Dire Report

America First.

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@WayneWaldropW When a figurehead abandons a movement, those who follow the figurehead instead of the ideals that propelled him in the first place is in a cult of personality, and nothing more.

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@SenSanders Just to be clear:

Roughly 90,000 people in the entire US job market make the federal minimum wage, and the majority are special circumstances of employment.

This is a non-issue and a talking point.

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@joereform @BuenoForMiami Certainly not. But don’t you ever wonder what that is? It hardly seems to happen between animals, it’s as though our humanity has some kind of special effect on beasts - it makes them, in a sense, “more human” to be around us.

What is that?

[Dire Report @DireReport]

I’m not trying to judge people for traumatic and special circumstances - I also don’t use special circumstances as the crux of my argument for what should generally be done in ways that affect everyone.

If you instead asked me, “what if states carved out a special program to help single parents who suffered a traumatic spousal loss or debilitating injury?” I’d be a lot more open to the idea.

But writing broad policy as though those special cases apply to all or even most of the population is obviously pretty silly.

[Dire Report @DireReport]

I say it because I’ve been engaging the progressives on this issue for years, and I have always done so by playing the following game:

I ask the person to pick a place. Not San Diego, not LA, not NYC, but a regular area in the US.

Then, I look at the entry-level job listings in that area and the rental listings on Zillow.

In almost every single case, it ultimately turns out that the full-time, entry-level wage in that area actually IS, in fact, enough to cover the basics.

And I’ve done this so many times, at this point, to the same result, that I can’t possibly believe otherwise.

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@_itzsammy The size of the company they were overseeing got exponentially larger. Look at the market cap of large corporations in 1978.

Being the head of a massive global corporation is a job that a handful of people in the world can actually do successfully.

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@realZexzyz @SorensenFarms @TheRealJChubby Single parents still working minimum wage jobs made some extraordinarily bad life choices, didn’t they.

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@realZexzyz @SorensenFarms @TheRealJChubby In the overwhelming majority of places in the US, the entry-level wage salary at 40hrs/week is enough to afford rent with a roommate, food and a car.

So if this is actually a problem, you’re going to have to define specifically WHERE in the US this is a problem.

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@supergeekmike @Quirk22 It man’s that a total of 90k workers in the entire country make the federal minimum wage. And most of even that tiny number are special circumstances.

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@supergeekmike But… IT DOES.

It literally does. Entry level jobs do pay enough, in almost all places, to afford food, a basic car and rent, maybe with a roommate.

[Dire Report @DireReport]

“Living wage” is a nebulous term that you guys can never define. That’s why you use it. Because if we got specific about the data, you’d find that even a barista can manage on their low-skill wages in most places in the US. They might need a roommate, yeah… guess what, so did I, in 2017, when I graduated. Then I built a business.

Can you live on the beach in San Diego? No. You also can’t drive a Lamborghini.

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@TheRealJChubby They are paid. They don’t work for free.

They’d get paid a lot more if they had a marketable skill. If they don’t, and they’re 7 years into their career - why don’t they?

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@famousthegreats You realize that wiping out 1.7T in debt costs us all 1.7T, right? It’s not free?

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@pinksoop If they judged that you wouldn’t know any better because you’re a girl… didn’t you kinda just prove them right??

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@Dylanszn01 It’s a dirty ideology.

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@ryanshawaiy @DHeaton_47 @pearleyeliar @Zypph3rrr @sports_fluent You couldn’t tell us what the federal funds rate is without looking it up, first. Who are we kidding here?

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@chimeraxmachina The only time I feel exploited is when I pay 40% of my salary to a federal government that immediately wastes it, and can’t even give us decent public schools or fresh infrastructure.

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@Ariszn12 I challenge the premise: corporations don’t “need” these things at all.

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@_DalalX_o People who couldn’t tell you what the Federal Funds Rate is or why inflation occurs are here to tell you how the economy works!

[Dire Report @DireReport]

@RLedooo @xplsfixlocation @honeymilkyaps Nothing that has happened with our inflation even approaches the definition of hyperinflation. Pray it stays that way.

[Dire Report @DireReport]

I would argue that they largely can, even now. Might need a roommate or two, but guess what, so did I when I graduated college in 2017.

You can’t live in San Diego on the beach or in WeHo on a barista’s salary and have your own apartment, no. Because they’re the most desirable locations in the world.