift or overall staffing levels as a direct consequence of the law. Similarly, 44 percent reported that they were “very likely” to scale back on employees’ hours to help offset the increased cost of the law. That’s particularly bad news for the Seattle metro area, where the unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds is already more than 30 percent — due in part to Washington state’s already-high minimum wage.
 

Perhaps most concerning about the $15 proposal is that some businesses anticipated going beyond an increase in prices or a reduction in staffing levels. More than 43 percent of respondents said it was “very likely” they would limit future expansion in Seattle in response to the law. One in seven respondents is even “very likely” to close a current location in the city limits.
 

Yes, it it always sounds good to give people more free stuff, but once again, everything has a price. I asked a group of sixth graders what they would do. It only took them a few minutes to determine that their only choices were to; fire some employees, raise prices, or go out of business. They also concluded that people won’t come to your store if you charge too much. If sixth graders grasp this, what is wrong with our politicians?
 

Seattle is the first city in the country to pass a $15 minimum wage. Survey results suggested it will be the first city to find out why it was such a bad idea.

 

No matter how badly we would like it to be otherwise, there are always a consequences,
and 2+2 will always equal 4.

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that is pretty  rough  fnb planet ,     but  I am  in line with what you are  or were  thinking  on the 15 an hour ,  minimum wage deal ,   looks like  the above  folks are the template  of  how  the economy is going too fail with  the idea  that  ---- your first  job  right out of  high school ,  or  your  lower bracket jobs  will start at 15.oo  an hour ,  can bet  the yearly  cost of living raise  will not go into effect !   { any one  surprised that this is the out come ? }   the start  of  the  all  managers work here  idea ---- no employees , every one is managers , and on a  salary of 10.oo  dollars  an hour  

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From my own personal perspective - I find it hard to believe that a fast food employee (don't get me wrong here - I was a BK manager for a number of years and know they work hard too) is worth more than a US Army Infantry Private. If you take the base pay of a Private First Class (E-3) who has typically been in the Service for about 1 year, and divide it by 160 hours (and we all know they work a lot more hours than that) you come up with an hourly wage of $11.29.  Even if you ad in the typical Basic Allowance for Housing - No Dependents, you get $14.63 an hour.

 

So - we're going to pay someone who works a fryer or a grill more than a young man willing to be shipped to train his butt off daily, get shipped to a foreign country, and risk his life to close with the enemy by means of fire and maneuver in order to destroy or capture him?

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Thought I might like it in Seattle, secured a god job, moved there. Gave it 1 year, saw the writing on the wall. That was 1980.  Sound move - "all things considered" - well, isn't that a NPR [National Peoples Radio] show . . . .Liberals love catchy phrases, don't they.

 

Let's see if they can spin the downward economic spiral to come into something positive.

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So does everyone who make above minimum wage now,also get the corresponding wage increase?? Or,are people who make more than minimum wage(say $12 an hour)stay where they are and now the $15 an hour people become the new bosses or the new people with the more seniority..I guess the burger flipper who has been there longer should get $16 or $17 An hour then..And the management should get $22 an hour..

 

      Do I make sense  :shrug: ...     Raises for everyone  :rodeo:   Yipee..... Dollar meals,are now $5 meals!!! Wahoo...

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I can't believe nobody asked for Mr Galt yet.


*Paging Dr. Galt. Hello. Mr Galt?"


So does everyone who make above minimum wage now,also get the corresponding wage increase?? Or,are people who make more than minimum wage(say $12 an hour)stay where they are and now the $15 an hour people become the new bosses or the new people with the more seniority..I guess the burger flipper who has been there longer should get $16 or $17 An hour then..And the management should get $22 an hour..

 

      Do I make sense  :shrug: ...     Raises for everyone  :rodeo:   Yipee..... Dollar meals,are now $5 meals!!! Wahoo...

 

I can't wait to pay $5 for a dollar menu item!

 

(idiots....)  :eek:

 

The most ridiculous part of this issue is the fact that people still buy into it.

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I can't believe nobody asked for Mr Galt yet.

*Paging Dr. Galt. Hello. Mr Galt?"

 

I can't wait to pay $5 for a dollar menu item!

 

(idiots....)  :eek:

 

The most ridiculous part of this issue is the fact that people still buy into it.

Mr. Adam... Mr. Galt is on strike with the other great producers!  We're all living in our own version of the Gulch... and we're not coming out until after the RV!!! :cigar:

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Even a crystal ball could of told them this was a disaster in the making.    :facepalm3:

 

Mr. Jax, I'm with you, not coming out until after the RV. 

Miss Patty... I'll see you within the "confines"... along with WHN, Socal, DD6, and many more! :)

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From my own personal perspective - I find it hard to believe that a fast food employee (don't get me wrong here - I was a BK manager for a number of years and know they work hard too) is worth more than a US Army Infantry Private. If you take the base pay of a Private First Class (E-3) who has typically been in the Service for about 1 year, and divide it by 160 hours (and we all know they work a lot more hours than that) you come up with an hourly wage of $11.29.  Even if you ad in the typical Basic Allowance for Housing - No Dependents, you get $14.63 an hour.

 

So - we're going to pay someone who works a fryer or a grill more than a young man willing to be shipped to train his butt off daily, get shipped to a foreign country, and risk his life to close with the enemy by means of fire and maneuver in order to destroy or capture him?

Which should tell the American people exactly how under paid the soldiers/marines/airmen really are! 

Every year the cost of living goes up 5% plus but they generally get an increase of 1%-3%.

Which means the problem gets worse & worse as time goes by. Same is true for our vets!

On top of everything else - the government has let tax cuts expire & they are being hit hard at the end of every year!

 

I know Justice is blind - so it seems are our representatives on Washington! :(

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I just hope the downward economic spiral starts before other states try to raise min. wage too.  For some reason, some people just can't see the big picture until it actually unfolds right there before them.  They can't see how this is just going to raise the prices for EVERYTHING!

 

Pure Ignorance. 

 

Low information Voters as Rush calls them.

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Which should tell the American people exactly how under paid the soldiers/marines/airmen really are! 

Every year the cost of living goes up 5% plus but they generally get an increase of 1%-3%.

Which means the problem gets worse & worse as time goes by. Same is true for our vets!

On top of everything else - the government has let tax cuts expire & they are being hit hard at the end of every year!

 

I know Justice is blind - so it seems are our representatives on Washington! :(

This year there cost of living increase for our servicmen is 1% - but that isn't the worst of it. They are phasing in cuts to Basic Allowance for Housing that will result in a 5% reduction in that amount, they are getting rid of the Tricare Prime option for retirees, and reducing the funding of commissaries.  Here is a decent breakdown of what they propose -

 

http://www.moaa.org/main_menu/take_action/top_issues/serving_in_uniform/compensation/white_house__raise_fees,_cut_pay,_housing,_and_commissary.html

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The robots will replace them.  This robot makes 360 burgers per hour with precise perfection, never complains, never shows up late, and doesn't ask for raise or go on strike.  Time to upgrade your skill sets if you want to make more money!

 

Edited by JRob
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