Minimum Wage

[GeddyLee09]

California increased their minimum wage (along with New York). From the article: https://thehill.com/opinion/finance...ge-woes-are-a-cautionary-tale-for-the-nation/

Some workers will benefit, but many others will see their hours cut and benefits slashed or end up losing their jobs to compensate for the higher costs. Pizza Hut restaurants across the state are already planning on eliminating more than 1,200 delivery driver positions (a number that is likely to grow) in response. And in New York City, which just raised its minimum wage to $17.96 an hour last month, companies such as Uber and DoorDash are compensating by imposing higher delivery fees, and food delivery workers are seeing fewer tips and reduced hours and scheduling flexibility.

Plus, there will also be fewer jobs in the future, so many others will never get hired in the first place — and it will now be much more difficult for low-skill workers and those new to the job market to get jobs since they now must compete against workers with skills worth $20 an hour.

Automation, such as ordering kiosks, will increase and human-provided service will decrease. Less money will be left over for other innovations or investments in the business. Businesses that are already struggling to get by will close, leading to even more job losses.

How can this be considered progress? Even if some will make more money, numbers of jobs will decrease, prices will increase and in the end businesses will close. Maybe the smart states can use this as an example of what not to do.

 

[noletaire]

California increased their minimum wage (along with New York). From the article: https://thehill.com/opinion/finance...ge-woes-are-a-cautionary-tale-for-the-nation/

Some workers will benefit, but many others will see their hours cut and benefits slashed or end up losing their jobs to compensate for the higher costs. Pizza Hut restaurants across the state are already planning on eliminating more than 1,200 delivery driver positions (a number that is likely to grow) in response. And in New York City, which just raised its minimum wage to $17.96 an hour last month, companies such as Uber and DoorDash are compensating by imposing higher delivery fees, and food delivery workers are seeing fewer tips and reduced hours and scheduling flexibility.

Plus, there will also be fewer jobs in the future, so many others will never get hired in the first place — and it will now be much more difficult for low-skill workers and those new to the job market to get jobs since they now must compete against workers with skills worth $20 an hour.

Automation, such as ordering kiosks, will increase and human-provided service will decrease. Less money will be left over for other innovations or investments in the business. Businesses that are already struggling to get by will close, leading to even more job losses.

How can this be considered progress? Even if some will make more money, numbers of jobs will decrease, prices will increase and in the end businesses will close. Maybe the smart states can use this as an example of what not to do.

California is a strange planet... but in general Minimum wage laws do more harm than good. Just about every government intervention has a negative consequence on the economy, and the question is, does the positive outweigh the benefit?
I understand regulations for reasons of safety and consumer protection, but beyond that, best to be as laissez faire as possible...

 

[F4Gary]

" The New York Post reported Wednesday that “earlier this month, Chipotle executives warned that consumers in California should expect to see ‘significant’ price hikes due to the minimum wage hike.”

Business owners large and small don’t generally take minimum wage hikes as a cue to tighten their belts and make sacrifices. Maybe in a perfect world they would, but this is not a perfect world. Instead of absorbing the increased costs themselves, they pass them on to the consumer in the form of price increases, or they lay off a few workers and make the ones who are still employed work harder for almost the same money. Minimum wage laws thus increase both prices and unemployment. Under the guise of giving ordinary workers a fair shake, they make life more difficult for them."


https://www.frontpagemag.com/how-corrupt-is-gavin-newsom/
(Article is political, I only posted a snippet that is appropriate for this thread.)

 

[GeddyLee09]

" The New York Post reported Wednesday that “earlier this month, Chipotle executives warned that consumers in California should expect to see ‘significant’ price hikes due to the minimum wage hike.”

Business owners large and small don’t generally take minimum wage hikes as a cue to tighten their belts and make sacrifices. Maybe in a perfect world they would, but this is not a perfect world. Instead of absorbing the increased costs themselves, they pass them on to the consumer in the form of price increases, or they lay off a few workers and make the ones who are still employed work harder for almost the same money. Minimum wage laws thus increase both prices and unemployment. Under the guise of giving ordinary workers a fair shake, they make life more difficult for them."


https://www.frontpagemag.com/how-corrupt-is-gavin-newsom/
(Article is political, I only posted a snippet that is appropriate for this thread.)

Maybe instead of having people actually work for a living we can pay them for doing nothing like a living wage. Sounds funny to say it but people really are discussing this as well.

 

[F4Gary]

Maybe instead of having people actually work for a living we can pay them for doing nothing like a living wage. Sounds funny to say it but people really are discussing this as well.

And then the printing presses run out of green ink....

 

[Ohio1nole]

If prices rise across the board to make up for the wage hike… what good does the wage hike really do?

 

[GeddyLee09]

If prices rise across the board to make up for the wage hike… what good does the wage hike really do?

Exactly. All that does is decrease business in this case for fast food places which will cost more jobs. It's all a farce. Tell the workers you're doing something for them by raising their wages, but the money goes right back to the company with the higher prices. All it equals is less jobs in the end which is what is desired. Higher unemployment and more reliance on government handouts. Control is the operative word here.

 

[Ohio1nole]

Exactly. All that does is decrease business in this case for fast food places which will cost more jobs. It's all a farce. Tell the workers you're doing something for them by raising their wages, but the money goes right back to the company with the higher prices. All it equals is less jobs in the end which is what is desired. Higher unemployment and more reliance on government handouts. Control is the operative word here.

Hell. I’m of the opinion of no minimum wage age. Negotiate your worth after you’re hired.

It’s a tough spot. I get it, not everyone can be a CEO. Some people have limited skills and not much earning potential. But to force a company to pay someone $18 an hour for a job that a 16 year old can do… is going to have unintended consequences.

 

[GeddyLee09]

Hell. I’m of the opinion of no minimum wage age. Negotiate your worth after you’re hired.

It’s a tough spot. I get it, not everyone can be a CEO. Some people have limited skills and not much earning potential. But to force a company to pay someone $18 an hour for a job that a 16 year old can do… is going to have unintended consequences.

Agreed. My dad always told us that the world needs ditch diggers too. I guess it's a not so nice way of saying were not all astronauts. But it's a fact. Fast food used to be a job for high school kids and first year college students to earn extra cash and get into the workforce.

Work hard and earn your pay isn't a thing anymore. I think telling someone to work hard is considered a micro aggression or something like that.

 

[Ohio1nole]

Agreed. My dad always told us that the world needs ditch diggers too. I guess it's a not so nice way of saying were not all astronauts. But it's a fact. Fast food used to be a job for high school kids and first year college students to earn extra cash and get into the workforce.

Work hard and earn your pay isn't a thing anymore. I think telling someone to work hard is considered a micro aggression or something like that.

I agree. I always thought it would be cool to be a hot shot lawyer or run a hedge fund.. but academically, that wasn’t in the cards for me. 😂.

So I had to go the ditch digger route and find my living doing something else.

And also. If they raise the minimum wage to $19 or whatever, what’s that do to the employees in the company that make $22 an hour? Would they get a raise too?

Everything always sounds good in theory but companies aren’t just going to eat the costs of that. They will cut costs elsewhere or raise prices elsewhere to make up for it.

 

[goldmom]

I agree. I always thought it would be cool to be a hot shot lawyer or run a hedge fund.. but academically, that wasn’t in the cards for me. 😂.

So I had to go the ditch digger route and find my living doing something else.

And also. If they raise the minimum wage to $19 or whatever, what’s that do to the employees in the company that make $22 an hour? Would they get a raise too?

Everything always sounds good in theory but companies aren’t just going to eat the costs of that. They will cut costs elsewhere or raise prices elsewhere to make up for it.

Tell that to 20 year olds protesting and 40 year olds who hung on through high school so they could get a diploma. They don’t get it.
Willfully ignorant. Calling companies “greedy” is so much easier.

 

[Ohio1nole]

Tell that to 20 year olds protesting and 40 year olds who hung on through high school so they could get a diploma. They don’t get it.
Willfully ignorant. Calling companies “greedy” is so much easier.

But I also see arguments from the other side.. if a company makes X amount of profit, they should be paying their employees X amount of money..

But then that gets back into the argument of, how much should a cashier make? It’s a simple job. So I get it.

Take wal mart for example. They make how much in profit each year.. I don’t know what their warehouse workers make, but I would hope it’s a decent wage.

 

[GeddyLee09]

But I also see arguments from the other side.. if a company makes X amount of profit, they should be paying their employees X amount of money..

But then that gets back into the argument of, how much should a cashier make? It’s a simple job. So I get it.

Take wal mart for example. They make how much in profit each year.. I don’t know what their warehouse workers make, but I would hope it’s a decent wage.

So, are you a fan of the pay for performance structure or everyone makes the same type set up? Or should employees get a bonus as a percentage of a company's profits? I think some do this now.

I think with fast food type jobs there really doesn't need to be a scale. Worker makes A, Manager makes B.

 

[Ohio1nole]

So, are you a fan of the pay for performance structure or everyone makes the same type set up? Or should employees get a bonus as a percentage of a company's profits? I think some do this now.

I think with fast food type jobs there really doesn't need to be a scale. Worker makes A, Manager makes B.

For fast food type of jobs.. yes, worker make A.. manager makes B..

I tend to listen to the arguments of the Amazon type workers.. where they are in the warehouse or distribution centers.. I’m not sure what type of wages or benefits they are making but I would hope it’s livable. I think it’s a bad look if a high number of their employees are on government assistance as well. Same for Walmart etc. But then it goes back to what are the job functions. Low skilled jobs tend to pay low wages

Kinda talking out of both sides of my mouth because I also think that you should negotiate your worth without having a “minimum wage” to meet.

I like the bonus idea of a companies profits. Obviously there will be drawbacks to that as well.

 

[F4Gary]

But I also see arguments from the other side.. if a company makes X amount of profit, they should be paying their employees X amount of money..

But then that gets back into the argument of, how much should a cashier make? It’s a simple job. So I get it.

Take wal mart for example. They make how much in profit each year.. I don’t know what their warehouse workers make, but I would hope it’s a decent wage.

That's called profit sharing and many companies have that program, but just because you are a relatively unskilled laborer doesn't mean you get more if the company does well. Much of that money is invested back into the company. It's not all just for CEO pay.

 

[RollingBallofButcherKnives]

If prices rise across the board to make up for the wage hike… what good does the wage hike really do?

If the cost of necessities increases because of a minimum wage hike their purchasing power remains the same or goes down….no way businesses will eat the increase…

 

[GeddyLee09]

If the cost of necessities increases because of a minimum wage hike their purchasing power remains the same or goes down….no way businesses will eat the increase…

Yep. And still people think this is a good thing.

 

[goldmom]

Today’s WSJ had an article about inflation/wages and they used some 31 year old guy as an example who said he never paid much attention until his Old Spice “Swagger” deodorant went from $4 to $7.99 this year.

Any guy who uses a deodorant called “Swagger”
Is a little slow on the uptake to begin with…seriously? You have so little natural charm you gotta roll it on? 😏

 

[GeddyLee09]

Today’s WSJ had an article about inflation/wages and they used some 31 year old guy as an example who said he never paid much attention until his Old Spice “Swagger” deodorant went from $4 to $7.99 this year.

Any guy who uses a deodorant called “Swagger”
Is a little slow on the uptake to begin with…seriously? You have so little natural charm you gotta roll it on? 😏

I think it comes in a spray too.

Good old Right Guard spray. Keep it simple.

 

[Banditking]

Min wage hikes damage businesses, motivate innovation to eliminate employees, and cause inflationary pressure. The consequences of that… unskilled labor competes for goods and services with skilled labor at a level beyond their value. Skilled labor does not just get a raise because unskilled labor gets their 20$ an hour minimum wage, unless the unskilled labor works in a union, which also causes inflationary pressure. Basically, minimum wage hikes make everyone poorer for a short term boost for a few employees.

 

[littleitch1]

California increased their minimum wage (along with New York). From the article: https://thehill.com/opinion/finance...ge-woes-are-a-cautionary-tale-for-the-nation/


Add in the number of unskilled people crossing the border by the millions

What jobs are there for them

They are absolutely not all farm workers !

Wait, the govt will just pay, house and feed everyone!


Some workers will benefit, but many others will see their hours cut and benefits slashed or end up losing their jobs to compensate for the higher costs. Pizza Hut restaurants across the state are already planning on eliminating more than 1,200 delivery driver positions (a number that is likely to grow) in response. And in New York City, which just raised its minimum wage to $17.96 an hour last month, companies such as Uber and DoorDash are compensating by imposing higher delivery fees, and food delivery workers are seeing fewer tips and reduced hours and scheduling flexibility.

Plus, there will also be fewer jobs in the future, so many others will never get hired in the first place — and it will now be much more difficult for low-skill workers and those new to the job market to get jobs since they now must compete against workers with skills worth $20 an hour.

Automation, such as ordering kiosks, will increase and human-provided service will decrease. Less money will be left over for other innovations or investments in the business. Businesses that are already struggling to get by will close, leading to even more job losses.

How can this be considered progress? Even if some will make more money, numbers of jobs will decrease, prices will increase and in the end businesses will close. Maybe the smart states can use this as an example of what not to do.

 

[Banditking]

It’s progress in the sense that it compresses the lower and middle class together, promoting increased equity. It’s punishing for those who work on skill and career advancement.

 

[noletaire]

"equity" is cool. We can all be poor together, suffer a lower standard of living, while top 1% live like kings...

 

[Banditking]

"equity" is cool. We can all be poor together, suffer a lower standard of living, while top 1% live like kings...

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Ah
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace
You
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Posted with derision.

 

[goldmom]

I have been a fan of derision from time to time.

 

[QuaZ2002]

"equity" is cool. We can all be poor together, suffer a lower standard of living, while top 1% live like kings...

I am curious what posters on here think about this. It seems clear this is a right leaning group but how does everyone feel about the massive and growing wealth disparity in this country? I consider myself to be pretty conservative from the fiscal perspective and obviously am pro capitalism. But when you see guys like Musk and Bezos being worth > $100B it does make me wonder why any one person should have that much money when there are a lot of hard working “average” people struggling.

 

[GeddyLee09]

I am serious what posters on here think about this. It seems clear this is a right leaning group but how does everyone feel about the massive and growing wealth disparity in this country? I consider myself to be pretty conservative from the fiscal perspective and obviously am pro capitalism. But when you see guys like Musk and Bezos being worth > $100B it does make me wonder why any one person should have that much money when there are a lot of hard working “average” people struggling.

I don't have a problem with folks being rich. Thats just the way the ball bounces and is a product of the system. The issue I have with all the wealth equity discussions are that the only equity discussed is giving to the poor and, in many cases, non-working more money while leaving the hard-working folks to struggle. Nobody wants to discuss paying the guy or girl working 50-60 hours a week for 50k a year more money but that's who should be getting paid more.

 

[Banditking]

I am serious what posters on here think about this. It seems clear this is a right leaning group but how does everyone feel about the massive and growing wealth disparity in this country? I consider myself to be pretty conservative from the fiscal perspective and obviously am pro capitalism. But when you see guys like Musk and Bezos being worth > $100B it does make me wonder why any one person should have that much money when there are a lot of hard working “average” people struggling.

They are outliers. And, in my opinion, the social programs, minimum wage hikes, and deficit spending all contribute to increasing wealth disparity. Basically, the elite (political class, 1 percent) wish to close the door behind them. The people who appear to be trying to target Bezos or musk are really going after gainfully employed Joe Sixpack.

This is a common tactic. Back a number of years ago, when oil spiked, we got a lot of rhetoric about profits and taxing oil company profits. The gov with their hand out. But, my biggest bill most years is taxes. The taxman was the biggest inheritor of my grandfather’s estate (several decades ago). I’m not Elon Musk. I’m not Jeff Bezos. But, I certainly feel stolen from. And, I find the current spending levels to be incredibly irresponsible. Just a further transfer of wealth from people like me to the government with the rationale that they’re somehow helping the “little guy.”

I’m very curious to see how Argentina does with Milei.

 

[Banditking]

S

I don't have a problem with folks being rich. Thats just the way the ball bounces and is a product of the system. The issue I have with all the wealth equity discussions are that the only equity discussed is giving to the poor and, in many cases, non-working more money while leaving the hard-working folks to struggle. Nobody wants to discuss paying the guy or girl working 50-60 hours a week for 50k a year more money but that's who should be getting paid more.

yes, and instead we make their life harder by making min wage jobs = 41k per year, by allowing high levels of costly illegal immigration, by having trillion dollar plus deficits yearly, and by stoking inflation by increasing money supply. This all hurts every day Americans. Can you imagine going to college, getting a normal office job, making 50-60 a year starting out, competing against some hs dropout to buy groceries making 40k a year at McDonald’s? That sounds awesome.

https://www.payscale.com/research/US/School=Florida_State_University_(FSU)/Salary

Putting unskilled labor within spitting distance. Seems demoralizing to me.

 

[QuaZ2002]

I’ve read that a crackdown on illegal immigration in FL has had negative affects on small business owners bc they can’t find people to do some of these jobs otherwise. Specifically the article I read was about the restaurant industry (not big corporations like McDs) and they would employ illegals to wash dishes, etc bc really no one else would take a job like that at that pay. I’m sure construction type jobs are similar and of course we all know who the increased costs get passed down to.

 

[Banditking]

I’ve read that a crackdown on illegal immigration in FL has had negative affects on small business owners bc they can’t find people to do some of these jobs otherwise. Specifically the article I read was about the restaurant industry (not big corporations like McDs) and they would employ illegals to wash dishes, etc bc really no one else would take a job like that at that pay. I’m sure construction type jobs are similar and of course we all know who the increased costs get passed down to.

They won’t take that pay because gov pays more for people not to work and because the wages in those industries are artificially suppressed by the availability of illegal labor. There are migrant programs and worker visas. But yes, the economy adjusts to the availability of under the table labor. It is cheaper for those businesses but it offloads the cost of healthcare, schools, crime, etc on to the taxpayer. Compounding this problem is all the additional layers of burden placed on small to medium sized businesses by Feds for hiring legal workers.

 

[goldmom]

I am curious what posters on here think about this. It seems clear this is a right leaning group but how does everyone feel about the massive and growing wealth disparity in this country? I consider myself to be pretty conservative from the fiscal perspective and obviously am pro capitalism. But when you see guys like Musk and Bezos being worth > $100B it does make me wonder why any one person should have that much money when there are a lot of hard working “average” people struggling.

Cause they had an idea the rest of us didn’t have and ran with it?
It’s been that way for a long time.
Robber Barons
Gilded Age
Class system in Europe
Chinese Emperors
America isn’t alone in wealth disparity.
I don’t care if some have more than me. Good for them. And the Top 1% are paying almost half the taxes and also donating money to things that the rest of us benefit from.

 

[QuaZ2002]

Cause they had an idea the rest of us didn’t have and ran with it?
It’s been that way for a long time.
Robber Barons
Gilded Age
Class system in Europe
Chinese Emperors
America isn’t alone in wealth disparity.
I don’t care if some have more than me. Good for them. And the Top 1% are paying almost half the taxes and also donating money to things that the rest of us benefit from.

Well just to plays devils advocate I’m certainly not advocating that these people should have to live a middle class life or that wealth should be capped at $1M or anything ridiculous like that. But at what point is it a bit silly that anyone should have THAT much money. Not millions or tens of millions or hundreds of millions, but tens to hundreds of BILLIONS. Accumulating that much wealth is of course a result of skill (intelligence, creativity, etc), and hard work, but luck plays a role too. If Bill Gates comes along 15 years later after someone else had already developed software maybe he ends up as a Project manager at Intel or Apple making $600k a year instead of being worth billions. That’s my point. I’m not even really arguing I’m just devils advocating a bit and asking questions.

 

[GeddyLee09]

Well just to plays devils advocate I’m certainly not advocating that these people should have to live a middle class life or that wealth should be capped at $1M or anything ridiculous like that. But at what point is it a bit silly that anyone should have THAT much money. Not millions or tens of millions or hundreds of millions, but tens to hundreds of BILLIONS. Accumulating that much wealth is of course a result of skill (intelligence, creativity, etc), and hard work, but luck plays a role too. If Bill Gates comes along 15 years later after someone else had already developed software maybe he ends up as a Project manager at Intel or Apple making $600k a year instead of being worth billions. That’s my point. I’m not even really arguing I’m just devils advocating a bit and asking questions.

Well if he was only making 600k a year he would be just fine I bet.

 

[Banditking]

Well just to plays devils advocate I’m certainly not advocating that these people should have to live a middle class life or that wealth should be capped at $1M or anything ridiculous like that. But at what point is it a bit silly that anyone should have THAT much money. Not millions or tens of millions or hundreds of millions, but tens to hundreds of BILLIONS. Accumulating that much wealth is of course a result of skill (intelligence, creativity, etc), and hard work, but luck plays a role too. If Bill Gates comes along 15 years later after someone else had already developed software maybe he ends up as a Project manager at Intel or Apple making $600k a year instead of being worth billions. That’s my point. I’m not even really arguing I’m just devils advocating a bit and asking

Sure. There’s luck involved, even for normal employees. For example, many people who were within the first 100 or even 1000 employees of places like google or nvidia are likely
millionaires many times over. The difference for some of those was simply getting selected by one tech company over other when they graduated from undergrad. Likewise, there are bitcoin lottery winners and people who bough 1000 shares of cheap Tesla stock, etc.

I think there are forms of wealth accumulation which should be banned. For example, congress should not be allowed to engage in insider trading.

 

[goldmom]

Andrew Carnegie spent a large part of his fortune building libraries in cities all over this country.
Henry Ford and his descendants have built museums, as have many others who had good fortune.
Billions in health research and care have advanced because of monies from private donors.
Buffett has vowed to give away billions and has gotten others including Gates to agree to do the same.

 

[noletaire]

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Ah
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace
You
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Posted with derision.

Ironically, while he made millions off the system he condemned.

 

[littleitch1]

I’ve read that a crackdown on illegal immigration in FL has had negative affects on small business owners bc they can’t find people to do some of these jobs otherwise. Specifically the article I read was about the restaurant industry (not big corporations like McDs) and they would employ illegals to wash dishes, etc bc really no one else would take a job like that at that pay. I’m sure construction type jobs are similar and of course we all know who the increased costs get passed down to.

Folks that hire unskilled, unlicensed, uninsured workers instead of paying more for skilled, licensed and insured contractors, doing it by the book add to the problem

I see it everyday

No permits, no license, no problem just so your way cheaper than the guy doing it right!

It’s not a problem until it’s a problem!

Everyone has or will do it at some point, but is it right or fair?

Yeah, I’m a GC

 

[noletaire]

Well just to plays devils advocate I’m certainly not advocating that these people should have to live a middle class life or that wealth should be capped at $1M or anything ridiculous like that. But at what point is it a bit silly that anyone should have THAT much money. Not millions or tens of millions or hundreds of millions, but tens to hundreds of BILLIONS. Accumulating that much wealth is of course a result of skill (intelligence, creativity, etc), and hard work, but luck plays a role too. If Bill Gates comes along 15 years later after someone else had already developed software maybe he ends up as a Project manager at Intel or Apple making $600k a year instead of being worth billions. That’s my point. I’m not even really arguing I’m just devils advocating a bit and asking questions.

Don't care about people having that much wealth, but what needs to change is the tax codes. Flat tax for everyone and every corporation or business. No deductions, exceptions or loopholes. I don't find it silly that someone has billions of dollars in a free market system. What I find silly is the tax codes that allow Exxon to get a tax refund....

Equity seems to be the big word of contemporary society today... The very nature of capitalism is inequality and is not compatible with current concept of equity. True "equity" should not leveling the wealth but making sure everyone pays the same tax rate, not artificially increasing a job's worth by setting a minimum wage that also decreases another occupation's value that is a salaried profession.

 

[noletaire]

They are outliers. And, in my opinion, the social programs, minimum wage hikes, and deficit spending all contribute to increasing wealth disparity. Basically, the elite (political class, 1 percent) wish to close the door behind them. The people who appear to be trying to target Bezos or musk are really going after gainfully employed Joe Sixpack.

This is a common tactic. Back a number of years ago, when oil spiked, we got a lot of rhetoric about profits and taxing oil company profits. The gov with their hand out. But, my biggest bill most years is taxes. The taxman was the biggest inheritor of my grandfather’s estate (several decades ago). I’m not Elon Musk. I’m not Jeff Bezos. But, I certainly feel stolen from. And, I find the current spending levels to be incredibly irresponsible. Just a further transfer of wealth from people like me to the government with the rationale that they’re somehow helping the “little guy.”

I’m very curious to see how Argentina does with Milei.

^^^^^This.
But let's fight over a statue, a flag, or transgender issues, while the price of most goods are at least doubling and the dream of homeownership is becoming an actual dream, instead of a reality. Taxation in this country has become flat out legalized theft... along with the cost of insurance..
And inflation is the greatest and most damaging tax of all...