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Originally Posted by village dreamer
yes it would be nice if everyone could make $15 per hour , but. will you pay $3 for a donut,$20 for pizza. i dont know where this is going to go. can a small shop pay $15?? you all know who pays the $15.... we will. how about all the grass cutters , gate keepers,all the golf course people. all our fees will go up.
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$15 an hour X 40 hours a week X 50 weeks a year (allowing a two week vacation) = 2000 hours of work per year for $30,000.
$30,000 a year is approximately what I get from Social Security without working. I also have retirement savings. A lot of people in The Villages live on that, or less, but if they do, there’s a good chance they have no mortgage or a small one, and they have Medicare, which is a huge help.
Workers making $30,000 a year pay little to no Federal Income Tax but do pay the Social Security Tax. Workers making $30,000 a year don’t qualify for Medicaid but may qualify for assistance for buying health insurance. They probably no longer qualify for food stamps, or whatever it is called these days. They may no longer qualify for some other government aid that offsets every penny they pay in taxes. They are probably paying a third of their salary in rent. Most of what they don’t spend on rent and utilities goes to buying things. Their buying things keeps the rest of the country producing things to buy. If they make half as much, they buy a lot less.
A family with two workers making $30,000 a year each can afford to buy a house, maybe a small car, be more comfortable. Maybe they get health insurance. They can pay their bills. They pay income tax. They are no longer taking from the government without giving, but are productive, proud, and have a level of freedom from want they don’t have on $30,000 a year, much less less than that. They can do that with high school diplomas, or even without them if they are each earning $15 an hour. Instead of all of us paying, by way of the government, to keep them alive, they too become taxpayers.
I think that is fantastic! What happens sometimes now is that businesses hire people for a wage so low that we the government have to make up the difference. Why should employers get a free ride that way? Wouldn’t you much rather pay for those employees by paying slightly more for products and services than by paying more tax so they can receive more government handouts? A good living wage encourages people to work and lets more people enjoy the fruits of the American Dream we like to talk about. It’s part of making America great for ALL people.