[Vision2020] Ri$ch & Crapo

Fri May 2 16:16:49 PDT 2014

Gosh, Paul – you really don’t take it well when people point out problems with your arguments, do you?

I find it puzzling that you want to blame your friend’s situation on minimum wage rather than on a crappy employer.  I’m still waiting for any kind of actual evidence – more than just your flapping gums – to support your assertion, but you keep avoiding that.  Why?

Further, it’s disingenuous and downright wrong for you to imply that I was in any way criticizing your friend’s choice, and I think you know that.  You’re just defensive because I pointed out holes in the way you choose to paint the picture, so you go into “personal attack” mode.  Predictable from you in these instances.

We all make choices in life, and for various reasons, your friend chose to stay for many years with an employer who reportedly doesn’t compensate her appropriately.  That’s her choice, but for you to use her free choice to validate your “minimum wage increases are evil” meme is ridiculous.  As I pointed out in my first response, “Something tells me that the situation would be the same for her regardless of any minimum wage smoke & mirrors.”  My opinion is even stronger given the details you provided in your subsequent posts, including your assertion that she’s “irreplaceable.”  Either the employer doesn’t share your assessment of her value or it’s an example of running a business poorly when you fail to appropriately compensate your key employees.  You’ve presented absolutely no evidence that minimum wage is responsible.

I think your scenario better supports my position than it does yours  :)  Think about all the employees who would be paid even less were there not laws mandating minimum wage.  It was actually employer greed and human decency that mandated legislation because employer abuses were rampant.  So, a minimum bar had to be set.  As in so many instances where legislation has been required, had bad actors not done the wrong thing, there would be no minimum wage requirement, an inconvenient factoid those “guberment and regulations are bad” crowds ignore.

Saundra

A man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him, that of plants and animals as well as that of his fellowman, and when he devotes himself helpfully to all life that is in need of help.

~ Albert Schweitzer

From: Paul Rumelhart [mailto:godshatter at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 1:59 PM
To: Saundra Lund; 'Tom Hansen'; 'Moscow Vision 2020'
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Ri$ch & Crapo

It's easy to criticize someone when you are not the one living in her skin.  There's an equation there involving her current pay, her husband's pay, whether she can find a job at the new place in her field, whether or not she can keep it, would she get a pay cut in the meantime, will her husband find a job in his field, what do they do about the house, will their son appreciate being uprooted from his friends, will she be near family and friends, etc.

I think she's done great keeping a good job in a bad economy and raising a good life for herself.  Your opinion may vary, I'm sure.  No, I don't feel like fighting you about whether or not her life choices are acceptable to you.

Paul

  _____  

From: Saundra Lund <v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm <mailto:v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm> >
To: 'Paul Rumelhart' <godshatter at yahoo.com <mailto:godshatter at yahoo.com> >; 'Tom Hansen' <thansen at moscow.com <mailto:thansen at moscow.com> >; 'Moscow Vision 2020' <vision2020 at moscow.com <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com> > 
Sent: Friday, May 2, 2014 10:58 AM
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Ri$ch & Crapo

If the employee was truly irreplaceable, then she’d have bargaining power.  The fact that she doesn’t have bargaining power belies your claim that she’s irreplaceable, it seems to me.

And, what responsible person would ever counsel someone with a job to quit before having another lined up???  Not me, although I’d certainly advised her years ago when the writing was clearly on the wall that perhaps looking exhaustively elsewhere would be in her – and her family’s – best interest given the fact that her employer didn’t value her.  That’s not rocket science.

OTOH, a person choosing to just stay put for many years in the scenario you describe and then blame minimum wage increases rather than a rotten employer bears some responsibility for her choice, yes?

IMHO, the “behavior” of far too many employers over the past decade or two certainly shows what would have happened without minimum wage legislation – that is inarguable, it seems to me.

LOL – I think you’ve done drunk the Steve King Kool-Aid where the reason we don’t have gas station attendants is because of minimum wage, right?  ROTFLOL!

Saundra

From: Paul Rumelhart [mailto:godshatter at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 10:44 AM
To: Saundra Lund; 'Tom Hansen'; 'Moscow Vision 2020'
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Ri$ch & Crapo

Well, at least you didn't tell me I'm making this person up.  Just trying to point out that it's not all unicorns and rainbow farts whenever the minimum wage is increased.

Also, when you have a job and a family and you have worked there for many years such that you are now irreplaceable, uprooting and moving in the hopes of finding a job with a higher wage cap isn't always the best idea in these economic conditions.

Paul

  _____  

From: Saundra Lund <v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm <mailto:v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm> >
To: 'Paul Rumelhart' <godshatter at yahoo.com <mailto:godshatter at yahoo.com> >; 'Tom Hansen' <thansen at moscow.com <mailto:thansen at moscow.com> >; 'Moscow Vision 2020' <vision2020 at moscow.com <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com> > 
Sent: Friday, May 2, 2014 10:13 AM
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Ri$ch & Crapo

Oh, I see . . . now that we’re going with the ol’ “I know someone who . . . ” stories, shall I start reciting all mine as well?  Maybe I’ll share a just a couple rather than the scores & scores I could share.

I know someone who works in Washington who spent years working hard to advance up through a relatively small business.  Every time minimum wage was increased, her employer appropriately adjusted the wage scale.  Her employer has rewarded her competence, hard work, and longevity, and she’s a huge supporter of minimum wage increases because as a single mom with a bum for an ex who has never paid child support, she knows how important living wages are.

I know someone who works in Idaho.  He’s spent years working for the same employer, and he always gets excellent performance evaluations.  There haven’t been opportunities for formal advancement.  His employer has set a reasonable pay scale that uses minimum wage as the bottom rung and then factors in longevity.  It’s a business with a fair amount of turnover, and there aren’t too many people who benefit from the wage & benefits package, but those who stick around do.  This man has been able to support his family because he’s got an employer who hasn’t forgotten about the importance of “the human factor” in a successful and ethical business.

I know someone who worked in Idaho in a professional position for a national corporation.  She was an excellent employee – hard-working & dependable & very, very dedicated to her job.  There were no chances for advancement without four years of additional education, but it’s a field where many are satisfied with working their lives in that professional field.  When she was hired, it was above minimum wage with annual increases based on longevity and merit.  Three out of the four years she was there, there were “excuses” as to why the annual increases couldn’t happen, all the while the company was posting “record profits.”  I’m sure those record profits where helpful to those at the very top of the food chain, but it meant nothing elsewhere – they certainly weren’t reinvesting any of it in employees or in training or in equipment or anything else that mattered.  Turnover was massive, morale sucked, and the employer had a bad local reputation not only amongst employees around the country but also in the field.  After four years, she left the job and got hired in a completely unrelated field.  She realized she’d never get anywhere with that particular employer because they didn’t value their employees.  She’s happy as a clam now – before changing fields, she hadn’t a clue as to what it was like to work for a decent employer.

Hmmm – maybe someone should have told the person you know that sometimes one has to move on to find a decent employer.  Something tells me that the situation would be the same for her regardless of any minimum wage smoke & mirrors.  When I was growing up, most of my friends’ parents & grandparents worked for the same company/business most of their adult lives and retirement celebrations after 40 or 45 years – and I remember some after 50 years – service weren’t uncommon.  “Only” having worked for the company for 20 or 30 or 35 years wasn’t that common.

I think about the retirement parties I’ve attended over the past couple of decades, and I’ve attended a whole lot where even 25 years was uncommon.  There are still some people retiring after working three or four decades for the same employer, but that’s less common, it seems to me.

Saundra

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com <mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com>  [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Paul Rumelhart
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 8:19 AM
To: Tom Hansen; Moscow Vision 2020
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Ri$ch & Crapo

About the minimum wage:

I know someone who works in Washington that spent years moving up the chain thanks to her hard work until she hit the wage cap that her employer had instituted.  Every time the minimum wage increased, the wage cap stayed the same.  Now there is very little difference between what she makes and what a wet-behind-the-ears kid off the street makes.  So while you are all congratulating yourselves on how nice it is for those kids with no experience, you've essentially pissed on all the work she has done over the years.

Paul

  _____  

From: Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com <mailto:thansen at moscow.com> >
To: Moscow Vision 2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com> > 
Sent: Friday, May 2, 2014 4:19 AM
Subject: [Vision2020] Ri$ch & Crapo

Courtesy of today's (May 2, 2014) Lewiston Tribune.

------------------------------------

Ri$ch & Crapo

Marty Trillhaase

JEERS ... to Idaho's Republican senators, Jim Risch and Mike Crapo. Wednesday, they helped scuttle raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour.

Yet they represent one of the poorest states in the union. Last year, 7.1 percent of Idaho workers earned the minimum wage. That's the second largest proportion in the country. The only reason Idaho didn't retain its status as the No. 1 minimum-wage state is because Tennessee had an even worse year.

These are not teenagers earning gas money. Of the people on the economy's bottom rung, 88 percent are at least 20 years old and 55 percent are working full time. One of every three is supporting a child.

The Idaho Risch and Crapo represent now ranks next to last - second only to Mississippi - in per capita incomes.

Raising the minimum wage would put more than $172 million into the hands of struggling Idaho families. And it would make up for lost ground. Had the minimum wage kept pace with inflation, it would already be at $10.60 an hour.

The last time Congress raised the minimum wage - from $5.15 to $7.25 - was 2007. Then, Crapo, joined by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, voted yes.

Who are Risch and Crapo looking out for?

Not the little guy.

JEERS ... to former Idaho state Sen. Evan Frasure, R-Pocatello. He's playing both sides of the religion card.

Frasure is one of four Republicans seeking to succeed retiring Secretary of State Ben Ysursa.

Writing in the Idaho Statesman's online voter guide, Frasure notes he served a mission for the Mormon Church in New Zealand. Nothing unusual there. Frasure hopes to win big in heavily Mormon eastern Idaho while Chief Deputy Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane, former Sen. Mitch Toryanski, R-Boise, and former House Speaker Lawerence (Boss) Denney, R-Midvale, split the votes everywhere else.

But that wasn't good enough for Frasure. He characterizes McGrane as "a good Catholic (who) goes to work for AmeriCorps for a year, then off to two colleges in Washington, earning a degree in philosophy at the University of Washington, hardly the path of a future Republican."

If Frasure thinks it's OK to vote for him because he's Mormon and McGrane is not, presumably the reverse is true.

JEERS ... to Congressman Raul Labrador, R-Idaho. Wednesday, he stood alone among every member of Congress and blew off America's military veterans.

Let that sink in.

The men and women who served this country, some of whom came home grievously wounded, can count on the support of people like Eric Cantor, R-Va., Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Mike Simpson, R-Idaho. They can even count on every one of Labrador's Tea Party allies such as Justin Amash, R-Mich., Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., Steve King, R-Iowa, and Louie Gohmert, R-Texas.

All of them recognized the need to boost spending on veterans services by $1.5 billion to reduce what Simpson called "the unacceptable backlog of disability claims."

Labrador alone sees things differently.

When he gets around to explaining why, we'll let you know.

JEERS ... to former University of Idaho football coach Robb Akey.

Before he was bounced in 2012, Akey had amassed a 17-33 record - including winning only three games during his final two years.

Meanwhile, his players weren't exactly hitting the books. The NCAA requires teams to meet an average Academic Progress Rate of 930 during four years. In 2010, the UI's APR slipped to 921, then to 881 the next year and 838 in 2012. That put the average at 903.

Last week, the NCAA imposed sanctions: No postseason play and the loss of four hours of practice each week in 2014.

Some teams lose games. Some get knocked for flunking classes. Under Akey, the UI managed to do both.

CHEERS ... to Sandy Patano of Coeur d'Alene. Once a top aide to Sen. Craig with serious political bona fides of her own, Patano is in the thick of a battle to cleanse the Panhandle of its wingnut legislative brigade.

Along with establishment Republicans such as former state Rep. Dean Haagenson, R-Coeur d'Alene, and former Intermountain Forest Industry Association head Jim Riley, Patano has founded a political action committee to support "reasonable" Republicans.

Two years ago, they helped pragmatic incumbents such as Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, survive Tea Party challenges in the state's first closed GOP primary election.

Now they're trying to ditch five Tea Party incumbents, including Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, and Reps. Shannon McMillan, R-Silverton, and Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens.

If they succeed, you may have heard the last of Barbieri's flirtation with nullification and Nonini's unconstitutional ploy to siphon off your tax dollars from public schools toward private and religious academies.

Godspeed.

JEERS ... to Clarkston City Councilor Terry Beadles. If he thinks the law will allow Clarkston to avoid implementing Washington's legalized marijuana initiative, let him find the legal authority to do so.

But Beadles' comments Monday suggest he's resorting to subterfuge under the guise of extending the city's six-month moratorium.

A moratorium to give city officials time needed to implement the system of producing, processing and selling marijuana is one thing.

Renewing it simply because, as Beadles said, councilors don't want to "implement a drug into society" is something else.

Right or wrong, Washington voters already made that call.- M.T.

------------------------------------

Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)

 <http://www.moscowcares.com/> http://www.MoscowCares.com

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still.

But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,

If you want to be like the folks on the hill."

- John Lennon

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