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California Senate endorses minimum wage hike

June 2, 2015

moneybagsThe California Senate voted Monday in favor of a bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage each of the next two years. [Sacramento Bee]

Senate Bill 3 would bump the minimum wage to $11 in 2016 and $13 in 2017. The bill also calls for the state’s minimum wage to start increasing annually in 2019 based on inflation.

Minimum wage is currently $9 per hour in California. Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, says that is too low.

“The president of the United States has defined income inequality as the defining challenge of our time,” said Leno, the author of the bill. “Wages are growing at the slowest rate relative to corporate profits in the history of the United States of America.”

Leno proposed a similar minimum wage increase last year. The bill passed the Senate but failed in an Assembly committee.

On Monday, the Senate voted 23-15 in support of Leno’s bill. No Republicans voted for the bill, and one Democrat opposed it.

“It’s a capitalistic society,” said Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa Mesa. “We need to honor the work of those that are creating jobs, that are paying the taxes.”

The proposed minimum wage hike also faces opposition from the California Chamber of Commerce, which placed SB 3 on its annual list of bills that are “jobs killers.”

Recently, several California cities have adopted their own minimum wage increases. In the next few years, minimum wage will reach $15 an hour in both Los Angeles and San Francisco.


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More on capitalism and ‘money’ :


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/capitalism-is-killing-america-morals-our-future-2015-05-22


From Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations” :

with division of labour, the produce of one’s own labour can fill only a small part of one’s needs. Different commodities have served as a common medium of exchange, but all nations have finally settled on metals, which are durable and divisible, for this purpose. Before coinage, people had to weigh and assay with each exchange, or risk “the grossest frauds and impositions .” The nations began stamping metal, on one side only, to ascertain purity, or on all sides, to stipulate purity and amount. The quatity of real metal in coins has been diminished [ or eliminated, my add ], due to the “avarice and injustice of princes and sovereign states,” enabling them to pay their debts in appearance only, and to the defraudment of creditors.”


How ‘rich’ are any of us now ?


More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealth_of_Nations#Synopsis


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http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/06/03/new-data-offer-first-infuriating-glimpse-at-how-the-richest-0-001-percent-pay-income-taxes/


Read this and then figure out where YOU fit on these scales.

Think YOU might be being screwed and suckered ?


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Did you hear that? That is the sound of jobs leaving our state, prices increasing, and factories moving to Texas.


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Are you still in that republican bubble that replaces partisan myths for facts?


California’s economy is doing well and the state is producing more jobs than Texas. To quote the LA Times: “California gained 498,000 new jobs in 12 months ended Jan. 31, almost 30% more than Texas’ total of 392,900”. Read more at http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-capitol-business-beat-20150323-story.html.


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When times were good in the Golden state we had triple the employment of Texas and Florida put together…do you still think we are doing well? The new normal just ain’t good enough.


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I read your article (latimes). No where did it indicate the value ($wages) for these jobs. If Calif lost 1 million jobs over the last ten years and gained 2 million jobs this year are we ahead or right where we were? Loss of full time jobs with benefits and replace with twice as many part time Minimum Wage jobs. No ObamaCare or other benefits.

I suspect that is why Calif wants to increase minimum wages. The more they make, the more taxes they have to pay. Ever notice the income tax brackets never go up with inflation?

Just be prepared to pay $4.00 for a cup of Starbucks.


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Its all ready $4 at Starbucks..where ya been amigo?


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In the bubble!


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‘Capitalism’ is nothing but a euphemism for totalitarianism by the rich.

The peons that post here will continue to think that ‘success’ means living, just barely, until one dies.


Slavery never tasted so good.


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‘Totalitarianism’ is outlawing entry-level jobs.


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The ‘average’ age for all Americans working for the minimum wage is 36.


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I understand about raising minimum wages, BUT I have just a small business I have 7 employees and I can barely make it. I try to keep my prices down as we all can’t afford much (at lease I can;t) and now this is going to HURT me bad, I really don’t know what to do. What happened to AMERICA. When they raised minimum to 9 that was so hard now they are going to raise it 2 more now what am I suppose to do. This is going to make everybody raise prices so who win’s. I really don’t understand how we all got in this mess.

Thank you all for listening,


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Hey, screw you and your ‘totalitarian’ rich slave running business. You with me, slowerfaster?


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It started back in the 80’s with Reaganism and austerity. All to give more money to the rich, the 1%, and the big corporations. Why ? …To put the little guy, the independent business person out of business. They eliminate the competition, thus forcing consumers into their big-box monstrosities or impersonal chains.


That’s what gangster capitalism does, and guess who ‘wins’ ?


Another thing: the CEO’s, top executives, and owners of these unpatriotic multinational combines and conglomerates compensate themselves mainly with exorbitant stock options. These are then not taxed as ordinary income, at less than one third what the individual entrepreneur is taxed.


Guess who’s getting screwed ?


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Go campaign for Bernie Sanders and let me know how that works out for you…..hababa


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I think I will. Read what Bernie is for ( what 75% 0r more of what Americans are for ). Which lunatic in the Republican clown car are you going to campaign for ?


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There are no rules or fairness anymore it would seem.


My parents, and even my grandparents’ generations could waltz out of high school in to jobs that paid a decent wage. A person could work and go to college much more easily. Even in my generation, fast food and “low paying” employers worked around the schedules of students. I worked while attending nursing school, and my employer worked around my schedule no problem.


In today’s generation, employers don’t “have to” do anything. They have tons of illegals to fill these fast food jobs. (and they DO with false SSNs). Work 2 part time jobs because you can’t find a full time job? Not likely here on the Central Coast. Employers don’t need you full time, but can’t/won’t accommodate your second job. I have seen it quite often these past few years with people I work with. Sad.


I recently read an article where engineers (tech jobs, right?) for Disney were fired/laid off so that new engineers with H-1B or whatever they are called Visas (guest worker) were hired to come to the US and take those jobs. The fired workers could have a severance package if they “were nice” and trained their replacements in a 90 day phase out/in. Other major employers are doing this, so the problem isn’t lack of talent if we are laying off US workers for foreign workers for what? Greed?


Our country makes NO SENSE. Did you know a SLO transit or South County bus driver with Class A license and passenger endorsements make like $14 an hour?? So basically people with training should just QUIT their stressful job driving people around all day and just go get a McDonald’s job. Their income would be low enough for medi-cal and food stamps! Probably other services too. It would be like a raise after all the government handouts…


Raising minimum wage only works if the other “rules” are being enforced. No illegals, no guest workers, no outsourcing crap. It needs to keep money in the economy and help people become independent. With as bad as US policies are now, increasing minimum wage won’t help.


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CentralcoastRN,


What’s your alternative solution?


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Oh come ON Ted.


I expect more out of you by now.


Quote me something EPIC from the bible.


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CentralcoastRN,


Okay, so you have nothing, but yet you can say that raising he minimum wage won’t help but you can’t back this statement up in any way.


Thank you.


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When ACA, lovingly called “Obamacare”, rolled out, low wage employers like McDonalds panicked. Workers I spoke with said they all had their hours cut to 29.5 a week so they would not be considered “full time”. This led to MORE reliance on government handouts. Food stamp use has DOUBLED since 2000. Source: US census data.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/03/03/food-stamp-reliance-is-up-in-every-single-state-since-2000/


The solution is not policitally correct. It is painful. It requires enforcing rules, tightening the budget, cracking down on douchebaggery. Specifically, the borders need to be LOCKED DOWN. Illegal aliens need to be denied services. The anchor baby law needs to reflect that at least ONE parent should be a US born citizen or have been naturalized and is somewhat self sufficient. We cannot reward people for making it to the US border before plopping down a baby. No more free stuff. No section 8, no WIC, medi-cal, food stamps, cash aid. We need to refuse guest worker Visas unless companies agree NOT to layoff US workers to bring cheap labor in. We need high tariffs on imports from China, India, anywhere that takes US jobs. US taxpayers need to boycott places that layoff US workers for foreign and/or illegals, such as Disney. We need to spend our money on US products, people, services. We need to TELL companies that we are boycotting their companies for this reason.


As for the minimum wage? It hasn’t worked before, it will not work with bad policy in place. People need to look at their budgets at home. I see every day people who say, “I can’t feed my family”. They have the newest iphone with ringtones. They have manicures, tattoos, pink hair. They are driving 2013 and newer cars. They have every channel on cable or satellite there is.


And before ANYone thinks “wow, Centralcoastrn is judgy”, I could care LESS about people and their “choices”…. IF they can AFFORD them. You want rainbow colored hair and a sleeve of tattoos. Rock on; but don’t spend all your money on that and then come to the taxpayers of an already bankrupt state/county/town and say, “I need MORE”….


I often wonder, if Jesus WAS real, WWJD? The bible SAYS he once asked one of his buddies to go catch a fish and get some money out of it’s mouth to pay their taxes (I’m not even kidding, it’s in there–see, I DO read that bible some of you thump, I just think it is more fantasy than George RR Martin, and he needs to finish his books before he DIES, but I digress). So, can you IMAGINE what Jesus would do IF he were real and IF he were levitating around on water we WISH we had? He would probably be arrested by the Sheriffs on their Panga boat while TRYING to fish without a license and AFTER turning some water in to wine. He probably would have pulled money out of the endangered smelt, so now he is in BIG trouble and will probably be going to be crucified AGAIN.


So NO, I don’t have much in the way of solutions. But it is better than the ideas of most of you.


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I happen to agree with her evaluation so I will offer some comments.


There is no simple single solution. It will take years of reversing short-sighted policy decisions — especially at the federal level — and must be done slowly as too much of the economy is tied to these policies to simply make a 180 degree turn to thinking about long-term benefits. (In addition, there will likely be too much powerful opposition by those who have made their wealth and power taking advantage of short-term thinking so this probably won’t happen without a major revolt.)


First, start adding “fair-trade” provisions to “free-trade” agreements. If companies can make more out-sourcing because they don’t have to meet reasonable workplace and environmental regulations elsewhere, there needs to be either compensatory tariffs or product bans on items produced under those conditions.


Don’t allow companies or individuals to dodge US taxes by setting up incorporating in name only or setting up tax shelters in countries where this is the primary revenue source. If you operate in the US, a fair accounting of the income generated by such operations should be made and taxed.


Tighten conflict of interest laws in Congress so that they actually fit a reasonable definition of “conflict of interest”. Congressmen/women should not be involved in making laws or policies from which they stand to benefit as long as “at least one other person also benefits.”


CentralCoastRN already mentioned the problem of illegal immigrants competing for wages with established citizens. Minimize the flow of illegals across the border (it will never be eliminated) so that employers have to offer competitive wages to get help. People shouldn’t have to live 10 to a house in order to get by on basic blue collar/service industry wages. If the labor supply gets tight enough, even farmers will have to pay wages good enough to attract US citizens to work. H1-Bs and other dodges to allow hiring cheap foreign labor should be restrained by minimum wages appropriate to the skill levels involved so that only a low supply of skilled labor will result in hiring such people.


There must be many more useful ways to focus our economy on jobs for US citizens first (better education — not necessarily more expensive).


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These would have been fine if implanted 30 years ago, but the US opted for Reaganism, neoliberal debt redistribution, and exporting our manufacturing base ( that creates the wealth …NOT the ‘wealth creators’ ).

Now, we have a national debt of at least $60 Trillion and some estimates are over $100 Trillion, with annual deficits of 540% of federal revenues. This is unsustainable, and unfortunately, we are at that stage where it can’t be fixed and economic collapse is inevitable. The misanthropic killer elite ‘princes’ in finance and politics will then initiate a distracting war until the failure is complete. Ruination will be comprehensive, for all but a few …and most of the comfortable, conceited morons now will quickly discover that what they thought were their assets will be practically worthless.

Americans, stupefied and addicted by decades of Capitalism as a social disease, will be yet another footnote in history ….if anyone’s left to write the books.


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Dems just outlawed all entry-level jobs.


Way to kill millions of jobs, Democrats!


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Why are all of the states and communities that have raised the minimum wage doing better in job creation, better economy, and increased standard of living than those places that oppose it ?


You had better read up on what eventually happened to your ‘hero’ Ayn Rand.

You can change, or accept her fate.


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California Democrats are so dumb… they believe setting a higher minimum wage will create jobs, enhance the standard of living, and grow the economy.


In reality, we will experience higher cost of living, dragging everyone down, and the minimum wage earners will STILL not make ‘a living wage’ due to inflation.


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The corollary to that is , Why would any rational person work …yeah, actually work, for a wage that is at or below the poverty rate ?


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particularly when they can get welfare that’s above the minimum wage.


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Just like Kansas! Lol !


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This story deduces to the simple FACT that we need jobs! Maybe the following links in how the REPUBLICANS obstructs jobs because they’re still out against Obama at the expense of the US citizen and the economy has something to do with it? The GOP is far from being called Christians by their ungodly antics! WWJD?


Senate Republicans Vote Against American Jobs

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/07/30/senate-republicans-vote-american-jobs-blocking-bill-outsourcing-tax-breaks.html


GOP senators block top Obama jobs initiative

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/19/politics/senate-bring-jobs-home-bill-blocked/


Senate Republicans block bill to end tax breaks for businesses sending jobs overseas

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/213780-republicans-block-bill-to-end-tax-breaks-for-outsourcing


GOP filibuster kills Bring the Jobs Home bill

http://peoplesworld.org/gop-filibuster-kills-bring-the-jobs-home-bill/


Senate Republicans Vote To Kill American Jobs, Protect Tax Breaks For Corporations to Ship Jobs Overseas

http://aattp.org/senate-republicans-vote-to-kill-american-jobs-block-bill-to-end-corporate-tax-breaks/


GOP blocks veterans jobs bill with budget vote

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/250391-gop-kills-veterans-jobs-bill-with-budget-vote


Senate GOP Obstructionists Throw Veterans Under The Bus …

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/09/23/senate-gop-obstructionists-throw-veterans-under-the-bus-vote-down-bill-to-help-vets-in-need-of-jobs/


Senate Republicans Block Another Jobs Bill, Face Backlash …

http://mic.com/articles/11510/senate-republicans-block-another-jobs-bill-face-backlash-from-american-public


Senate Republicans reject equal pay bill – Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-republicans-reject-equal-pay-bill/2014/04/09/ce011342-c003-11e3-b574-f8748871856a_story.html


GOP Goes On Record Against Jobs (Again)

http://thinkprogress.org/progress-report/gop-goes-on-record-against-jobs-again/


Republicans vote against equal pay

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2014/04/09/rubio-cruz-among-senate-republicans-voting-against-bill-to-close-pay-gap/


Obama’s Jobs Bill Fails because of GOP

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/11/white-house-pushes-for-passage-job-bill-in-face-likely-senate-defeat/


Republicans Vote Against American Jobs on Keystone

http://irregulartimes.com/2015/01/21/senate-republicans-vote-against-american-jobs-on-keystone-xl-pipeline/


Senate Republicans Block Legislation to Bring Jobs Back to America, End Tax Giveaway to Corporations Shipping Jobs Overseas

http://www.stabenow.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1448


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Brother Ted…the GOP and their corporate masters also hate Pope Frank.

Just wait until he lays the hammer down when he visits the USA this fall !


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Are you talking about the Pope that firmly forbids Abortion? No, can’t be!


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