Health Care : Meaningless Republican scare tactics becomes reality

[AStudent]

Wow i did not know that there were states that allowed tips to be counted towards the minimum wage and thus employers were alloyed to pay a minimum minimum wage . In california this is not allowed . A employer has to pay minimum wage and tips are seperate.

Yeah....here in Arkansas most waitstaff makes 3 dollars an hour or less. Some of them do well, some don't.

[Pete838]

Wow i did not know that there were states that allowed tips to be counted towards the minimum wage and thus employers were alloyed to pay a minimum minimum wage . In california this is not allowed . A employer has to pay minimum wage and tips are seperate.

It's federal law. Minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13
Here is the law:
http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm
And here is a state by state table of individual state laws:
http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm#.UKhA_Xy9KK0

[54885488]

http://www.minimum-wage.org/states.asp?state=California

[Brian GC]

I know what you're getting at, Brian, but it's not gonna work....

All those services you just mentioned are usually paid by a combo of property, gas and sales taxes. The only tax I would consider even remotely like "redistribution" is the property tax. The other two is based purely on what and how much of that "what" you buy, meaning, the only reason the rich may pay more taxes on the latter two is because they buy more and it may even be more expensive than what you or I may be able to afford to buy.

Am I right?

You left out state and federal income tax. That is also used on roads, highways, gov employees, defense, etc. and is being paid at much higher rate and higher amount than those of less income.

[Pete838]

That waitress you describe how on earth does that person even survive on that !

Some do quite well. I used to wait tables, so i can give a few facts and examples based on your average Chili's/Friday's type restaurant. I was in trades for 5 yrs before I made as much as waiting tables, but I hated the work.
-The average waiter or waitress has 4 to 5 tables at a time.
-Each party usually sits for 30 minutes at lunch and 45 to 60 minutes at dinner.
-Assume an average of 3 diners per table and $15 per diner at an average restaurant. So $45 revenue per table/hour on the low end. Considerably more revenue and better tips if they're drinking alcohol.
-Most people tip 10-20%, so we will average 15%

Using these assumptions, each server is making 6.75 per table per hour during lunch or dinner. Multiply that by 4 tables and add 2.13 and a server can earn great money. Of course you won't have all your tables filled off peak, so you may only make $20 an hour instead of $30. And there's usually a half hour or so of side work (rolling silverware, filling salt shakers, etc) at the end of the shift where you won't have diners.
A good server that up sells appetizers and drinks, or flirts with the customers or is just a great server can make $200+ in a shift after tipping out the hostess, busboy, and bartender.
Of course it's mostly unreported cash, so at the end of the night we may report $60. The tax return at the end of the year shows poverty, but plenty of cash goes unreported. Nicer restaurants get better tips; you won't get rich at Waffle House, but you have a faster table turnover and more tables.

[2sac]

That waitress you describe how on earth does that person even survive on that !

They hook up with the guy who fixes the coolers

In all honesty many people in the restaurant industry work at multiple restaurants. They are putting in 60 hrs a week.

[54885488]

They hook up with the guy who fixes the coolers

In all honesty many people in the restaurant industry work at multiple restaurants. They are putting in 60 hrs a week.

[barbar]

In NZ , we have a NO tip policy (not quite true you only tip when you get great service) and if tips are given are shared between all staff, front and rear of house.

Minimum wage in NZ for over 21 years, I believe would be around US$11/hr (lower for under 21), most companies who employ the less skilled workers, tend to pay just over the minimum wage.

We do have a national health care system, and you can also chose private. Many use a mixture.

[Tool-Slinger]

But we already do that. The higher wage earners already pay more for the use of roads, schools, police, fire, gov employees, state/local/city services etc. Why aren’t we complaining about those as “wealth redistribution”?

We generally accept wealth re-distribution for public facilities and services. Personal use items like health insurance, cell phones, rent, and food stamps become controversial. The difference is basically 'public use' or 'personal use'.

I am assuming your question was honest, this is an honest answer.

[Tool-Slinger]

Some do quite well. I used to wait tables, so i can give a few facts and examples based on your average Chili's/Friday's type restaurant. I was in trades for 5 yrs before I made as much as waiting tables, but I hated the work.
-The average waiter or waitress has 4 to 5 tables at a time.
-Each party usually sits for 30 minutes at lunch and 45 to 60 minutes at dinner.
-Assume an average of 3 diners per table and $15 per diner at an average restaurant. So $45 revenue per table/hour on the low end. Considerably more revenue and better tips if they're drinking alcohol.
-Most people tip 10-20%, so we will average 15%

Using these assumptions, each server is making 6.75 per table per hour during lunch or dinner. Multiply that by 4 tables and add 2.13 and a server can earn great money. Of course you won't have all your tables filled off peak, so you may only make $20 an hour instead of $30. And there's usually a half hour or so of side work (rolling silverware, filling salt shakers, etc) at the end of the shift where you won't have diners.
A good server that up sells appetizers and drinks, or flirts with the customers or is just a great server can make $200+ in a shift after tipping out the hostess, busboy, and bartender.
Of course it's mostly unreported cash, so at the end of the night we may report $60. The tax return at the end of the year shows poverty, but plenty of cash goes unreported. Nicer restaurants get better tips; you won't get rich at Waffle House, but you have a faster table turnover and more tables.

WOW and thanks for the candid insight!

[wolfstrike]

Kaiser lays off 530 people in so cal,

and SAYS its' because of the health care bill.
they said they might hire them back sometime in the future when they are mobbed with patients

[Special Ed]

We generally accept wealth re-distribution for public facilities and services. Personal use items like health insurance, cell phones, rent, and food stamps become controversial. The difference is basically 'public use' or 'personal use'.

I am assuming your question was honest, this is an honest answer.

It should never be acceptable, Tool.

But what I'm getting at is that some of the taxes Brian brings up aren't based on how much we make, they're based on usage.

For example, the Interstates are funded by a tax on gas and not by a Federal income tax. However, he is correct that other functions of the Government, such as defense, are indeed funded by the income tax which is higher for the wealthy.

And as long as how much a person is taxed is based on how much he makes the wealthy will always pay more, and I suppose that can be considered "wealth redistribution".

My problem w/the whole Democrat plan is that it doesn't stop there. They don't just want a flat tax, they want the rich to pay a much higher tax rate than everyone else simply because they've found a way to make more money than most people - the Dems call that "paying their fair share" which we all know isn't fair at all. Think about it: even paying the same tax rate as everyone else they're still paying more than most. But now we want them to also pay a higher rate? That's just not right.

Still, I don't think that's Brian's point. I think his whole point is, we're already redistributing wealth with how we're doing things right now, so why are we Conservatives having such a fit now that we're taking it to another level? And to that I would say, I never said I like the way it's done now, I've always opposed such hypocrisy. I'm not a Repub, I'm a wholly independent conservative.

[corny]

Kaiser lays off 530 people in so cal,

and SAYS its' because of the health care bill.
they said they might hire them back sometime in the future when they are mobbed with patients

Kaiser Permanente on Friday reported rapidly growing profits, operating revenue and investment income for the first nine months and third quarter of 2012 , highlighted by year-to-date net income of $2.1 billion — 40 percent more than last year’s $1.5 billion.

The Oakland-based health care giant posted $38 billion in operating revenue through nine months, up 6 percent from 2011’s total of $35.8 billion. Operating income for the same nine-month period jumped 15.4 percent to $1.5 billion from $1.3 billion last year. Non-operating income for the first three quarters was a hefty $595 million, nearly three times 2011’s $199 million.

In the third quarter ended September, results were also resoundingly positive.