"More attainable today than ever". REALLY? Tell all of the shuttered small businesspeople by the thousands that. Tell the single moms of America that. Tell the indebted college students that. Tell the long-term unemployed that. Tell laid off blue collar workers who had to start all over in their 50s that. Tell laid-off Master's Degree and PhD holders that. Tell the STEM graduates who invested their money and did everything they were told only to come out to the worst job market in two decades that. Tell seniors that. Tell the average worker, whose average wage hasn't risen in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1979, that hitting the $1 million mark is realistic. What sort of bubble does this woman LIVE in?




. . . and she goes on to list an anecdotal situation where someone came from no money to become wealthy. THAT SETTLES IT! Conclusion reached, YOU'RE JUST LAZY, slackers!



. . . and again . . . another anecdotal passes for supporting proof.

The assertion that 86% of millionaires are "self made" is horseshit, by the way.



And yet, they still made it. Here's the thing. If I somehow miraculously made it to the million-dollar mark, I'm not going to sit there and tell someone that I made this money entirely by my hard work and good ol' fashioned gumption and yew can TOO! I'm no idiot. Economies can be just as favorable to a certain sector at any given time just as they can be unfavorable to others. No one has to like what I sell. Studies show that tech giants were all born in the same time period. It's very possible that their initial crucial first years were met with no landmines, personal or business. To discount luck in a person's success is being silly and borderline facetious.

Articles like this . . . it's almost as if they're making fun of us for not believing in this "American Dream" fairy tale. That rags to riches CAN happen ("can" being the operative word) if only we just all WORKED HARDER. It belittles middle/working/poor class struggle and reduces realities, hardships and bad breaks as "excuses".

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/6-millionaire-myths-debunked-000000873.html

The Politely Evil Empire: How the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Became the Greatest (Bumbling) Enemy of America

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2014-01-30/news/us-chamber-of-commerce-problems/full/



Great article, easy to read. Local CoCs are leaving the extremist RW CoC in droves. It's become a disease, one that affects this nation's progress.

So on FB today, random small business owner was griping that, in regards to his business:

a) labor costs are running 38-40%
b) a minimum wage increase translates to an across-the-board increase for ALL employees
c) barely get by, work 60-80 hrs a week, blah blah blah (because your average working stiff, of course, doesn't even come close to that Not belittling him, but don't make this a dick-swinging contest).
d) a 20% increase in payroll would mean he would have to increase prices 20%
e) mega-corps can handle the wage increase, small businesses can't.
f) 12 people would be out of work and he'd have to close down.

Now, while this is a concern, here are my questions:

Is this situation the fault of the government for trying to make things an atom speck fairer for severely underpaid workers or is this situation the fault of said short-term/short-sighted small businessperson for being under the mistaken notion that the ridiculously low 7.25 an hour insult would remain in place for eternity? Is the small business owner under the notion that workers in 2014 are paid too much? Fact after chart after graph after study proves that idea dead freaking wrong, and if you have workers with no disposable income, there will be no DEMAND. That's not "Economics 101", that's Common Freaking Sense.

I mean, no one wants an entrepreneur to feel pain or close down. That's not what the intent of this discussion is about. I just have to understand why these people thought that they could get away with paying people a pittance forever . . . and it IS a pittance. With studies showing that 40% of workers now making LESS than the inflation-adjusted minimum wage of 1968, it borders on idiotic to think that a proper inflation correction (which used to be sound economics and sound capitalism but is now apparently "SOSHULTITS" in 2014) is "asking too much".

Is it that they just want every other company besides theirs to get demand going by increasing worker's wages? Or should it be phased in gradually for small businesses, right away for large ones? Is that a fair plan or is there more to it than that?

" . . . and see what happens."

Oh, and he's also arguing that "the market should decide the minimum wage" . . . should that be 8, 7 or 6 dollars an hour. Yeah, that 6 dollar/hour figure is also from him.

Unbelievable.

Anyone who thinks a 7.25 minimum wage is too high . . . yeah, I instantly don't take you seriously. AT all. Suggesting lower than that . . . well, you need to look up the term "Not Even Wrong".

10.10 isn't even a proper inflation correction.



Oh, and Kevin . . . aren't you CANADIAN??? What do YOU care what OUR wage is or what our market sets or whatever? I feel sorry for the citizens of that great nation now belching out nutters like this . .. and Harper.

Don't usually delve into the Wonka memes, but had to make this one for the "bumper sticker brilliant" . . . .

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/poor-stop-whining-says-luxury-160846180.html?vp=1



Article was written by Robert Frank, the . . . are you ready . . . CNBC Wealth Editor.

Do we REALLY have a correspondent solely dedicated to reporting on and defending the extremely wealthy?

Can you say "Propaganda Arm", kids? I knew you could.

If education and lack of skills were the crux of America's economic problems (as most Conservative pundits and peasants will repeat ad nauseum), can you explain to me why we now have the most educated workforce; more credentialed and certified than any time in our history, but a 13-year track record of such dismally weak job creation and wage gains to SHOW for it?

It's just that they say "Supersize yer skill set, haw haw"; but the thing is, lots of people HAVE done that and ARE doing that, whether it's through degrees, certification, credentials, training, etc. and it doesn't really appear to be paying off as it should be. Wages haven't moved with inflation since 1979. We're creating jobs, but what are they paying? Are they on par with the birth/death rate and the incoming/outgoing work force? They don't appear to have answers other than "life isn't fair".

So now we're getting our paid shills in the form of assistant professors at Troy University?

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101373237



Dear God Danny, you CANNOT be this DAFT.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1840&bih=921&q=inflation+adjusted+wages+since+1979&oq=inflation+adjusted+wages+since+1979&gs_l=img.3...1238.8216.0.8559.35.12.0.22.22.0.104.775.11j1.12.0....0...1ac.1.32.img..11.24.812.Lf620gk3Hoo