This page was last updated on July 23, 2013.
Big Mac budgeting: A bare-bones approach for workers; Rachel Morgan; Beaver County Times; July 21, 2013.
Like Kirstin Kennedy, J.D. Prose, and Patrick O’Shea, Ms. Morgan is a part-time BCT reporter in addition to being a pundit.
Below is a detailed critique of portions of this column.
“McDonald’s has long been a destination for classic American fast food. Those golden arches promise an affordable and delicious meal that always taste the same. It’s America, land of the free and home of the Big Mac.”
[RWC] As you read this editorial, you may notice Ms. Morgan omitted something very important. I’ll tell you what that was at the end of the critique.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was a paperboy for the BCT during the late 1960s. I was paid a piecework wage (x cents per customer per week) with no benefits.
“As a child, I frequented the eatery periodically with my mom and brother, usually in a desperate attempt to procure every toy in whatever set was running the Happy Meal circuit that month. (Worth noting, this was nearly two decades prior to the organic, anti-fast-food trend that is now commonplace among parents.)
“But, as it turns out, the golden arches don’t evoke positive feelings of American pride for everyone — especially its employees.
“Earlier this month, the fast-food giant released an online budgeting tool for its workers, complete with a suggested ‘budget.’ The first problem? Some of the budget’s numbers are so far from reality it’s laughable. The other problem? The budget makes it glaringly obvious that minimum wage simply isn’t livable.”
[RWC] The “minimum wage simply isn’t livable?” Who claimed it was or should be?
I’m not going to comment on the budget figures because they are irrelevant when discussing whether or not a minimum wage should exist.
“Created by McDonald’s in conjunction with Visa, the sample budget allots just $20 monthly for health insurance, a wildly unrealistic number at best. As a single, healthy person younger than 30, my monthly cost for health insurance has never dipped below $100 — and has even cost nearly $250 with some health-care suppliers.
“What’s even more appalling about the ‘budget’? There’s a line item for second job — and no wonder. A full-time employee at McDonald’s brings home just $1,105 per month after taxes. The budget actually factors in an additional $955 each month from a secondary job — a sum nearly equal to what a full-time employee earns monthly working 40 hours a week at McDonald’s.”
[RWC] Ms. Morgan blew by the “after taxes” comment. Lest we forget, Medicare and Socialist Security taxes take 15.3% right off the top of the paycheck before the employee sees a single cent. There’s no complaint by Ms. Morgan, though.
“So, according to this budget, McDonald’s is assuming that its average worker will have to work nearly twice the normal 40-hour work week to make ends meet — or the very bare minimum when it comes to making ends meet.
“The budget goes on to lay out other monthly expenses: $600 for rent, $100 for car/home insurance, and $750 for monthly spending money, which amounts to just $25 per day. There’s no mention of gas, home heating, student loans (if they have them), tuition (if the employee should want to further his education,) child-care expenses or any debt.
“This isn’t fair. And it certainly isn’t American. How can anyone keep his head above the poverty line, better his financial situation or further his career when he doesn’t even have a chance to begin with?”
[RWC] What “isn’t fair” or “American?” If a person can get a job paying more, no one is stopping him.
Why does someone not “even have a chance to begin with?” Ignoring government debt, was he born in debt? Did he not receive a “free” education through at least high school? Are there not tons of private and public grants and scholarships available for post-high school education? What about Medicaid, food stamps, the misnamed Earned Income Tax Credit, and so on?
“Call me a socialist, but I think an employee who works a full-time job — never mind both a full-time job and a second job — should be able to pay bills, cover rent/mortgage and add such basic necessities as food, gas, cell phone and child care. But for an increasing number of Americans, this isn’t realistic — especially those who work minimum-wage jobs.”
[RWC] I’m surprised Ms. Morgan conceded she’s a “socialist,” though she didn’t provide her definition. Lefties are notoriously afraid to be labeled. Heck, lefties even formed a group called No Labels. Though the group’s slogan is “Not left. Not right. Forward.” (You may recall “Forward” was the slogan for the 2012 Obama campaign.), this group appears to consist primarily of leftists with some RINOs (Republicans in name only) thrown in for the illusion of bipartisanship. No Labels conveniently popped up in December 2010 after leftists were routed in the federal and state elections.
When someone does admit to being one of the left’s many variants (communist, dictator, fascist, Green, Leninist, liberal, Maoist, Marxist, Marxist-Leninist, progressive, socialist, Stalinist, statist, totalitarian, and probably some “ists” I forgot or never heard of), she is usually further to the left than she claims. Another problem is each leftist appears to have her own definition for each “ism.” Academics and activists will disagree, but I look at the leftism variants as different starting points on the same slippery slope. Ultimately, all leftisms go to the same place, just at different starting points and speeds. As a result, for the most part I see these labels as distinctions without a difference. That’s why I tend to stick with the more generic “leftist.”
You have to marvel at the left. When it suits their purpose, lefties demean jobs like some of those at McDonald’s by referring to them as “burger flipper” jobs. Though it was untrue, the left constantly claimed jobs gained during the Bush administration were of the “burger flipper” variety. Now, though, someone working for the minimum wage should make enough to support a family.
Ms. Morgan appears to argue a person’s wage should be determined “according to his needs.” Does this mean the minimum wage should be a variable dependent on a specific employee’s needs? Here’s a scenario for Ms. Morgan. Let’s say Bob and Pete work for the same employer, have the same experience, perform exactly the same jobs, work the same hours, and produce exactly the same results. Question #1: Should Bob and Pete get paid the same wage? Question #2: What if Bob is single but Pete has a family to support?
A cell phone is a “basic necessity?”
“As a nation, we must face difficult questions: Is our minimum wage really enough? Does it give workers the chance to improve their situation, further their education, perhaps climb out of poverty?
“According to these numbers, the short answer is no.”
[RWC] So, what did Ms. Morgan omit? Ms. Morgan actually left out a lot, but the biggies were “Who pays?” and a job’s economic value to the employer.
Several years ago I discussed this topic with a minimum-wage supporter and gave the retired gentleman the shorthand version of my paper “The Minimum Wage.” The gentleman listened politely but claimed I was wrong. “Besides,” he said, “everyone deserves a living wage.”
About a year later this gentleman came up to me and said, “Remember that discussion we had about the minimum wage? You were right.” What I didn’t know when we first spoke was this man held a part-time minimum-wage job with a non-profit organization to augment his primary retirement income. When the minimum wage increased, this gentleman lost his job because the organization could not afford to give everyone a raise. Therefore, the jobs with the least economic value were dropped so the freed-up compensation could be used to give the required increases to holders of more economically valuable jobs. Yes, even non-profit organizations must consider the economic value of their jobs.
I also noticed Ms. Morgan didn’t tell us anything about the BCT’s compensation policies.
Finally, I recommend reading some minimum-wage related articles written by Walter E. Williams. A few examples are here, here, and here. Mr. Williams has been a professor of economics at George Mason University since 1980 and was chairman of the Economics Department from 1995 – 2001. Locals may be interested to know Mr. Williams was also on the faculty of Grove City College. You may also want to take a look at a dated video of Milton Friedman (1976 Nobel Prize winner for Economics) discussing the minimum wage.
© 2004-2013 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.