Where did all the money go?

[Papa_D]

In 1991, the Federal minimum wage was $4.25 an hour and in 2007 it was $5.85 an hour.

Yet other statistics reveal that from the period between 1991 and 2007, the bottom wage earners income in adjusted inflation dollars meant they actually earned 13% less in 2007 than they did in 1991.

Put another way, after 8 years of a Democrat and 8 years of a Republican President, minimum wage earners are 13% poorer than they were 16 years ago.

I had a tough time finding statistics for middle income earners but one thing is clear, we are all a bit poorer than we were before and make less money than in years past.

What gives? Where did all the money go?

[bestatchess]

The money went off shore:

[albonismo]

everyone wants a piece of our pie

[Papa_D]

I would like to believe that it all went offshore and I'm sure some other folks would LIKE us all to believe that as well but I don't think that's the case at all.

Consider this, back in 1979 I made $7.50 an hour working as a part time employee at a grocery store. We still have groceries and stores to sell them yet the employees today are hard pressed to equal what I made.

Granted it was hard work and we did everything from unload trucks to stocking and bagging but everyone there made good money and if you were the top dog at a store you generally made about 100 grand a year and in adjusted dollars, that's about $150,000 today.

So where did all the money go to pay the lower and middle classes a decent wage?

[albonismo]

REAGAN SMASH!

[daptech]

Looks to me like things are going as planned. How are Americans
going to compete in the Global Economy if they don't have
lower pay & lower standard of living?

[bestatchess]

Oil Prices, history and affects

US Oil Import Bill to Top $400 billion this Year, Says Petroleum Intelligence Weekly | Business Wire | Find Articles at BNET

[kman]

it's referred to as the "race to the bottom" which results in the "trickle up effect" caused by the downward pressure on lower income and particlarly middle income wages which results over time in the wholesale transfer of wealth to the 1%'ers club. There are benefits to society as a whole, however the benefit is lost if investment in education, new technologies, and new industry (that requires a highly trained and skilled workforce) does not keep pace with and replace the jobs lost to wage arbitrage. Eventually all of society suffers in the form of lower wages and less employment. With lower wages and less employment, the consumers ability to purchase high value added goods is depleted, less money is spent which lowers the multiplier effect of spending, which lowers the gross domestic product, which lowers gov't revenues, which decreases the ability of the gov't to provide services...... etc, etc.

[Eighttens]

Minimum Wage levels

The Fair Labor Standards Act sets the federal minimum wage at $6.55 per hour. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, signed into law on May 25, 2007,[3] will increase the minimum wage over two years:
$7.25 (July 24, 2009)[4]
[edit]State

State Level

Alabama None Federal minimum applies.

Alaska $7.25 Will increase to be at least $1 above federal minimum.
(but most recent bill to this effect failed to pass state legislature)

Arizona $7.25
Pursuant to Arizona Proposition 202. This rate will be automatically adjusted annually based on the U.S. Consumer Price Index. This rate increase does not affect student workers in places such as libraries and cafeterias because those positions are given by universities, which are State entities.[8]

Arkansas $6.25 30c below Federal minimum

California $8.00,San Francisco $9.79. IWC Order No. 4-2001 1,A,1,f states that exempt employees must make twice the state minimum wage.

Colorado $7.28 Tipped employees earn $4.26.

Connecticut $8.00 This rate will increase to $8.25 on January 1, 2010. Tipped employees earn $5.41.

Delaware $7.15 Increasing to $7.25 on July 24, 2009. The proposed Delaware Senate Bill 204 would increase the rate to $7.75 on March 1, 2009 if passed, with a subsequent increase to $8.25 on March 1, 2010.

District of Columbia $7.55 This rate is automatically set at $1 above the Federal minimum wage rate if the District of Columbia rate is lower.

Florida $7.21 Rises with inflation. $4.19 per hour for tipped employees.

Georgia $5.15 Not linked to the federal rate, however the State law excludes from coverage any employment that is subject to the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act when the Federal rate is greater than the State rate. Applicable to employers of 6 or more employees.

Hawaii $7.25

Idaho $6.55

Illinois $7.75 The minimum wage will increase by $.25 every year until 2010. $8.00 on July 1, 2009; and $8.25 on July 1, 2010. Employers may pay anyone under the age of 18 $.50 less. Tipped employees earn $4.65 (employers may claim credit for tips, up to 40% of wage).

Indiana $6.55 Increasing to $7.25 on July 25, 2009.

Iowa $7.25 Most small retail and service establishments grossing less than 300,000 annually are not required to pay the minimum wage. Tipped employees can be paid 60% of the minimum wage, which is currently $4.35.

Kansas $6.15 Employees not covered by the Federal Fair Labor Standard Act are subject to Kansas minimum wage laws. They have the lowest state minimum law on the books.

Kentucky $6.55 Increasing to $7.25 on July 1, 2009.

Louisiana None Federal minimum applies.

Maine $7.25 Increasing to $7.50 on October 1, 2009.

Maryland $6.55 The minimum wage is automatically replaced with the Federal minimum wage rate if it is higher than the State minimum wage rate. Increasing to $7.25 on July 24, 2009.

Massachusetts $8.00 $2.63 for service (tipped) employees, $1.60 for agricultural employees.

Michigan $7.40 ($2.65 for service (tipped) employees, Minors 16-17 years of age may be paid 85% of the minimum hourly wage rate(currently $6.29 per hour). Training wage for new employees ages 16 to 19 of $4.25 per hour for first 90 days of employment.

Minnesota $6.15/$5.25 Large employer (any enterprise whose annual gross volume of sales made or business done is not less than $625,000) -- $6.15. Small employer (any enterprise whose annual gross volume of sales made or business done is less than $625,000) -- $5.25.

Mississippi None Federal minimum applies.

Missouri $7.05 This rate is automatically adjusted annually based on the U.S. Consumer Price Index rounded to the nearest nickel.

Montana $6.90 This rate is automatically adjusted annually based on the U.S. Consumer Price Index. Tip income may not be applied as an offset to an employee's pay rate. The minimum pay is $4/hour for business with less than $110,000 in annual sales.

Nebraska $6.55 Increasing to $7.25 on July 24, 2009.

Nevada $6.85 Rises with inflation. The minimum wage for employees who receive qualified health benefits from their employers will be at $5.30 per hour and the minimum wage for employees who do not receive health benefits will be at $6.33 per hour.

New Hampshire $7.25 The minimum wage is automatically replaced with the Federal minimum wage rate if it is higher than the State minimum wage rate.

New Jersey $7.15 Increasing to $7.25 on July 24, 2009.

New Mexico $7.50 Not linked to the federal rate.
$9.92 in Santa Fe (now covering all employees, since expansion to employers with less than 25 employees, as of January 1, 2008).
As of January 1, 2009, Santa Fe's rate will have a cost of living increase, thus keeping it the country's highest minimum wage.

New York $7.15 New York also has a minimum for exempt employees $536.10 week as of January 1, 2007 and increasing to $7.25 on July 24, 2009.

North Carolina $6.55 Increasing to $7.25 on July 24, 2009.

North Dakota $6.55 Increasing to $7.25 on July 24, 2009.
Ohio $7.30 This rate will be automatically adjusted annually on every January 1 based on the U.S. Consumer Price Index.

Oklahoma $6.55 Federal minimum wage used as reference; no actual amounts written in law. $2.00 for work not covered by federal minimum wage OK Statutes 40-197.5

Oregon $8.40 Rises with inflation.

Pennsylvania $7.15 Increasing to $7.25 on July 24, 2009.

Rhode Island $7.40

South Carolina None Federal minimum applies.

South Dakota $6.55 Increasing to $7.25 on July 24, 2009.

Tennessee None Federal minimum applies.

Texas $6.55 Federal minimum wage used as reference; no actual amounts written in law.

Utah $6.55 Federal minimum wage used as reference after legislative action; no actual amounts written in law. Current rate took effect on September 8, 2007.

Vermont $8.06 Rises with inflation.

Virginia $6.55 Federal minimum wage used as reference; no actual amounts written in law.

Washington $8.55 Employees aged 14 or 15 may be paid 85% of the minimum wage, which for 2009 is $7.27 per hour. Increases annually by a voter-approved cost-of-living adjustment based on the federal Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

West Virginia $7.25 Applicable to employers of 6 or more employees at one location not involved in interstate commerce.

Wisconsin $6.50[27] 5c below Federal minimum

Wyoming $5.15 Not linked to the federal rate.

[bestatchess]

Oil Rich Sovereign Funds Buying Up Foreclosures? : The Real Estate Bloggers

I met a guy today that had been a mortgage broker. Obviously the mortgage market is now dead. I asked him what he is doing now. He said he is locating distressed real estate to be purchased by Dubai. His current deal in progress: A builder had an inventory of 26 high end homes - average pre-crash market value = $1,600,000 (that is pretty high end in metro-Denver area). Average bank loan = $1,000,000. Builder is now broke, not making payments. He is putting together a package deal to buy them for Dubai for average $800,000 each - banks eat an average of at least $200,000 each plus clear any mechanics liens.

He said that he is assisted by the fact that it is virtually impossible to get a jumbo loan in the current market, thus preventing conventional purchasers from competing.

I asked him if the local banks were getting anything from the TARP deal. He said, no, nothing. He said they were actually in trouble because the bank examiners were on them worse than ever for being undercapitalized due to non-performing, down graded loans.

Basically our politicians have exported the wealth of America.

[Papa_D]

So let's see here, exportation of jobs both high and low paying via allowing companies to produce goods oversees and send those goods back to the American consumer free of tariff concerns.

Wage arbitrage via outsourcing of high tech jobs to other countries as well as the hiring of visa holding foreigners who will work cheaper than their American counterparts and last but not least the slaughter from the bottom via illegal aliens taking low paying jobs as well.

Then we have the 140 dollar a barrel oil which made OPEC and many Americans rich who are now poised to buy large chunks of depressed real estate that got that way due to over lending in the banking industry which artificially inflated the mortgage market by flooding it with unqualified buyers who are now defaulting, all thanks to the government lowering the standards to qualify.

Then we have the Banksters who make a ton of money on trading bogus assets like mortgages and derivatives until the music stops at which point the government bails out whichever bank gets stuck with them. These same banksters invested ten times the amount of money they actually had thanks to the miracle of fractional reserve banking and those same Banksters have been allowed to charge citizens exorbitant interest rates, even in an era of record low rates which further burdens the middle and lower classes and causes more mortgage defaults that OPEC can take advantage of.

Then of course we have the government racking up a record deficit by wasting our money bailing out Banksters and creating entitlement programs that see no foreseeable end that we can't afford because the upper 1% of the population doesn't pay enough taxes and gets away with that by claiming that their capital investments such as mortgages "create wealth" via the appreciation of these assets, yeah, my house is worth a fortune, how about yours...

And last but certainly not least, we spend vast amounts of money on a military so that we can enforce our dollar as the "defacto reserve currency" around the globe pumping huge amounts of it around the globe via consumer purchasing as well as the fact that oil is traded in dollars, thus devaluing anything the lower and middle class may earn through the hidden inflation tax every time the Bankster controled Fed roll the presses or sets a bogus interest rate.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention the bogus war on drugs that saps our government tills with a war that can't be won but I suppose they aren't trying very hard considering the CIA creates drug governments everywhere they go but since that helps spread our toxic, debt ridden currency even further, I guess that's OK.

Did I leave anybody out here? Is there anybody who isn't ******* us in the butt? This entire country is going/gone to the dogs and if I didn't have a family I would likely move to another country but I guess we screwed all of them up with our bogus debt dollar as well.

Where does it end? Absolute slavery for the bottom 90 odd percent of the population seems to be the end result here. Anybody got any bright ideas on how to solve this mess so that we aren't a Nation full of have a lots and have nots by the time my grandson is 50?

Convince me things will get better and that my grandson won't be working for some Muslim as slave labor at their newest housing development.

[Papa_D]

Originally Posted by albonismo

everyone wants a piece of our pie

Who are you kidding, you don't have any pie and neither do I, lol.

If we happen to sneak a cherry or two, what makes you believe we will be able to keep them given the whole state of affairs?