This right here was literally the only point I was making. That’s it. There was nothing else. I did not make a value judgment as to whether or not this was a good or bad thing until TheRaj tried to move the goal post.
I’m not upset about anything. After the goal post was moved, I pointed out that these workers will:
Go on unemployment subsidized by working American’s
The labor market, mostly in and around D.C. will be flooded with over a half million people.
That’s it. No emotion. No value as to whether that is an issue or not. Fact.
That sounds wonderful; except, it’s only one piece of this puzzle. You just lost all of the tax revenue on $68 BB per year, which is probably (rough estimate) $10-$17 BB/year to the federal gov alone. These folks will also be eligible for various government assistance programs such as unemployment. Will there be a positive impact on government expenditures in the short and longer term? Maybe.
I suggested low skilled workers that make at or near the federal minimum wage move west because there is opportunity for them to make a decent living.
Jesus H…
I am always against GOVERNMENT MANDATED “LIVING WAGE” (whatever that even means). I don’t give one single shit if Wal-Mart starts paying every single one of their employees $100,000/year. I will point out the economic consequences, but that doesn’t mean I am against it.
I guess the rest of your post makes sense if you believe we “import” people. I’ve been to a couple countries in Asia and I’ve yet to see any “The U.S. Government wants to import YOU!” signs. Maybe I just missed them.
I have no idea why you posted that link. I’ve argued for years on here that we should reduce the size of the federal government including her workforce.
Theory =/= reality. I love how I can pick any “theory” and it will prove cutting public jobs will create private sector ones, but I can’t use that Keynesian one.
The fact of the matter is that it MIGHT spark private sector activity. It MIGHT just as easily increase short and long-term unemployment by 550k+.
I love how economic theory doesn’t count the moment it supports Trump but economists releasing report’s about how determental Trumps economic policies are should be taken seriously.
Where I live pretty good, we have to follow a lot of pesky regulations though. If you want to talk about the issues in flint that’s fine, there were a lot of mistakes that happened on almost every level and things swept under the rug for over a year, improper testing to cut costs, not using phosphate to further cut costs, and many other issues. I believe there is a thread on here about it, I don’t need to derail this one to talk about flint.
I like how you focus on one public health issue in the public sector, while ignoring that everyday millions of people are served clean drinking water that is up to regulations and standards. You act as if there has never been any public health or environmental issues that have occurred in the private sector.
Zeb have you ever been in a position where you have needed government assistance? Just want to know for information, because it has been my experience with my conservative friends that they have a hard time understanding something unless they have experienced it. I can tell you first hand having been on government assistance when I lost my job as a chemist working for a company that made synthetic DNA, that it sucks. My situation was also compounded that I couldn’t take an positions, which I got offered hours away or in different states due to needing to be near our university hospital because my daughter was in the PICU.
I know quite a few acquaintances of my wifes who are on assistance and everyday is a struggle, I don’t know of a single person who is like damn I would love to quit my job or be underemployed and get all of those great government handouts, I will be living the high life when that happens. Sure there might be a few people who try and game the system, but that isn’t the majority and that happens with the wealthy as well. I just love how if you are on assistance you are a taker, a leach, a mooch, but when you are wealthy and using the government you are a great business person.
If you wish to depend solely upon private charities to take care of those who cannot fend for themselves, may I suggest you read Oliver Twist by Dickens to get a sense of how well that model works.
Yes because paying public sector workers just funnels the money they make into a black hole never to be used in the economy. Do you not think firefighters, police officers, librarians, teachers, sanitation workers, waste water treatment operators, secretaries, transportation workers, street departments employees use their money in our economy? Or do you not think those functions are essentially to a city running? Are there some jobs that maybe are not as useful, possibly, but without knowing their exact job description and what they do it is very hard to say.
Indeed. But it is misleading to attribute the increase in the wealth gap to the WoP. Rather, it is growing income inequality between blacks and whites (among other factors) that is driving the increase in the wealth gap. Here’s an excellent summary of the issue:
I’m fine with helping those in need but through charities.
But the Great Recession offers the perfect case study in why the voluntary sector can’t solve these problems. If people like Mike Lee are correct, then the start of the Great Recession would have been precisely the moment when private charity would have stepped up. But in fact, private giving fell as the Great Recession started. Overall giving fell 7 percent in 2008, with another 6.2 percent drop in 2009. There was only a small uptick in 2010 and 2011, even though unemployment remained very high. Giving also fell as a percentage of GDP (even as GDP shrank), from 2.1 percent in 2008 to 2.0 percent in 2009 through 2011. (The high point was 2.3 percent in 2005.)
Yep private companies are so efficient they are always efficient in everything they do. I have had the opportunity to work several jobs and I would say the career I hold now is far more efficient then the private sector jobs I have held The simple reason being as a public sector employee we are under a microscopic, by the public. If people in the street department are waiting around literally for a few minutes waiting for concrete the city will get a call from a citizen. Privatizing everything is not always more cost effective to the city or the citizens of that city.
