Sunday, February 17, 2013
Then came "W" and his unilateral agenda. There was no signing ceremony for this one.
Three flyin' pages of self-righteous Bush/Cheney bullshit.
President Bush’s Remarks, December 13, 2001
Good morning. (click here) (Not really.) I’ve just concluded a meeting of my National Security Council. We reviewed what I discussed with my friend, President Vladimir Putin, over the course of many meetings, many months. And that is the need for America to move beyond the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty.
Today, I have given formal notice to Russia, in accordance with the treaty, that the United States of America is withdrawing from this almost 30-year-old treaty. I have concluded the ABM Treaty hinders our government’s ability to develop ways to protect our people from future terrorist or rogue-state missile attacks.
The 1972 ABM Treaty was signed by the United States and the Soviet Union at a much different time, in a vastly different world. One of the signatories, the Soviet Union, no longer exists. And neither does the hostility that once led both our countries to keep thousands of nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert, pointed at each other. The grim theory was that neither side would launch a nuclear attack because it knew the other would respond, thereby destroying both....
And then he parked a Star Wars triad at Russia's border.
Thursday, 13 December, 2001, 18:17 GMT
..."I (The Decider) have concluded the ABM treaty hinders our government's ability to develop ways to protect our people from future terrorist or rogue-state missile attacks," Mr Bush announced following a meeting with his National Security Council....
"W" literally destroyed the work of every President before him, including, his father. He took the USA from a trustworthy Superpower to the most dreaded country on Earth, by allies and foes, with a three page document. It is that 'Roid Rage' Mind Set that continues with the Tea Party today and has the GOP against the ropes politically in their primaries.
The Roid Rage is given legitimacy through policies of the culture of fear and the intimate corruption of Republicans with Wall Street and their banks.
Do I blame Russia from stepping away from an unpredictable USA? No.
One might ask how much clout Russia and China brings to the table when dealing with Iran and North Korea when they are accompanied by the USA in 'peace dogma' rather than valid Non-proliferation.
GET THE STAR WARS OFF RUSSIA'S BORDER and then the USA might be met once again with the potential it once had to actually end nuclear proliferation on Earth.
Actions speak louder than words and with such a long and successful history before the Neocons OCCUPIED the White House, those actions might even be considered valid proof of an agenda leading to a nuclear free world.
Reagan legitimately weaponized space with Star Wars, but, it was taken to a new height in later years.
At no point in time did Reagan see space as an extension of the nuclear potential of the USA, so much as an extension of Non-Proliferation.
11/2/1989 (click here)
Bush reaffirms US Space Policy, prioritizing US security.
There was still testing that continued.
6/1/1990
Bush reaffirms US Space Policy, prioritizing US security.
There was still testing that continued.
6/1/1990
Bush and Gorbachev (USSR) sign new protocols to the 1974 Threshold Test Ban Treaty (ratifying it on 9/25/1990) and Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty (PNET) provide for advance notification and onsite inspection of tests above 35 kilotons.
7/31/1991
Using pens made from melted down SS-20 and Pershing II missiles, Bush and Gorbachev (USSR) sign START II, cutting U.S. long-range nuclear warheads by 15% and the Soviet’s by 25%.
Using pens made from melted down SS-20 and Pershing II missiles, Bush and Gorbachev (USSR) sign START II, cutting U.S. long-range nuclear warheads by 15% and the Soviet’s by 25%.
1/28/1992
Bush announces in his State of the Union Address t he cancellation of the Midgetman Missile Program; no additional production of W-88 warheads or MX2 test missiles; t ermination of the B-2 bomber program; and termination of production of the advanced cruise missile.
Bush announces in his State of the Union Address t he cancellation of the Midgetman Missile Program; no additional production of W-88 warheads or MX2 test missiles; t ermination of the B-2 bomber program; and termination of production of the advanced cruise missile.
1/29/1992
Bush postpones production of nuclear warheads for Trident II and W-88.
Bush postpones production of nuclear warheads for Trident II and W-88.
Peace was an agenda with President George H. W. Bush. He intervened with the Lisbon Protocol as well. But, this time it would be with the First Russia President Yeltsin.
Estimated Warheads in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine in 1991
Strategic Warheads
|
Tactical Warheads
| |
Belarus
|
100
|
725
|
Kazakhstan
|
1,410
|
Uncertain
|
Ukraine
|
1,900
|
2,275
|
6/17/1992
Bush and Yeltsin ( Russia ) agree on the Joint Understanding, which forms the basis for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty II (START II).
Reagan would make one misstep in his presidency that would derail peace and accelerate suspicions between the two great military powers.
He would provide legitimacy to a technology he believed would end nuclear proliferation. If the USA actually had a technology that would make nuclear war mute, it would bring about a nuclear free world.
That technology was Star Wars. It would later be used to advance intimidation of Russia and cause regret of decades of building trust.
March 23, 1983
At the beginning of this year, I submitted to the Congress a defense budget which reflects my best judgment, and the best understanding of the experts and specialists who advise me, about what we and our allies must do to protect our people in the years ahead....
What is gone from the USA - Russia relationship was the 'cheer' existing between Reagan and Gorbachev.
‘US, Russia plunging into new Cold War’ (click here)
Published: 29 December, 2012, 10:35
Edited: 30 December, 2012, 00:17
Edited: 30 December, 2012, 00:17
Once Gorbachev was replaced as the last Secretary General of the Soviet Union, his wide acceptance globally was astonishing.
He had broken the mold. He was the sincerest express of peace the world had ever witnessed from a country primarily hated for aggression.
It could be said he was the impetus of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. His policies turned the corner on oppression.
The first signs of the break down occurred as riots surfaced in Kazakhstan. The demands for dissolution became louder from every nation of the Soviet Union as greater independence allowed open communication and exchange of information. The isolationist policies of the past had worked. The oppression prevented the reality from reaching the people. When the ruling class of Russia began to realize their own deception it was not well received.
It was a time for others to risk their place in the Soviet Union and move up politically. Gorbachev would be replaced by Boris Yeltsin as the first President of Russia.
Gorbachev never put up a fight. It was as though he was finished with the entirety of the Soviet Union and wanted better quality of life for all its people. As a result of his pacifist agenda he is renowned in many global circles as a reformer and the man that would bring democratization to the nation's of the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev would come to criticize the USA for Operation Noble Anvil.
The latest conflict (click here) for which they supplied large quantities of high-priority munitions on short notice—in this case primarily to the Air Force—was Operation Noble Anvil, the United States' support to the North Atlantic Treaty Organiza-tion's (NATO's) Operation Allied Force. In that operation, NATO forces conducted an air campaign against Yugoslav-Serbian military forces from 24 March to 9 June 1999. IOC supported Operation Noble Anvil from early April through the termination of the operation, and it continues to support several peacekeeping missions in the Balkan region....
He would also come to criticize the invasion into Iraq and the back peddling by Putin and Medvedev of democratic principles in Russia.
He was not and never was a faux peace partner. But, he did expect respect from the USA. After Reagan it deteriorated.
| Moscow
THE fall of the Berlin Wall was not big news in Russia. Neither was it a surprise. It was a logical consequence of the process that began in Moscow in 1985 when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power....
...The idea of sending tanks to stem velvet revolutions in Eastern Europe was unthinkable. Mr Gorbachev told Communist leaders in Eastern Europe that Moscow would not interfere in their domestic affairs as early as 1985. The leaders did not believe him, or did not want to share the news with their people—for once Soviet soldiers and subsidies were removed, their own days would be numbered....
Gorbachev the Peace Monger
Mikhail Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Communist Party who initiated changes known as 'perestroika' and 'glasnost' which melted the rigid Soviet system and liberated 15 republics of the Soviet Union to become independent states, thus ending the existence of the USSR in December 1991....
By STEVEN YACCINO
Published: April 23, 2012
CHICAGO — It was an unusual day (click here) in social studies class at Frederick Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center, a public high school on the North Side of this city. Monday’s class was taught by a substitute teacher: Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the former president of the Soviet Union....
...“The world could have exploded at any moment,” he said through an interpreter. “It would have taken a few hours to destroy civilization.”
Mr. Gorbachev was among a who’s who of historic figures fanning out at Chicago’s public high schools, here for a gathering of Nobel Peace Prize winners. It was the first time the annual event was being held in the United States, and in anticipation, high school students around Chicago had been studying the laureates’ accomplishments as part of a “special human rights curriculum,” developed by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights and Chicago public school teachers....
The USA political modernist version of communism.
The years post Kennedy were somewhat subdued when it came to the relationship with Russia. The USA concentrated on a Hate-Hate relationship whereby nuclear weapons were the primary threat that facilitated the Vietnam War.
The Domino Effect.
Little would the USA political machines admit the Domino Effect was only effective with Dominoes. And I am not talking pizza.
There would be three Soviet leaders after Khrushchev; Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, that were primarily invisible to the American populous and history. Nikita Khrushchev and his bad behavior at the United Nations would endure as a Cold War icon until the mid-1980s.
Of those three leaders, Leonid Brezhnev would spend the most time at the top of the Soviet Union. He was there for eighteen years until his death in 1982.
Khrushchev was not disliked and removed from leadership because of his Cold War standing; it was his failing economics. He was relieved of his leadership in 1964, not quite a year after the Kennedy assassination. One has to wonder if a deeper fear of American rhetoric would cause a nuclear exchange between the two countries, hence, a change in leadership. Oswald had spent time in Russia and even applied for citizenship before returning to the USA.
Brezhnev would spend a great many years post Kennedy revitalizing the Russian economy from stagnation. His real military movement would not begin again until "The Prague Spring."
The Prague Spring of 1968 (click here) is the term used for the brief period of time when the government of Czechoslovakia led by Alexander Dubček seemingly wanted to democratise the nation and lessen the stranglehold Moscow had on the nation’s affairs. The Prague Spring ended with a Soviet invasion, the removal of Alexander Dubček as party leader and an end to reform within Czechoslovakia....
The Prague Spring was a cultural revolution. It declared greater freedoms for Czech Republic citizens. It was the rise of unions, enhanced freedom of speech and cultural changes. It was primarily a benign movement in that it was not militarized. But, Brezhnev would see it as a challenge to the Soviet culture of oppression and stable states. In 1968, the Warsaw Pact nations, the Soviet Union and allies of Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany),Hungary and Poland ,invaded Czechoslovakia.
20-08-2003 | Jan Velinger
It has been thirty-five years (click here) since Soviet troops began entering Czechoslovakia late on August 20th and early August 21st in a carefully orchestrated invasion designed to crush the period of political and economic reforms known as the Prague Spring, reforms led by the country's new First Secretary of the Communist party Alexander Dubcek. A movement viewed by Leonid Brezhnev and other Soviet hard-liners in Moscow as a serious threat to the Soviet Union's hold on the Socialist satellite states, they decided to act....
But, Brezhnev, was viewed as a isolationist. It is that isolationism others would come to appreciate as the reason for poor Soviet economics. The George H. W. Bush administration would state it was economics that caused the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but, in actuality it was more than that. It was oppression reaching its maximum due to economic strife that would break the Soviet Union down. The movement against oppression which isolated nations causing economic strife was being leaned into culturally and subsurface since the Prague Spring. When the Soviet Union disintegrated, the people were ready for it. They wanted it.
Brezhnev and Ford signing joint communiqué on the SALT treaty in Vladivostok.
Brezhnev was the pivot for both the USA and the Soviet Union. Khrushchev was the awakening of the West to a resolve to stop the USA advancement of nuclear proliferation. Brezhnev would seek only to enforce the Warsaw Pact without blinking, but, in absence of hatred of the West. He was the pivot from the Cold War to a place where Russia had standing as a country to respect. He was an outreach beyond the Cold War, or at least the beginning of it. But, the Warsaw Pact reaction to The Prague Spring was directly related to the Cold War and the stability of a counter superpower to the USA.
The Cold War started with the USA use of nuclear weapons on Japan.
How far would a 'ally in need' actually take the relationship? Was Russia to be another Japan?
...For their part, (click here) the Soviets resented the Americans’ decades-long refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part of the international community as well as their delayed entry into World War II, which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of Russians. After the war ended, these grievances ripened into an overwhelming sense of mutual distrust and enmity. Postwar Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe fueled many Americans’ fears of a Russian plan to control the world. Meanwhile, the USSR came to resent what they perceived as American officials’ bellicose rhetoric, arms buildup and interventionist approach to international relations. In such a hostile atmosphere, no single party was entirely to blame for the Cold War; in fact, some historians believe it was inevitable....
This is the Jupiter Rocket. It took the first USA monkey into suborbital space.
This is where all nuclear missiles belong, in museums around the world where human population can scorn their discovery and use. Like, why did humanity ever allow this?
Miss Baker and Miss Able were the two squirrel monkeys the USA successfully launched into space on this rocket and returned alive. Yes, there were others that did not arrive alive.
This rocket was also used for less peaceful purposes.
Below is a picture of the same missile, stationed in Italy. There were emplacements in Turkey as well.
Jupiter missile emplacement showing ground support equipment. The bottom third of the missile is encased in a "flower petal shelter" of wedge-shaped metal panels allowing crews to service the missile in all weather conditions.
- Republic of Italy (This information is on Wikipedia)
- Headquarters: Gioia del Colle Air Base Warhead store 40°55′29.78″N 16°37′34.87″E Fissile pit store
40°47′6.74″N 16°55′33.5″E - Squadron 1
- Site1
- 40°44′24.59″N 16°55′58.83″E
- Site 3 40°35′42.00″N 16°51′33.00″E
- Site 4 40°48′47.05″N 16°22′53.08″E
- Site 5 40°45′32.75″N 16°22′53.08″E
- Site 7 40°57′43.98″N 16°10′54.66″E
- Squadron 2
- Site 2 40°40′42.00″N 17°6′12.03″E
- Site 6 40°58′6.10″N 16°30′22.73″E
- Site 8 40°42′14.98″N 16°8′28.42″E
- Site 9 40°55′23.40″N 16°48′28.54″E
- Site 10 40°34′59.77″N 16°35′43.26″E
- Turkish Republic
- Headquarters: Cigli Air Base
- Warhead and fissile pit stores 38°31′17.32″N 27°1′3.89″E
- Site 1 38°42′26.68″N 26°53′4.13″E
- Site 2 38°42′23.76″N 27°53′57.66″E
- Site 3 38°50′37.66″N 27°02′55.58″E
- Site 4 38°44′15.13″N 27°24′51.46″E
- Site 5 38°47′30.73″N 27°42′28.94″E
- Populous cultural history in the USA paints a slightly different picture than the facts regarding the Cuban Missile Crisis. It paints a USA under siege by Russia. That is not completely the case. Russia was being surrounded by nuclear capacity in near border regions and it didn't appreciate it. That was occurring before they placed missiles in Cuba.
- Khrushchev (click here) would respond to the naval blockade and U.S. demands. But the leaders of both superpowers recognized the devastating possibility of a nuclear war and publicly agreed to a deal in which the Soviets would dismantle the weapon sites in exchange for a pledge from the United States not to invade Cuba. In a separate deal, which remained secret for more than twenty-five years, the United States also agreed to remove its nuclear missiles from Turkey. Although the Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba, they escalated the building of their military arsenal; the missile crisis was over, the arms race was not.
- It is not a big secret. The reality the USA had a nuclear capacity in Turkey is in the JFK library. It is generally not put into that context in populous American culture of war, though.
- The Cold War did not assassinate John F. Kennedy, Vietnam did.
- History also paints Khrushchev as a war monger and angry Soviet leader. In many ways, his muscle flexing made the USA pay attention to their encroachment on the Russian people. I am not quite sure history has done justice to Nikita Khrushchev in his effectiveness to reign in nuclear war.
Not really.
The relationship between the USA and Russia and the race for peace depends a great deal on the leadership within the USA.
Russia's policies have primarily reflected any sincere initiative with the USA. What plagues the relationship now is the questionable USA reliability to be a partner in peace at all.
"Russians" by Sting (click title to entry - thank you)
In Europe and America, there's a growing feeling of hysteria
Conditioned to respond to all the threats
In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets
Mr. Krushchev said we will bury you
I don't subscribe to this point of view
It would be such an ignorant thing to do
If the Russians love their children too
How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer's deadly toy
There is no monopoly in common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too
There is no historical precedent
To put the words in the mouth of the President
There's no such thing as a winnable war
It's a lie we don't believe anymore
Mr. Reagan says we will protect you
I don't subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
What might save us, me, and you
Is if the Russians love their children too
The No Fly List of the USA needs to be the beginning and not the end.
But, there is a better way than tying up the time of FBI agents to prevent an attack within the airline industry. There is nothing wrong with informing people they are on the No Fly List and offering them an appeals process so they can be proven as wrongly accused. A grievance process if you will.
July 26, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org
New York -- A federal appeals court today unanimously ruled that the ACLU’s lawsuit challenging the government’s secretive No Fly List should go forward.
The national ACLU, along with its affiliates in Oregon, southern California, northern California and New Mexico, filed the lawsuit in June 2010, on behalf of 15 U.S. citizens and permanent residents, including four military veterans, who are on the No Fly List and banned from flying to or from the U.S. or over American airspace, causing great personal hardship. None of the ACLU’s clients have ever been told why they are on the No Fly List or given a reasonable opportunity to get off it....
If people want to do the USA harm, there are other ways to do it, ie: Timothy McVeigh. The sincerely militant will not wait to be cleared from a No Fly List, they will find other ways. So, to provide a path to recognition of wrongful accusation is a prudent idea.We also have to recognize that if there is a No Fly List, what does that say about the security for airlines that have been put into place since September 11, 2001. On one hand a No Fly List is using somewhat arbitrary discrimination to favor airline safety, yet, there are all kinds of screening procedures that is suppose to prevent any UNKNOWN criminals in our midst. Huh?
If the screening procedures are so air tight that there is no way a criminal can board an jet or aircraft with ingredients to explode the hull of a plane or cause a damaging fire to facilitate a crash or to enter the pilot cockpit to take over the plane, then why the No Fly List?
To say there is a growing list of people arbitrarily unable to spend money on airplane flight has to be somewhat a burden to the industry and not just the folks on the No Fly List.
No Fly List - Search for YOUR name and relish the moment you country provided for you. You pay for it after all. (click here)
In all honesty, this is one of those faux security measures that victimize Americans. Any FBI agent that does not understand that concept needs additional training.
There was a legitimate time for this. It was in the beginning when the country had no clue, but, it has outgrown its purpose. Seriously. There needs to be a way for the FBI to effectively assign more detailed assessment to whom they consider sincere dangers and those that only appear to have those qualities. There is nothing like being a victim from birth before an American has even developed a sincere understanding of the benevolence of their government.
The No Fly List has to be reviewed for its appropriate need. The agencies should never be so dedicated to a security process it cannot be assessed and reassessed for effectiveness. When that happens, the agencies will rely on a process that will become antiquated and useless. In that lies the next attack.
What sincerely needs to happen here is a complete reassessment of the limits placed on passengers to their carry-on, a scanning for every piece of luggage being up in the belly of the plane and a reassessment of electric device use. We know that mobile / cell phones can be used to detonate explosives. So, the BEST idea is for the agencies to come up with a solid methodology to protect the airline industry and get rid of this list. Suspects can be garnered by actions and movement toward a militant attack.
That can be improved, ie: New York City had a car bomb that didn't explode but smoldered. Then there is Yung W. Tang. His car laced with explosives was found by a thief in NYC after he was already in jail. And that seems like a 'given' to me. We actually had to wait for a car thief to covet what seemed like an abandoned car to actually attempt to steal it before the bomb was found. Like what? Why didn't they find it before?
So, there can be improvement in actually finding the bad guys. It is that reality, that brings me to the idea the No Fly List may very well be a waste of time of the agencies.
So, there can be improvement in actually finding the bad guys. It is that reality, that brings me to the idea the No Fly List may very well be a waste of time of the agencies.
A man already facing charges (click here) in a 2002 pipe bomb attack in New York was arrested in Connecticut after police found homemade explosives in his car, federal authorities said.
A Wallingford police officer on a routine patrol early Tuesday morning said he spotted Yung W. Tang napping in the parking lot of a KinderCare just off of Interstate 91. Authorities said Tang indicated he was driving from Boston to New York and had pulled off the highway to sleep.
Tang, 38, is a a citizen of China who lives in Greenwood Lake, N.Y....
Saturday, February 16, 2013
He also said he had a complaint. He wants to know why Black History Month is always in February. He doesn't think it is right the community has to share that month with a Groundhog. And. He says the community never gets a month with 31 days in it.
He said that he never much paid attention to Groundhog Day until Black History Month was in February. And. He believes the Groundhog stuff is phoney baloney. In his estimation, from February 2 to the first day of spring in March there is six weeks. What does everyone expect? Spring on February 3rd?
I think there is a misunderstanding about Small Business growth. It is misused when discussing the increase in minimum wage. Other applications, too, but in particular in relation to increasing the minimum wage.
Part of what is assumed in the 'idea' of Small Business is the myth every enterprise wants to be a Big Business. That is not the case.
Big Business or differently put "aspiring to be a stock interest on the Big Board" is not at all where many Small Business seek to be. That is a gross error when examining a reason to oppose the increase in the minimum wage.
The dialogue of the opposition to the increase in the minimum wage wants to build a vision of oppressing the growth of Small Business owners to being something big and more in numbers, ie: Franchise interests.
There is a very big difference between franchise business and small business owners. Either way a recent Popcorn franchise I posted on this blog is a good example of why all that opposition is hideous.
Let's just remove the aspiring franchise interests into a reality. Franchise owners are small businesses. They have a common company name they derive from a group of small businesses. Franchise owners receive benefits from their name brand.
The idea that every small business is going to receive an adverse outcome to their profit margin if the cost of labor increases by $1.75 per hour has nothing to do with growing to larger numbers. So, let's lose that.
It is more than correct that if minimum wage workers, WHICH MAY NOT BE THE CASE in all small businesses. Okay? Chefs are not minimum wage workers, but, perhaps the waiter or waitress is. Restaurants in many instances are small businesses. They don't necessarily have a franchise interest, so, let's loose the idea too that all small businesses hire minimum wage workers. That is not the case. Independent garage owners do not pay minimum wage. So this is about specific workers. Not all small businesses are included in this dynamic for several reasons.
The language that needs to be cleaned up is the idea that an increase in the minimum wage will demise all small business. That is a lie. A gross lie.
The fact of the matter is that if minimum wage workers are paid $1.75 more an hour, they will be able to purchase more. They will have more money to improve their financial standing. There is nothing wrong with proving a high school student with a guarantee their wage will be $9.00 per hour. This NOT an allowance, these are EARNINGS. Why should a high school student not be valued for their labor? I want to hear that, because the idea it will keep them out of the workforce is incorrect. If a small business needs assistance on Saturday and Sunday to man the sales shelves a minimum wage is not going to stop that.
That high student will then have more money to do other activities when they have worked for their earnings. Their labor will mean something beyond the labor itself. Volunteer work is work without added economic benefit, not labor. So, they can have goals and spend that money OR save it for college, etc. So, the idea the high school student is going to be out of luck in the minimum wage increases is more than silly.
I worked from the age of 11 as a babysitter. I received $1.00 per hour and that was being well paid at that age. I continued to earn money the rest of my life from the age of 11. I didn't earn SSI benefits until I reached the age of 18, but, I did earn money and I spent it as well as saved it.
At the age of 15, my reputation of a good person in the community that was reliable as an employee earned me a position at a dentist's office to be trained as an assistant earning minimum wage. Believe me, the dentist got a real deal for the next three years of my life. At the beginning of my employ I worked myself out of a job catching up on old, outstanding bills. But, once the office learned my capacity they asked me back to be trained. A dental hygienist certification was not necessary back then. But, that is besides the point. Minimum wage provided a great deal of opportunity and I returned that opportunity to the local economy. I saved at a national bank, so there you have it.
If I didn't have that minimum wage to earn for my GOOD QUALITY labor, the local economy would have been less that good quality labor and less my spending. Now, multiple that dynamic across the entire of the USA and what is the outcome? The outcome is there is more vitality in the economy. More theater tickets sold, more clothing, more recreational beverages, more trips to the Jersey shore, etc.
So, the idea that an increase in the minimum wage will oppress small businesses is hideous. It will expand vitality. A lot. And the idea there is burgeoning franchise around every corner oppressed by an increase in the minimum wage is mind speak and rhetorical. There is no fact in that idea.
I mentioned the Popcorn Franchise. That franchise did not start as a Mom and Pop store. It started through market research, the development of a business model and the marketing of that information to investors to begin the first set of franchise store fronts. It has nothing to do with the Mom & Pop stores. Unless that franchise is going to expand it's market space by bringing it to the Mom & Pop store, such as, a Coke or Pepsi vending machine there is no relationship.
Also, a Coke and Pepsi driver and service person does not receive minimum wage. Short of Papa Johns I doubt any driver of a company earned minimum wage. The real crime of Papa Johns is the fact their drivers/delivery people actually have to pay for their own gasoline to make those deliveries. Not that is a moral issue. How can Papa Johns actually offer an employment opportunity that costs their employees money in order to maintain it. It is an exploitative labor model.
But, we know more money in the hands of consumers creates a more vital economy and more employment. The example of that are the tax cuts to the Middle Class. We know they work and they work well. So, if any business, big, small or franchised wants to expand their profits then increase the money in their employees hands. Increase the minimum wage and it will pay for itself.
The loss of a profit based in increasing the minimum wage will be transient to higher profits. It will be a minor dip until the monies are in circulation of which is all of about a week to two depending when paychecks are issued.
Greater market penetration of any product depends on demand. If the people a business is counting on doesn't have the disposable income to participate in markets then the business is defeated before it even gets off the ground.
Apple recently learned their idea of an unlimited cost of product was a rude awakening. Why is that? Why did they reach their ceiling? It wasn't because of a poor product. I wasn't because of a bad reputation. The people that use Apple products love their Apples. All of Apple's marketing has worked. They have found the people looking for their services, but, that relationship was challenged when the product cost exceeded their ability to pay.
So, the question is if the people that love Apple will spend more on the product if their income increases? My guess is yes and Apple can always find a way of testing that through selling applications for their new product exclusive to Apple to the...
...I took a phone call...
So, let's see.
And I think that is the next step for Apple. In order for them to find their 'effective' price point, they need to sell exclusive applications for there newest product once there are enough in circulation to justify the apps. Then they'll know how their consumers, loyal consumers, are doing in their own financial well being to invest more in the fun and function they have in their Apples.
Upward mobility is what increases in the minimum wage will result in. The USA is suppose to be that country. That is the promise of the USA. A chance of upward mobility. And until this generation, which was unemployed from the point where they were prepared educationally to begin their own work careers, that promise of the USA has always been there. Every generation has done better than the one before.
I won't tell another personal story, but, that has been the experience of my family. I am confident that is the case across the country. Immigrants, wage labor, children that finished high school, children that worked forty hour weeks with unions behind them, children able to purchase houses and able to educate their children. Blue collar workers educating their children into college and careers of business persons, medical professionals, lawyers and the variety in a large family is unending. Heck, one of my cousins works at a casino in their IT department and received employee of the year.
But, this generation, the 99% generation has been deprived that. We have much promise to return to the USA and if we don't reclaim it, this country's poverty will increase and it's growth will stagnate and disappear. We cannot allow that to happen to our children and grandchildren. We are better than that.
So, increased minimum wage might seem like a blight to the Republicans, but, it will prove, as it has in the past, to be a blessing to the nation. We need to get all this done and we have a President dedicated to see it happen. We need to move forward now.
Part of what is assumed in the 'idea' of Small Business is the myth every enterprise wants to be a Big Business. That is not the case.
Big Business or differently put "aspiring to be a stock interest on the Big Board" is not at all where many Small Business seek to be. That is a gross error when examining a reason to oppose the increase in the minimum wage.
The dialogue of the opposition to the increase in the minimum wage wants to build a vision of oppressing the growth of Small Business owners to being something big and more in numbers, ie: Franchise interests.
There is a very big difference between franchise business and small business owners. Either way a recent Popcorn franchise I posted on this blog is a good example of why all that opposition is hideous.
Let's just remove the aspiring franchise interests into a reality. Franchise owners are small businesses. They have a common company name they derive from a group of small businesses. Franchise owners receive benefits from their name brand.
The idea that every small business is going to receive an adverse outcome to their profit margin if the cost of labor increases by $1.75 per hour has nothing to do with growing to larger numbers. So, let's lose that.
It is more than correct that if minimum wage workers, WHICH MAY NOT BE THE CASE in all small businesses. Okay? Chefs are not minimum wage workers, but, perhaps the waiter or waitress is. Restaurants in many instances are small businesses. They don't necessarily have a franchise interest, so, let's loose the idea too that all small businesses hire minimum wage workers. That is not the case. Independent garage owners do not pay minimum wage. So this is about specific workers. Not all small businesses are included in this dynamic for several reasons.
The language that needs to be cleaned up is the idea that an increase in the minimum wage will demise all small business. That is a lie. A gross lie.
The fact of the matter is that if minimum wage workers are paid $1.75 more an hour, they will be able to purchase more. They will have more money to improve their financial standing. There is nothing wrong with proving a high school student with a guarantee their wage will be $9.00 per hour. This NOT an allowance, these are EARNINGS. Why should a high school student not be valued for their labor? I want to hear that, because the idea it will keep them out of the workforce is incorrect. If a small business needs assistance on Saturday and Sunday to man the sales shelves a minimum wage is not going to stop that.
That high student will then have more money to do other activities when they have worked for their earnings. Their labor will mean something beyond the labor itself. Volunteer work is work without added economic benefit, not labor. So, they can have goals and spend that money OR save it for college, etc. So, the idea the high school student is going to be out of luck in the minimum wage increases is more than silly.
I worked from the age of 11 as a babysitter. I received $1.00 per hour and that was being well paid at that age. I continued to earn money the rest of my life from the age of 11. I didn't earn SSI benefits until I reached the age of 18, but, I did earn money and I spent it as well as saved it.
At the age of 15, my reputation of a good person in the community that was reliable as an employee earned me a position at a dentist's office to be trained as an assistant earning minimum wage. Believe me, the dentist got a real deal for the next three years of my life. At the beginning of my employ I worked myself out of a job catching up on old, outstanding bills. But, once the office learned my capacity they asked me back to be trained. A dental hygienist certification was not necessary back then. But, that is besides the point. Minimum wage provided a great deal of opportunity and I returned that opportunity to the local economy. I saved at a national bank, so there you have it.
If I didn't have that minimum wage to earn for my GOOD QUALITY labor, the local economy would have been less that good quality labor and less my spending. Now, multiple that dynamic across the entire of the USA and what is the outcome? The outcome is there is more vitality in the economy. More theater tickets sold, more clothing, more recreational beverages, more trips to the Jersey shore, etc.
So, the idea that an increase in the minimum wage will oppress small businesses is hideous. It will expand vitality. A lot. And the idea there is burgeoning franchise around every corner oppressed by an increase in the minimum wage is mind speak and rhetorical. There is no fact in that idea.
I mentioned the Popcorn Franchise. That franchise did not start as a Mom and Pop store. It started through market research, the development of a business model and the marketing of that information to investors to begin the first set of franchise store fronts. It has nothing to do with the Mom & Pop stores. Unless that franchise is going to expand it's market space by bringing it to the Mom & Pop store, such as, a Coke or Pepsi vending machine there is no relationship.
Also, a Coke and Pepsi driver and service person does not receive minimum wage. Short of Papa Johns I doubt any driver of a company earned minimum wage. The real crime of Papa Johns is the fact their drivers/delivery people actually have to pay for their own gasoline to make those deliveries. Not that is a moral issue. How can Papa Johns actually offer an employment opportunity that costs their employees money in order to maintain it. It is an exploitative labor model.
But, we know more money in the hands of consumers creates a more vital economy and more employment. The example of that are the tax cuts to the Middle Class. We know they work and they work well. So, if any business, big, small or franchised wants to expand their profits then increase the money in their employees hands. Increase the minimum wage and it will pay for itself.
The loss of a profit based in increasing the minimum wage will be transient to higher profits. It will be a minor dip until the monies are in circulation of which is all of about a week to two depending when paychecks are issued.
Greater market penetration of any product depends on demand. If the people a business is counting on doesn't have the disposable income to participate in markets then the business is defeated before it even gets off the ground.
Apple recently learned their idea of an unlimited cost of product was a rude awakening. Why is that? Why did they reach their ceiling? It wasn't because of a poor product. I wasn't because of a bad reputation. The people that use Apple products love their Apples. All of Apple's marketing has worked. They have found the people looking for their services, but, that relationship was challenged when the product cost exceeded their ability to pay.
So, the question is if the people that love Apple will spend more on the product if their income increases? My guess is yes and Apple can always find a way of testing that through selling applications for their new product exclusive to Apple to the...
...I took a phone call...
So, let's see.
And I think that is the next step for Apple. In order for them to find their 'effective' price point, they need to sell exclusive applications for there newest product once there are enough in circulation to justify the apps. Then they'll know how their consumers, loyal consumers, are doing in their own financial well being to invest more in the fun and function they have in their Apples.
Upward mobility is what increases in the minimum wage will result in. The USA is suppose to be that country. That is the promise of the USA. A chance of upward mobility. And until this generation, which was unemployed from the point where they were prepared educationally to begin their own work careers, that promise of the USA has always been there. Every generation has done better than the one before.
I won't tell another personal story, but, that has been the experience of my family. I am confident that is the case across the country. Immigrants, wage labor, children that finished high school, children that worked forty hour weeks with unions behind them, children able to purchase houses and able to educate their children. Blue collar workers educating their children into college and careers of business persons, medical professionals, lawyers and the variety in a large family is unending. Heck, one of my cousins works at a casino in their IT department and received employee of the year.
But, this generation, the 99% generation has been deprived that. We have much promise to return to the USA and if we don't reclaim it, this country's poverty will increase and it's growth will stagnate and disappear. We cannot allow that to happen to our children and grandchildren. We are better than that.
So, increased minimum wage might seem like a blight to the Republicans, but, it will prove, as it has in the past, to be a blessing to the nation. We need to get all this done and we have a President dedicated to see it happen. We need to move forward now.
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