<p>I could fill up my tank for $6 when I was 21- which also what I was earning per hour.
Now it takes $45 to $55 to fill up my tank & although I am not currently employed- my H is- at 52 years old & working 20+ years at his company- he make 1/3 less than $45 an hour.</p>
<p>Why do we need a minimum wage increase?
A minimum wage increase of $2.10 by 2009 would raise the wages of 13.0 million workers. A minimum wage increase is needed to restore the minimum wage to historic levels.* The inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage is 30% lower in 2006 than it was in 1979. ** In addition, comparing the wages of minimum wage workers to average hourly wages, we find that the wages of minimum wage workers have not kept up with the wages of other workers. The minimum wage is 31% of the average hourly wage of American workers, the lowest level since 1947.*</p>
<p>We’re not going to change each other’s minds. One day we may long for the good old days - who better to keep the wackos under control than the cold war Russians and Saddam Hussein. If we had let Russia have its way with Afganistan, then perhaps there would have been no 9/11.</p>
<p>I was in Iowa for the caucuses and don’t give Crookiani grief for passing up Iowa because of the high proportion of Evangelical Loonies, but also passing up NH and waiting for Jan. 29 is a guranteed defeat. His national lead is gone and he’s on his way out. </p>
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<p>Although I am happy Clinton finished 3rd and support Obama or Edwards the Clinton Derangement Syndrome here is pathetic. The moral bankruptcy of the right wing is loud and present.</p>
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<p>Amen to that, you can find many Republicans who were eager to annoint Hillary and are now so confused. :)</p>
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<p>Well the derangement doesn’t take too long to shift gears. Obama must be trying to bring down the USA. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. LOLZ.</p>
<p>Hypothetical ‘what if’ scenarios about the past are fun but idle exercises. We have enough to worry about today and the future. Who has the ideas that are most likely to succeed? We need a leader who can work with all sides and build a national consensus. Obama may be able to provide that leadership. McCain might too. It would be great to have a McCain-Obama or Obama-McCain ticket.</p>
<p>Im not saying it was the good old days- no espresso except in middle eastern restaurants ? ;)</p>
<p>But as a 21 year old on my own, I think I had an easier time economically, than a 21 year old would have now, without a college background.</p>
<p>Our first apt ( before we were married) was about as big as our house is now( and a better floor plan unfortunately)- we paid for a big two bedroom with a view and covered parking, what my D pays for a bedroom in a house that doesn’t even have a living room! ( one of these things that are cut up)</p>
<p>But our siblings also paid double digit interest to buy houses around that time- and I am happy that we don’t have that at least</p>
<p>Im sure it is also similar to middle class caucasian families thinking of the 50s as an idyllic time- whereas a minority couple in the south would have a much different impression of daily life.</p>
<p>I lived in a wealthy suburb at that time and so I had a rather narrow view of life</p>
<p>Emerald according to <a href=“http://www.randomuseless.info%5B/url%5D”>www.randomuseless.info</a> the gas price for today adjusted would be less than 1980 (1.20 v 1.40)</p>
<p>Also in 1983 the min. wage was $3.25 p.hr. 1968 had the highest adjusted for inflation = over 9 per hr.</p>
<p>Thus, when I go to the pump I rationalize the cost. Our familywent to Italy 2 yrs ago and we pd @ 8 a gallon. So we have nothing to complain about</p>
<p>I want a McCain/Lieberman ticket… Lieberman has a proven track record of crossing the aisle… I think that can bring unity back and voters will believe that their voice is being heard no matter your party.</p>
<p>Now here’s my suggestion, place only 1 candidate and let’s see what the straw poll comes out. I’ll start:</p>
<p>Lieberman would be a poison pill on any ticket as far as I’m concerned. </p>
<p>I’d sooner vote for a ticket that includes Huckabee before I vote for that creep. I dislike him from the time he used negative attacks to unseat Republican Lowell Weicker.</p>
<p>I haven’t been to Italy- although I have started to take Italian- I would love to visit-The money I spend on vacation- is funny money- especially if I go someplace like BC where it is all different colors! :)</p>
<p>I think I also have paying about $3.40 a gal for regular gas- I forget that I think we have a lot more tax on fuel than we did 30 years ago.
Also while I was earning $6 an hour for an unskilled office job, that may have been more than our local min wage- although Washington did just raise our min wage to $8 an hour, it is still is a smaller % of the average wage, than the min wage was 30 years ago.</p>
<p>Some supports for low income that were around 30 years ago have vanished.
Social Security for example- paid survivor benefits to dependents until they were 22 and attending school- now those benefits end at 19 or graduation from high school.</p>
<p>In 2001 we were well on track for one of the fastest deepest recessions in recent memory thanks to the Dotcom fiasco which was already underway in early 2000. The Clinton “boom” was mostly built on flushing away billions in other people’s money. Other than that it was great.</p>
<p>yes I remember our retirement investments losing over half of what we had saved- and I didn’t have an accountant to help figure out how to put it on tax forms.</p>
<p>It didnt’ help that after 9/11 H was laid off and when he regained a similar position, it had been reclassified to a lower pay scale- he is only now making what he did before 9/11.</p>
<p>OFF Track…check out taxes in Europe…they are taxed on tv’s, window screens, closets and my favorite “outdoor water spickets” Don’t even start me on Nationalized Health Care, the stories I could tell you would make you run for the hills !!! I lived in the UK for over 3 yrs…been there done that and got the t shirt to prove it</p>
<p>A spicket is an outdoor faucet…luxury in the UK</p>
<p>A window tax in the UK is they count how many windows you have with screens and you are charged accordingly. Screens are a luxury</p>
<p>Many homes that are 4 bdrms are really 3 b/c closets are luxuries and are taxed. They use the 4th bedroom as a closet…our 4th was 7 X 7, we had no closets, and the house was built in 1987</p>
<p>There is a tv guy who drives through the neighborhood and zaps your house…if you didn’t pay the tv tax your nailed (think along the lines of stealing cable) TV tax was 100 pounds per yr, not talking cable, just being able to have a tv</p>
<p>There is also the license (licence sp in UK), when we left it was 100 pounds a yr = $175 —BTW that is your drivers license not for the car</p>
<p>Let’s not forget the VAT…15% on everything you buy, including food (add the additional restaurant/hotel/entertainment tax on top of that)</p>
<p>And last but not least the poll tax.</p>
<p>So for all of you who think that we have it bad, start looking globally. </p>
<p>I’ll take the good old USA anyday, our neighbors from the UK travel here every couple of yrs and buy clothes and electronics, the amount they save pays for their trip</p>