$2800 a month basic minimum pay

[Doug]

If we give the Dems control of the house in 2014, they can institute "Fair Tax Reform" and cap everybody's income at $50,000. That would also be the minimum income per person. This represents the Gross National Product spread evenly to every member of the population, which is fair because, you know, "you didn't build that yourself; you had a little help."

 

[HenryWallace]

PayScale Switzerland - Salaries in Switzerland - Average Swiss Income

Swiss law fixes the maximumwork time to 45 hours per week for industrial workers, office personnel, technical personnel and other employees, including sales personnel in large-scale retail. For all other workers, the limit is fixed at 50 hours.

Switzerland Guide: Working, Salaries, working hours and annual leave: Switzerland has a very high costs of

Plus, now get this....
Angry Swiss Aren't Done Slimming the Fat Cats - Bloomberg
They also have salary caps on their Professional sports stars, and limits on the purchases by fat-cat executives.

The Swiss have approved a “fat-cat referendum" to limit executive pay by a crushing 68 percent to 32 percent, no great surprise perhaps given the current mood on bankers and other superrich around the globe.

The Top 10 Highest Average Salary Per Country - TheRichest

And the US is still considered the highest paid...

Its citizens also have the highest disposable income of anyone in this earth

So I'm sure they're over there in Switzerland on a pro-gun site bashing us here in the US for being the highest paid country in the world, wondering why we're raising a stink about them.... Except they have less time to do so cause they're working more hours.

 

[Expat]

I can remember reading an article back in the late 70's, early 80's (yeah, half of you weren't even born yet ) about pay disparity and how the top executives in Japan compared to the lowest paid employees was usually around 7:1, but in the US is was closer to 25:1. The point of the article was something needed to be done to bring executive pay more into line.

 

[Doug]

Well, gee, guys. Most of the "rich" have a lot of their money in stocks and bonds because savings accounts aren't paying spit for interest right now.

So, the Fed keeps pumping money into the economy. How does it do this? It does it by buying bonds. That drives up the value of bonds. As bonds become more expensive, more money shifts to the stock market, which drives up the value of stocks.

So, the actions of Obama's government is increasing the wealth gap between the rich and the poor. And, he gets to blame it on the rich, fat-cat Republicans and claim we need tax increases because, "It isn't fair for those people to keep so much of their money."

Isn't it ironic that they're getting a lot of that money because of his policies.

"Its like rain on your wedding day..."

 

[HenryWallace]

Money is the root of all evil. Plain and simple.

The wealth gap is merely a separation of power.
A segregation of wealth will mean, to an economy driven by mere faith in it's currency, an ever increasing cost of living and less expectations of it's useability.
How long will this game be able to be played?
The Best Kept Secrets of The Dollar - YouTube

The US dollar will collapse eventually.
Inflation is simply put by saying "do you want to follow the value of all this metal? Just follow the decline of the dollar." - My Co's owner.

We can play with numbers and HOPE that things stay the same, but the bottom line is that eventually it will all come back on us. And as I've seen before in history, it's not going to be the one's that spent the money, it'll be the 'people' that bare the cost.... as we already see in these inflationary (Austerity) tactics.

 

[NathanJefferson]

I can remember reading an article back in the late 70's, early 80's (yeah, half of you weren't even born yet ) about pay disparity and how the top executives in Japan compared to the lowest paid employees was usually around 7:1, but in the US is was closer to 25:1. The point of the article was something needed to be done to bring executive pay more into line.

I saw a nice breakdown the other day (sorry couldn't find it in my 30 seconds of looking) that showed how the average CEO is making 1-300x more than the average worker now - but that they aren't making MORE than they did 30 years ago - they simply kept up with inflation while the lower level workers have gotten run over...

How about instead of addressing the symptom, that people, ahem, 'don't make enough' and go to the root cause: that things cost too much.

 

[Mark 1911]

Government controlled pay? No. Government is far too powerful already. What would keep them from lowering it to zero?

 

[HeadlessRoland]

I have faith in Switzerland. "Who is John Galt?"

 

[GIJEW]

An aquaintance said about the USSR: "They pretend(ed) to pay us; we pretend(ed) to work"

 

[cobber]

I have faith in Switzerland. "Who is John Galt?"

Let's let Switzerland be the test bed on this one.

 

[KG1]

Let's let Switzerland be the test bed on this one.

^This^ and when it doesn't work we'll try it over here, cuz we're smarter. Isn't that how it's done lately?

 

[mrjarrell]

Ummm...this is just an initiative that some people managed to get on the ballot. There's no indication that the majority of Swiss voters will vote for this. They're a usually sane people and can do basic math and economics. There's also a ballot initiative to peg the pay of CEOs at the rate of their lowest paid employee. I don't see either of these really going anywhere.

 

[Manatee]

Aside from the strong cultural work ethic, emphasis on education and low military spending (as a % of GDP) with compulsory military service, there is a much stonger sense of participation of the citizenry in country "ownership" in Switzerland. Switzerland has one of the strongest economies in the world. It isn't typical to find the able-bodied unemployed for long periods. Peer/family pressure, government training programs and a stable economy pretty much ensure a job for most citizens.

Before snickering at a Swiss ballot proposal, you have to understand that, unless you're Swiss, they really don't care what your opinion is.

 

[HeadlessRoland]

Let's let Switzerland be the test bed on this one.

I meant I have faith in Switzerland to reject crap like this proposal, not that I have faith it would work.
Violations of the free market will always fail. Switzerland also routinely sees attempts to restrict gun rights via ballot, and they routinely slap them down.

 

[John Galt]

The Twentieth Century Motor Company ...

 

[pinshooter45]

An aquaintance said about the USSR: "They pretend(ed) to pay us; we pretend(ed) to work"

And that is why there is no more Soviet Union and China is a more market based economy than it once was!

 

[BIGKAT9]

I think the CEOs pay if i am correct, cannot excede 12 time that of the lowest paid worker,

 

[88GT]

Money is the root of all evil. Plain and simple.

Nonsense. Money doesn't make good people bad. Money simply makes it easier to be what you already are. This hatred for money smacks of populism. And while I don't support a society where the rich rule by virtue of their ability to control the strings, be they purse strings or otherwise, neither do I fall for the trap that if we suddenly divested ourselves of this thing we call money (or if we could snap our fingers and make everybody possess an equal amount of it), that everything would be hunky dory.

 

[jrogers]

Something vaguely similar has already been done.

But please, don't let me interrupt the constant barrage of anti-Obama rageposts and hilarious failures to differentiate between socialism and communism.

 

[pinshooter45]

Money is the root of all evil. Plain and simple.

The LOVE of money is the root of all evil, because you cannot serve two masters.