Showing posts with label Pope Francis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pope Francis. Show all posts

Thursday, December 5, 2013

The Minimum Wage

President Barack Obama, Pope Francis and the fight against income inequality
A small way to attack the chronic problem of wealth concentration is to modestly boost the federal minimum wage.
As Maura Stephens, of Alternet, reported, "If the minimum hourly wage had advanced with the cost of living and productivity from its high-water mark of 1968, it would have been $21.72 in 2012, according to a March 2012 study by John Schmitt for the Center for Economic Policy and Research." Over the past few decades, our economy has experienced an increasing rate of GDP per capita - a growing economy. Yet, this bounty hasn't found its way into the wages of most workers. Workers haven't shared in this growing prosperity. Here's a series of graphs that speaks volumes about the disparity between wages and general economic growth over the past few decades.








For Further Reading:
Why Does the Minimum Wage Have No Discernible Effect on Employment?

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Free The Market, Screw The Poor

Recently the Pope opined The Culture of Prosperity Deadens Us. He critiqued income inequality, our worship of money and objects, and the general disregard we seem to have for each other.

I'm no religious scholar (actually an atheist), but I do recall the Christian tenets being about helping those less fortunate, sharing and caring, and general goodwill and concern for our fellow beings.

In fact, to directly quote Jesus, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven."

Yet:


Stuart Varney Admonishes Pope Francis

Do Republicans even know the teachings of Jesus? For guys who run around waving the flag and thumping the bible, they seem to have no clue about the religious teachings from which they claim their beliefs and motives originate.

For Further Reading:
Pope Francis: Unfettered Capitalism Is "Tyranny"; Economic Inequality "Kills."