Minimum wage is just that: MINIMUM WAGE for unskilled labor, and not meant for a father who actually takes care of his responsibilities to be able to have as a sole source of income. For a while now I have had one full-time job and two part-time jobs, that is what I have to do in order to keep my wife and two kids in relative comfort. The reason some jobs pay so little is because if the guy doing it quits, the employer can grab the next guy walking by and he will be able to do it just as well. I have learned, though working my way up from the bottom, enough that I earn more. The reason I earn more is solely due to my knowledge in my chosen field. The new leaning towards “Fairness” in the marketplace over the last decade implies you shouldn’t have to work your way up as I did, you just deserve better. What a crock. It is child-like and irrational to believe something is deserved merely because it is wanted.

The “stimulus checks” of last year were a ridiculous idea and did no good for the economy whatsoever. Did I cash mine? Hell, yes I did, and I applied it directly to outstanding bills: It stimulated nothing. We are having to borrow money from other countries to back these checks and will eventually have to pay them back. Even having seen that they did not have the intended impact on the economy; the fools in Washington are considering doing it again.

The numbers bantered about as the lower limit to Barack’s new welfare program have been as low as 120K and as high as 250K depending on whom is being spoken to, him or one of his lackeys. (Ronald Reagan’s) Trickle down economics does work. No matter how many times this is proven, some fools think this just can’t be true; It was the root of the prosperity during his administration, Bill Gates was the reason for the prosperity during the Clinton administration, and informed TAX CUTS was what sped recovery and stemmed off the major market crash for so long after 9/11. The market is tanking now because of improper senate meddling in mortgage practices forcing banks to give a set percentage of their loans to high risk applicants and the greed of the banks. In play is also that business’ see that a socialist is coming to power and that’s not good for profits.

Too many people are using the phrase tax cuts when a majority of the people being impacted have paid no taxes in the first place. That is not a “tax cut”, it’s a new welfare entitlement.

If you think your taxes are high now (for those of us paying taxes), just wait until they try to recoup some of the money they are giving away for these new entitlements and the universal health care I see looming over the horizon.

As far as “universal health care” is concerned, all you have to do is look at Europe and see that that is a failed experiment. Do we really want the government, who has screwed up so many other things that we let them interfere in, put in charge of our physical well being? Not me.

Doc Bluto seems to be the most informed here and Jon needs to take a laxative (and use the head-time to do a little research reading in economics). And by the way Jon, unless you’re fooling even yourself, you know what put Barack in the 50% plus category: newly registered, excited, uninformed voters.

Secondly, don't give me this crap about CEOs making 300k is unfair. In a large corporation thousands of people depend on that CEO to make sure there is a job there for them when they wake up each morning. Not only the employees, but the investors as well. Do me a favor, take an economics class and then tell me that the government redistributing wealth is a good idea.

Jon, your post about schooling is right along the lines of what I was talking about before. God forbid that someone has to WORK HARD to get what they want out of life. You want the American Dream, but are unwilling to put forth the required effort to attain it. Stop being lazy and go improve yourself is what you should do. Don't complain because someone has to study hard to make good grades. You bring up ivy league schools in your post too. They CAN make it to ivy league schools, that isn't enough though…they shouldn't have to work hard there…

Look man, your logic is flawed in that you want everyone to have everything they want without having to work for it. It's not that simple and it shouldn't be. If you're handed something chances are good you won't appreciate it as much as if you worked for it. For me, the feeling of accomplishment when I achieve a goal is almost as good as the goal itself. It is unfortunate, but most of the people have forgotten that. Not to mention giving people something for nothing just makes them depend more on the system.

Go ahead, be a fan of social services, be a drain on your family, friends and government…at least you didn't have to work for what you have. Tell me, when you wake up and go to shave…when you look in the mirror are you proud of the man you see staring back at you or are you ashamed of the lemming you've become?

Those are my two cents, pce

For example, if someone grows up in the Brooklyn or the Bronx (no stereotypes intended). The public educational standard are much lower than public schools in northern jersey. What does that mean? Even though the student earns 4.0's throughout high school, their chance of getting into an ivy league or high caliber school is still low. And IF they do get into a college, their standards are much harder and will be working their, for a lack of a better word, asses off to keep up with everyone else. Trust me, my roommate from last year was one of them. Once they graduate, they cannot apply for the same jobs as other kids who worked just as hard as he did because of the environment he grew up in. So don't say that people are poor because they are not hard workers. That is just a dishonorable insult. Vice versa, there are rich people out there who do not work hard. Ex. Paris Hilton.

My money won’t be touched directly. What I mean by that is the money that is going to fund all of these socialist programs isn’t only going to come from the rich, which is 150k or more now. Oh no no no…they can’t just print up money and give it out either, that doesn’t work. They will be taking from social security and other money sinks that are there for “our protection”.

Also, you really think it is okay to punish someone for being successful in life? That is what is going to happen. “You did well for yourself and your family, but it is time to take care of everyone else in the country, sir.” Self reliance. Get some.

As for those people that work at McDonalds for $10 an hour with a one bedroom apartment and 4 children to feed…It everyone else’s job to pay for their poor decisions? Especially when an economy pack of condoms costs under $20.

There are programs in place already for those that WANT to…let me say that again…that WANT to improve their quality of life. Most DO NOT want to do the work necessary to do that though.

How about you work to feed their kids while I work on having a family of my own.

This country will realize what it did in a couple years, and let's just hope it's fixable. I'm a nurse, and I can only imagine what universal health care will do to MY job. It's not going to be good I can tell you that much. Not for the nurses, not for the doctors, and sure as hell not for the patients.