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Ah, yes - that $15 minimum wage in Seattle.

Posted: Jul 23, 2015

Liberals really should listen to conservatives, who have a much better handle on economic matters.

1. Hardly anyone has gone off the public assistance rolls.

2. Restaurant workers are losing the tip income they depended on, both because patrons know about the new wage, and don't feel obliged to tip, and also because some restaurants are adding a 15% surtax on the bill to cover their labor costs.

3. People asking for LESS hours so they don't lose their welffare (!).

4. And yes, as predicted, some businesses have moved out of the city limits, taking their jobs with them. In fact, my new neighbor (north of Seattle) brought his home repair business to my town after 15 years in Seattle entirely because he simply couldn't afford the wages.

It's all quite lovely when the government tries to manage a free market economy by fiat.

;

Flipside - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/09/14/15-now-seatac/

In January, the town of Seatac, Washington, put in to effect a new $15 per hour Minimum Wage. No ramp ups, no tiered implementation. One day it was the state standard, the next, the highest minimum wage in the nation. The Koch Brothers sank a fortune to fight this measure, which fell on deaf ears as the town rejected their trickle-down theories and instead voted for the measure. The result is that for one town, they became a test bed, to put the theories behind trickle-down economics to the test.

Now, nine months on, we are witnessing one of the most dramatic recoveries in the Pacific Northwest.

Last July, business owner Scott Ostrander claimed that the increased wage would force him to lay off staff, if not shut down his businesses.

I am shaking here tonight because I am going to be forced to lay people off. I’m going to take away their livelihood. That hurts. It really, really hurts. . . . And what I am going to have to do on Jan. 1 is to eliminate jobs, reduce hours — and as soon as hours are reduced, benefits are reduced.

Instead, his business, the Cedarbrook Lodge hotel, is expanding, adding 63 more beds to meet demand. Instead of layoffs, he needs to hire more people. And his story is not the only one.

Tom Douglas, who runs fifteen restaurants in the Seattle area, warned that a higher minimum wage law being considered by Seattle would force the shutdown of a quarter of his restaurants. Instead, after the results in Seatac, he is opening five new restaurants to meet demand. And this story is being repeated, over and over again, throughout the region.

Well paid employees pump money in to the local economies. This is basic economics, dating back to Adam Smith. Instead of slashing employees, which would impact any businesses ability to support their customers, they have turned to more direct approaches. A good example of this is MasterPark, an off-airport parking lot, which has added a $0.99 daily “Living Wage Surcharge“. Less than a dollar guarantees that MasterPark can give all of its employees a living wage, a small price to pay.

The biggest sign that the higher wage did not impact Seatac however comes with the news that the Seatac airport will be undergoing a half-billion dollar renovation and expansion. The growth of the airport, which as an extra-territorial administrative district does not require the higher minimum wage of the adjoining town, demonstrates that the fears pushed by the Koch Brothers and their multi-million dollar ad campaign are just nonsense.

Two dislikes? Repubs just can't stand good news. - Or the truth.

[ In Reply To ..]
.

No, we just can't stand reading regurgitation from sites like Salon and - Slate, not sure if the combined

[ In Reply To ..]
IQ of those sites would equal a whole number.

Never even heard of those, so the above - insult has been wasted.

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Once the principle of "you reap what you sow" is - dropped, there can be no

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ideological defense against these policies - Obama and friends know this.

I regard most of those far left sites as part of the MSM, so I don't read them. They are just part of the focused attack on this country.

The right is what is attacking the country. They - want to dumb it back down to the -

[ In Reply To ..]
1500's.

That's not very original. I read that all the time on other sites. - Plus "racist" and "hater" are

[ In Reply To ..]
used words I see.

We live in the Twilight Zone now. Right is wrong, up is down, same concept. We live in a world of shadows and no substance. Obama's World.

A Republican is giving a lecture on originality? - Theirs is the "shadow world" you speak o

[ In Reply To ..]
xmn

I am liking this - because

[ In Reply To ..]
it made me LOL. I myself live firmly in the real world, but I think we may have Don's campaign slogan!

Fact check - buns

[ In Reply To ..]
Please see the link below for the facts on Seattle minimum wage.

The $15.00 an hour minimum wage is not even in effect yet and is years away from becoming reality.

There is a very specific plan to achieve that goal over time and according to the size of one’s business as detailed here:

http://www.seattle.gov/civilrights/labor-standards/minimum-wage

Get over our political parties - Lee

[ In Reply To ..]
We all should get over the need to feel allegiance to a political party and start voting for the person and not the party. Some politicians actually cross party lines and get districts redrawn to serve their quest for a position in government. Shame on the whole game. Shame on the electoral college as well.

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