Posted 9:54 pm Sunday, February 17, 2013
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Raising the minimum wage will benefit us all
In 1914, Henry Ford doubled the wages of his employees. One of the reasons he said caused him to do this dramatic act was to create an economy of consumers who could by his cars. History proves this happened.
Since 1938, America has a policy requiring a minimum wage for employees. The argument is to keep employers from taking advantage of poor citizens with no bargaining power. Also, putting money in the hands of the poorest among us gives them more purchasing power. This money goes directly into purchasing which stimulates the economy.
The magic is that all employers must pay the increased wage so employers are in relative position with other businesses. Some states require minimum wages higher than the national requirement. The last national minimum wage was enacted in 2009 to $7.25.
The argument against raising the minimum wage is that employers will be forced to lay off employees. This does not make sense and isn’t supported by studies done after the 2007 minimum wage increase. The $9 minimum wage would be the highest in recent decades but, adjusting for inflation, lower than the peaks reached in the 1960s and 1970s.
This needs to be done, not only for the working poor, their families and the American economy, but because it is just the right thing to do.
Blake Bailey
Tyler
Since 1938, America has a policy requiring a minimum wage for employees. The argument is to keep employers from taking advantage of poor citizens with no bargaining power. Also, putting money in the hands of the poorest among us gives them more purchasing power. This money goes directly into purchasing which stimulates the economy.
The magic is that all employers must pay the increased wage so employers are in relative position with other businesses. Some states require minimum wages higher than the national requirement. The last national minimum wage was enacted in 2009 to $7.25.
The argument against raising the minimum wage is that employers will be forced to lay off employees. This does not make sense and isn’t supported by studies done after the 2007 minimum wage increase. The $9 minimum wage would be the highest in recent decades but, adjusting for inflation, lower than the peaks reached in the 1960s and 1970s.
This needs to be done, not only for the working poor, their families and the American economy, but because it is just the right thing to do.
Blake Bailey
Tyler
LEARNING CURVE
Based on the State of the Union Address President Barack Obama just delivered, it is evident his first term was not a learning experience for him. He laid out an ambitious agenda for the next four years, but it is the same old stuff he partially implemented in his first term, which did not work and has never worked anywhere it has been tried.
He says the economy is getting better, yet unemployment went up last month and the GDP went down. More people have given up even looking for a job, causing the unemployment percentage to be understated significantly. He says he wants the voting experience to improve in America by taking a shorter time to vote. He claimed we have to wait in line five, six or seven hours to vote when the average time, per a recent study, says it is 14 minutes.
His foreign policy is in shambles. He has more countries hating us than I have seen in my life time. He treats our allies like enemies and our enemies like friends, but the friendship is not mutual.
This President must be held accountable to his Oath of Office to uphold the Constitution, or we might as well have a dictator.
James W. Blair, Jr.
Tyler
He says the economy is getting better, yet unemployment went up last month and the GDP went down. More people have given up even looking for a job, causing the unemployment percentage to be understated significantly. He says he wants the voting experience to improve in America by taking a shorter time to vote. He claimed we have to wait in line five, six or seven hours to vote when the average time, per a recent study, says it is 14 minutes.
His foreign policy is in shambles. He has more countries hating us than I have seen in my life time. He treats our allies like enemies and our enemies like friends, but the friendship is not mutual.
This President must be held accountable to his Oath of Office to uphold the Constitution, or we might as well have a dictator.
James W. Blair, Jr.
Tyler
LINCOLN’S LEGACY
I respectfully disagree with your recent editorial assessment of Mr. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. We the people have been brainwashed since 1863 to worship Lincoln as the “Preserver of the Union” when in fact he destroyed the union of sovereign states and created an all-powerful central government that has usurped practically all powers supposedly retained by the states and protected by the Tenth Amendment.
The atheistic journalist and renowned writer, H.L. Mencken, who dubbed the “Scopes Evolution Trial” of 1925 the “Monkey Trial,” said it was, indeed, great poetry but completely illogical. I find myself, an evangelical Christian, reluctantly agreeing with him. Truth is truth, however, no matter the source.
A few of Lincoln’s salient points need pondering. He said that a new nation was founded in 1776. This is not so. The “Declaration” clearly confirms that each former colony had declared itself a free, independent state equal to the “State of Great Britain.” The peace treaty with King George identified each former colony as an independent nation-state with all the powers of any nation in the world.
Furthermore, he said the idea that the Union troops who died at Gettysburg gave their lives in the cause of self determination could not be further from the truth. In fact, the Confederates fought for self government, free from an all-powerful central government.
Mencken points out many other illogical statements of Lincoln’s Address. If you and others want to dispassionately analyze the compete “Address,” you ought to also consider Mr. Mencken’s critique.
David E. Pierson
Tyler
The atheistic journalist and renowned writer, H.L. Mencken, who dubbed the “Scopes Evolution Trial” of 1925 the “Monkey Trial,” said it was, indeed, great poetry but completely illogical. I find myself, an evangelical Christian, reluctantly agreeing with him. Truth is truth, however, no matter the source.
A few of Lincoln’s salient points need pondering. He said that a new nation was founded in 1776. This is not so. The “Declaration” clearly confirms that each former colony had declared itself a free, independent state equal to the “State of Great Britain.” The peace treaty with King George identified each former colony as an independent nation-state with all the powers of any nation in the world.
Furthermore, he said the idea that the Union troops who died at Gettysburg gave their lives in the cause of self determination could not be further from the truth. In fact, the Confederates fought for self government, free from an all-powerful central government.
Mencken points out many other illogical statements of Lincoln’s Address. If you and others want to dispassionately analyze the compete “Address,” you ought to also consider Mr. Mencken’s critique.
David E. Pierson
Tyler
