McDonalds tells employees to enroll in Food Stamps...

i. DonDiego is upset about Obamacare for the same reason , . . .the Government is compelling people to do something they might rather not do. And beyond that Obamacare is going to have many unforseen, . . . or forseen but neglected, . . . or foreseen but intentionally hidden or lied about, . . . negative effects. For instance DonDiego's physician has quit his practice to go to work for a hospital.

ii. People should feed themselves. [In a previous thread pjstroh and DonDiego have already arrived at an agreement that even a job at McDonald's pays an employee enough to eat anyway, . . . except "metaphorically".] Their employer pays them an agreed upon wage; it is not the employers responsibility how the employee spends it. The definition of full-time work has no bearing.
ii.b. The Nanny State should be reduced, not expanded, to serving the truly needy - those who cannot support themselves, . . . not able-bodied folks who just find the dole easier.
ii.c. And anyone else who wants to provide assistance to anyone should not be prohibited from doing so. If pjstroh wants to help feed someone in his neighborhood, DonDiego will not prevent it.

iii. Yes, it does determine what kind of society in which one will live. As of 13 October 80% of "likely voters" think the Country is on the wrong track; 13% think it is on the right track. Ref: Rasmussen

The point is these employers be they fast food restaurants or big box retailers are only able to sustain this low wage model because they are sucking off the government teat. They rely on the government to provide their employees:

Food Stamps
Medicaid
Low Income Housing
Home Heating Assistance
Earned Income Credit

Call me crazy, but I think it would be a better idea to raise minimum wage so these employees could provide for themselves. And It is not only a matter of that, but these employers actually facilitate their employees signing up for these programs because they know it will keep their employees from demanding better wages and benefits.

Remedial Economics for Forkie....

Growth is an increase in the capacity of an economy to produce goods and services, compared from one period of time to another. Economic growth can be measured in nominal terms, which include inflation, or in real terms, which are adjusted for inflation. For comparing one country's economic growth to another, GDP or GNP per capita should be used as these take into account population differences between countries.

So what has GDP done over the last few years?

2010 2011 2012 2013
2.38 1.80 2.21 1.60

How has the rest of the world done?
2010 2011 2012 2013
4.02 2.82 2.20 ???

If we continue to lag the world in Growth we will continue to lag the world in achievement and we will continue to go deeper and deeper into debt.

As to Don Diego's point about nothing illegal going on, but the pitch is like this: "hey I'll only pay you $8.25 an hour, but I'll make sure you get enrolled in all these government programs so it will be like your making 30k a year. "

Free Health Insurance
Free Child Care
Subsidized Rent
Subsidized Utilities
$2 -3k a year in a lump sum via the Earned Income Credit
And a Few hundred dollars a month in free groceries

It is not the governments job to provide subsidies to those whose lifestyle exceeds their ability to support it. If you find yourself with a family to support and you can't make ends meet , you have no one to blame but yourself . Think ahead, get educated , bust your ass, work two jobs, etc. Many of us have done these things. It is called PERSONAL RESPONSIBILTY .
Governments job should be to help provide the conditions that provide opportunity , not to insure a dependency on the government, which in turn fosters a dramatic reduction in personal responsibility . This same government is enslaving the lower class ...for a vote. wise up people. Bob

Another interesting question.....If a 40% increase in minimum wages causes inflation to go up by say 15% - forcing the government to pay more to people on Social Security and other inflation adjusted entitlements, as well as higher interest rates on its massive debt, would it actually cost the government MORE than simply paying for food stamps and Medicaid and other programs?

Any would anybody be better off?

motownbob is correct.

we're on the wrong track? You betcha! Because 71% of people say they want the minimum wage raised so workers can better provide for themselves. Them Bums!
Gallup

Its a free country. People are allowed to have different opinions but there are some alarming facts that should be noted
- company profits and executive compensation are rising much faster than inflation
- their workers' income is not.... despite those workers being more productive at their jobs

Given this dynamic you would think its obvious why more people are on food stamps today. But I guess its not obvious to everyone. The Gallup poll makes me optimisitc that most people get it.

On this issue I am pretty solidly in fvaor of raising the min. wage. I recently read an article I was pretty impressed with and it discussed the issue of are we only subsiding the lower income folks by providing govt assistance? While DD is absolutely correct in everything in that post and as much as I dislike any more govt in our lives, raising the min wage is a pretty simple thing to do.We already have one in place now(and it came about for a good reason at the time) so it wouldn't be difficult.

It also made think about a PBS special I saw not too long ago on Henry Ford(they were doing a series,Rockefeller,Carnagie,et al)remember when Ford raised all his workers pay to five bucks a day? Everyone almost shit bricks for doing such a thing,others were battling unions on higher wages around the same time. Ford's reasoning..? he wanted to sell more cars. Pretty simple. It created an entire new set of middle class consumers, which would not be a bad thing right now considering it has been deteriorating. But then again, whadda I know so IMHO

J

DonDiego will eschew offering the typical arguement about how raising the minimum wage results in increases in other wages as well, . . . directly as in some Union contracts, and otherwise as those earning more receive or demand increases to stay ahead. Too easy.
Instead, DonDiego will take a quick look at raising the minimum wage compared to the morass that is today's Welfare System. [n.b. the Welfare System will become even more complicated as the Obamacare subsidies kick in based on one's income.]

DonDiego opines that pjstroh has oversimplified a complex problem: the relationship among food stamps [Technically they are EBT cards now; users were embarrassed by having to use stamps - now they look like they're using a credit card just like regular people.], earning money (at the minimum wage or higher), and other benefits.

Here's a pertinent chart [It's for Pennsylvania in 2012, but things haven't changed much.]:



The different colored bars represent the amounts of different categories of welfare for which a single Mother with one child qualifies. Except for the dark-blue bars which represent earned income after taxes.

If the Mother does not work she can receive tax-free benefits totaling around $45,000, . . . not bad if one has a big-screen television to occupy one's days.
However, if she works and earns, say, $10,000-after-taxes, . . . her net-income only rises to $50,000 because she loses half of the Medicaid benefit.
Nonetheless, if she were to somehow earn $29,000 after taxes and add that to her marginally-declining benefits she could top-out at $57,327 net income, . . . again, not bad for working a full-time job at around $14-per-hour.

But where it gets interesting is if she were to earn over $29,000 the decline in benefits is greater than the increase in earnings, . . . . such that she would have to earn a gross income of $69,000 with no benefits [est. $57,045 after taxes] to match her net income when she was earning only $29,000 with benefits.

DonDiego suggests such a benefit schedule is absurd. It encourages folks receiving benefits not to work, . . . the marginal benefit to working is minimal or even negative. It is more beneficial to sit, do nothing, and collect various welfare entitlements, than to work.

How, exactly, does raising the minimum wage fit into this?
It seems to poor old DonDiego it'll just discourage working at all a bit more, since one will lose one's benefits quicker.

The present welfare system is a pit in which it is more pleasant to be entrapped than to earn one's own way. And McDonald's just encouraged their employees to take advantage of the freebies.