Scratch

OverPowered wrote:

generosity wrote:

I think having everyone present do a Harlem Shake video would really have lightened up the mood during the address

Lol. >_> Who should've worn the helmet?

And I love how this thread has touched on unicorns and dancing before the actual State of the Union... 

Obama, of course

soupoftomato wrote:

Anyway, what argument is there AGAINST the raise? Other than like, 5 cents per person an hour employers aren't getting, which is really a drop in the bucket by the time you are an employer versus its significance as a minimum wage worker.

Though you support my position, your reason isn't fully true, and I'll take a paragraph to explain why. 

Congress can set a minimum hourly wage, which all businesses must pay to full-time non-tip-recieving employees. However, states can create their own, higher, minimum wage, if they choose. Thus, the $9.00 minimum wage might only cost an employer in veggieman0001's state $0.05 per hour per employee, but where states only have $7.25, the current federal minimum wage, the increase would cost $1.75 per hour per employee.

I support Mr. Obama's proposal because it halves the distance between the current minimum wage ($7.25) and what it would be if indexed to inflation ($10.45) and indexes the minimum wage in the future, which prevents this problem from occuring again. Seeing as the "minimum wage" is what we believe a person needs to live accepably well off of, the wage should change as society does, too.

And the gun legislation won't take away any reasonable guns from people that like hunting or other sports.

Agree with you there. 

GameHutSoftware wrote:

OverPowered wrote:

I'd really recommend that you guys watch the State of the Union, especially American Scratchers, as it's kind of failing in your duty as a citizen of the United States not to keep yourself informed... 

I'd really like to know where you got that idea.

If the purpose of government is to support the interests of its citizens, then its citizens must have some influence in government, such as through direct democracy or elections. If the only way citizens can change government policy in the United States is to elect candidates that best support their interests, then citizens must stay informed to make the best decision possible. If citizens remain insufficiently informed and consequently make bad decisions, then government cannot fully achieve the goal of supporting their intetests, and citizens have failed to fulfill their role in society.

How's that? 

jukyter wrote:

OverPowered wrote:

soupoftomato wrote:

Regardless, keeping yourself informed is a responsibility, while a duty implies that it is illegal to not do

Not illegal, just egocentric and unthinking, because few people have work that is more important than the affairs of the world's economically largest nation...

im not sure it's going to be the world's economically largest nation soon though...
i mean it is right now, but personally im more interested in china's policies, considering it's the one that's ascending fastest right now, and i dont live in the united states

He did state before that he was referring to American Scratchers, though.

jukyter wrote:

OverPowered wrote:

[F]ew people have work that is more important than the affairs of the [United States]...

im not sure it's going to be the world's economically largest nation soon though...

i mean it is right now, but personally im more interested in china's policies, considering it's the one that's ascending fastest right now, and i dont live in the united states

Indeed, China's yearly GDP growth (9.3%) is vastly larger than the United States's (1.7%) and may become the world's largest economy by as soon as 2020, but the one-child policy (with all exceptions, actually about 1.47 per family) is destined to turn China into another Japan, with few people working and many on welfare, if the policy does not change soon... 

werdna123 wrote:

"especially", that implies that others should watch it too. But I really doubt OP really keeps in touch with Chinese politics.

Even if I can't stay informed about Chinese politics, not least because of their less-than-complete openness, I attempt to understand the results of their government's policies.    I try to keep up with United States politics partly because it's the duty of a citizen, and partly because, unlike some societies, we are able to see the politics of the United States.

OverPowered wrote:

jukyter wrote:

OverPowered wrote:

[F]ew people have work that is more important than the affairs of the [United States]...

im not sure it's going to be the world's economically largest nation soon though...

i mean it is right now, but personally im more interested in china's policies, considering it's the one that's ascending fastest right now, and i dont live in the united states

Indeed, China's yearly GDP growth (9.3%) is vastly larger than the United States's (1.7%) and may become the world's largest economy by as soon as 2020, but the one-child policy (with all exceptions, actually about 1.47 per family) is destined to turn China into another Japan, with few people working and many on welfare, if the policy does not change soon... 

My grandma asking a Chinese student staying with us for a week as part of a program whether he had any siblings was one of the most awkward things I've experienced.

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