Thursday, May 04, 2006

About that (U.S.) "minimum wage" thing ...


This:

[U.S.] Senate proposals to raise the minimum wage were rejected Wednesday, making it unlikely that the lowest allowable wage, $5.15 an hour since 1997, will rise in the foreseeable future...

But Republican opponents, echoing the arguments of business groups, said higher minimum wages can work against the poor if they force small businesses to cut payrolls or go out of business.

"Mandated hikes in the minimum wage do not cure poverty and they clearly do not create jobs," said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., who offered the Republican alternative.

That:

Last year's high oil prices not only helped Exxon Mobil report $36 billion in profit -- the most ever for any corporation -- they also allowed Lee R. Raymond to retire in style as chairman of Exxon Mobil.

Mr. Raymond received a compensation package worth about $140 million last year, including cash, stock, options and a pension plan. He is also still entitled to stock, options and long-term compensation worth at least another $258 million, according to a proxy statement filed by Exxon with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday.

The total sum for Mr. Raymond's golden years comes to at least $398 million, among the richest compensation packages ever. The record was the payout of $550 million to Michael D. Eisner, the former head of Walt Disney, in 1997.

Feel free to connect the dots.

4 comments:

Michael said...

Point of order, Mr. Speaker. Last time I looked, you were _Canadian_ Cynic.

So please, when you open a story with something like "The government..." or, as in this case, "The Senate...", and it's not a Canadian reference, please insert a simple clarifier like, "The U.S. Senate...".

It'll be a small but much appreciated gesture for those of us who occasionally read you before our first coffee of the day and, several words in, need to reverse course and start over after having initially mistaken the reference as being something Canadian.

Thank you. Resume normal course and speed. Make it so, etc. etc.

CC said...

Quite right. My bad. Fixed.

Michael said...

Wow! Warp speed and everything.

Much appreciated. 10-Q very much.

Anonymous said...

"Mandated hikes in the minimum wage do not cure poverty and they clearly do not create jobs," said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., who offered the Republican alternative.

I would LOVE to ask the Senator just how many times he's voted in favour of raises to HIS SALARY. THAT vote seems to go through really fast every year.

-CanadianInTexas