Rendell wins.

Any time that a Casey loses an election, I am a happy guy.

I see higher taxes and more funds being funnelled into the bottomless pit called Philadelphia in the near future. As a non-result, Philadelphia schools will fail to improve, blight will continue, and people will continue to leave the city.

I caught a blurb by Rendell saying he was going to halve the property tax rates (cool) and make up the school taxes from state coffers (oh oh). So we are talking increased income or sales taxes, decreased local control of schools, decreased responsiveness to the community, and increased power to teachers unions since they can concentrate on state politics instead of local politics. If its anything like New York State politics the politicly connected school districts will be rolling in stadium building funds and everyone else will be left out in the cold.

On the other hand, at least the winner wasn't one of the Casey Boys. One of the easiest ways to rule out one of several unknown politicians to scratch out the the one whose Dad held the job before him. Bush Gore Casey Cuomo none of these guys ever did anything in the private or public sector worth bragging about. Heres hoping Carl McCall can get around the machine in NY.

Y'see, as I am not yet eligble to vote (however I am old enough to hold a job and pay taxes, but that's another time and place), the one issue that mattered to me was the minimum wage increase.

When Casey came out to boost it to $6.65, that made me quite happy, as I make $6.25 at my job now, and Casey would mean an extra 40 cents every hour. With the many hours I work now, it's nothing to sneeze at.

When Rendell came out saying he wanted to raise it not just in PA but nationally, it rubbed me the wrong way for three reasons.

1) He said it after Casey. That is just weak in and of itself.

2) He didn't specify an amount, which screams "insincerity" to me.

3) He wants to raise it nationally as well? What will that do? The idea of raising the minimum wage x amount higher than the national level is to make PA look more attractive for entry-levels and new serfs that are just starting to work. Raise it so the national min wage is the same amount (or even worse, more) and you'll maintain the status quo or stunt PA's economic growth further respectively.

Since I'm not old enough and the community I live in is not progressive enough for other issues to concern me, I wanted Casey to win. I want a job closer to home.

~mike

Historically, it increases unemployment and increases inflationary pressure.

More attractive to the people who are less likely or able to move; decidedly less attractive the employers who actually create those jobs, and who can generally decide where to set up shop.

There will still be pizza-delivery jobs, but they'll be held by the factory workers displaced by their jobs moving to a more attractive state.

In an economy, everything's connected. Where does the money come from for the increased pay? Not from the greedy business owners -- after decades of minimum wage increases, we still have greedy business owners. The money comes from increased prices on whats sold (thus the inflation) or by cutting back on other costs (thus the unemployment).

So: if there's a min. wage increase, you'll make more money, but everything you buy will cost a little more; it all equals out in the end.

Dammit Tony, don't touch my illusions. The ones I have left I can count on one hand, and I'm only 17. Try and pop them, and I will hunt you down and kill you like the dog you are.:cool:

Cheers,

~mike

Don't sweat it Mike...work the piddly jobs for now, go to college, get a degree, and hopefully...that's hopefully...you will never again have to worry about the minimum wage until you have children. :)

Cue the theme for the old Mike Myers SNL sketch "Middle Aged Man". "Shatter your illusions, sure! Now let me explain how a mortgage works."

huh?
 

Mortgage? Whats that? ;)

Ever wonder who is teaching economics in high schools? In New York, you can teach economics if you have a social science degree, that means one course Econ 101.

Re: huh?
 

Whoohoo! I qualify. :)

I loved Econ 101 in college, but I couldn't teach it. Too dry.

ah... NYS teaching certificate as well, sorry bro...

Re: huh?
 

A mortgage is an arrangement where you lease property from the government and the bank rather than a landlord. Main disadvantage is it usually requires a substantial down payment. Main advantage is that some of the lease payments are tax deductable and other parts of the lease payments go into something called "equity", which you can borrow from when something goes wrong with the house, or put into the down payment on the next one when you sell the current one.

--MTR, 6 payments into a 20 year...

Well, a 20 sure is better than a 30. I'm glad to be off that treadmill though, one less fingernail on the chalkboard. Now, if I could only eliminate eminent domain, drug war asset seizures, property taxes, snipe huggers...

How to get off the mortgage train...

http://www.shelterinstitute.com/

If you'd ever seen my attempts at carpentry, you'd realize that trying to build my own home just is NOT a viable way off the mortgage train. Think of a house the way Homer Simpson would build it. Now imagine the laws of physics actually apply so such a house doesn't stay up!