State of the Union 2013 |OT| less exciting than a cabin in Big Bear

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speculawyer said:
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I got it. lol
 
Rubio was the perfect republican response.

"Government has a very VERY small role. I know I wouldn't have succeeded without Federal Aid for College, medicare for my older friends, welfare for the poor, social security for both. But the President really believes in big government!"
 
ronito said:
Rubio was the perfect republican response.

"Government has a very VERY small role. I know I wouldn't have succeeded without Federal Aid for College, medicare for my older friends, welfare for the poor, social security for both. But the President really believes in big government!"
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Perfect.
 
vas_a_morir said:
I had a big explanation, but I'll just be honest with you:

It is not a sustainable business model. I think it might surprise you to know that it's not always about profits with small business owners: it's about providing a service as member of a community.It's hard to believe, I know. I too sometimes think of all business owners as bourgeoisie that light Cuban cigars with 100 dollar bills while working the proletariat to the bone. In America, it didn't used to be like that. There were corner stores that were part of small neighborhoods. That's dead. Replaced by national companies that have the leverage due to their size to negotiate a lower price from their vendors, and have their own trucks and warehouse system to cut out the middle man. I can just tell you that our community is poorer, more desolate, and more dependent on government services than ever before. Wal-Mart towers on top of a hill, over a rust-belt city of abandoned buildings that employed proportionally several times as many employees.

Raising minimum wage is about fairness. In the state of nature, those people would starve or have to compete for lowest wages without a safety net of a minimum wage. We know that's not good, and it's not right. We are better off when more people have a chance. In our current system, independent grocery stores have no chance at all. We make 5 cents on a 50 cent can of green beans, and shopping bags cost near 3 cents each. A 50 cent minimum wage increase can be devastating.

It's easy to turn your nose up at failing businesses on the outside, because you just don't know how hard it is to compete with these national retailers. And just maybe you don't live in flyover country, and don't know how crushingly hopeless it is to be young in a dying city.

I agree that it's not a sustainable business model. Before Super Wal-Mart, it was. But, that's capitalism. What good does a 1.75 minimum wage increase do in a community where there are a fraction of the people who used to work still working? I dunno. Perhaps we need it, and I definitely want people to have a living wage. But it's just not true to suggest a minimum wage increase is without concerns. I speak anecdotally, so what may be true for me, may be complete bullshit from your perspective. I am not involved in the family business myself, so forgive me if you find my analysis lacking.

I'm no conservative, so I welcome more progressive government regulation to help save middle American communities. Minimum wage increases are fine, but more needs to be done to keep small communities strong. That's my opinion, anyway.
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I never said that all business owners were greedy profit mongerers, though in retrospect I probably should have worded less harshly. Providing a service to the community is admirable, but it doesn't pay bills. If the employer chooses to earn less than his employees to sustain the business because he can live off of that that's his prerogative. And if employees want to reinvest a portion of their paychecks to keep the business afloat because their individual case means they can still get by that's their prerogative. The issue is that this isn't the case in the vast majority of the country.

I can see your point though that the rising tech industry and high-end commercialism is putting a lock on those small business communities. But sadly that's just economic/societal progress. We can't keep the whole world on Model-T's just because that's the only car the mechanic has been taught to fix. I concede though that transitioning those types of small business economies to something sustainable in the long run is going to be a tough issue, and one that I really don't have an answer for atm. Antitrust/monopoly laws are a good start, but even I know that that's so legally grey that it doesn't fix the issue entirely.
 
watched a news article with a short video with snippits of the speech. I enjoyed this bit a lot

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CrunchyFrog said:
I never said that all business owners were greedy profit mongerers, though in retrospect I probably should have worded less harshly. Providing a service to the community is admirable, but it doesn't pay bills. If the employer chooses to earn less than his employees to sustain the business because he can live off of that that's his prerogative. And if employees want to reinvest a portion of their paychecks to keep the business afloat because their individual case means they can still get by that's their prerogative. The issue is that this isn't the case in the vast majority of the country.

I can see your point though that the rising tech industry and high-end commercialism is putting a lock on those small business communities. But sadly that's just economic/societal progress. We can't keep the whole world on Model-T's just because that's the only car the mechanic has been taught to fix. I concede though that transitioning those types of small business economies to something sustainable in the long run is going to be a tough issue, and one that I really don't have an answer for atm. Antitrust/monopoly laws are a good start, but even I know that that's so legally grey that it doesn't fix the issue entirely.
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Yeah man. Thank you for your post. I didn't mean to suggest that you had a skewed view on what it means to be a true 'job creator.' It's just the nature of pure(ish) Capitalism. It's not a sustainable system, unless we regulate and ensure competitive balance. Unfortunately, nobody is talking about that. I don't have the answers, either.

I tell you, I'm glad my brother is the one who decided to become a 5th generation grocer, because retail is too damn stressful for me. I'm thinking about just moving back to Japan and being done with it all. lol
 
Why the fuck did I drink water?


That's what he'll think about when he's falling asleep in his retirement home in boca.
 
Lol, I wonder why the water wasn't close to him . And why did he feel the need to look into the camera like that why going for it.

Just be normal, take a calm drink and continue man.

I too thought he was going for a chart for some reason.
 
ThatCrazyGuy said:
Just be normal, take a calm drink and continue man.

I too thought he was going for a chart for some reason.
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Nah, he was exhibiting all the signs of being incredibly nervous. Not only was he sweating, he was visibly and audibly responding to a total lack of moisture in his mouth. When he reached down there wasn't any question what it was for.
 
ThatCrazyGuy said:
Lol, I wonder why the water wasn't close to him . And why did he feel the need to look into the camera like that why going for it.

Just be normal, take a calm drink and continue man.

I too thought he was going for a chart for some reason.
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Maybe he didn't want to lose his place on the teleprompter. I, too, thought he was going for some supporting documents or something. My mom called it on the water though and we were both dying.

Imagine if he took that sip like a cool guy though
 
If he had kept talking while going for the water, held it for a second while he continued talking, then took a sip, it would have come off much less awkwardly. That was almost painful to watch. But that's a good point I suppose that he may have been keeping his eye on the teleprompter.
 
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