"N2EY" wrote:
Mike Coslo writes:

In the summer of 1972, I got my first job after
high school. It paid $2.40 per hour. Minimum
at that time was $2.20.

You might want to check

http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/chart.htm


The difference really isn't that unusual, Jim. You're obviously forgetting
state minimum wage laws which can add to the federal minimum wage. Perhaps
Mike lived in a state with it's own minimum wage laws at the time. As you
probably know, state minimum wage laws were a growing trend in the 70's, but
that growth has pretty much died out over the years. In fact, I'm not even
sure any state still has an active minimum wage law today.


(snip) Personal bankruptcies are going up, too.

And that's part of what Dwight would reform! (lack
of caps on how much debt a person can get into)


Hey, now wait a minute, Jim. I realize what you meant. But, before you
confuse people, watch how you word that. I'm not running for political
office, so I'm not likely to reform anything. Anyway, I do think this is one
of the areas that has to be addressed in any serious reform effort. It is
amazing how much debt is floating around out there. I see college students
who have not worked a day in their life graduating with debts exceeding
twenty, thirty, and even forty, thousand dollars (student and personal
loans). I see people buying homes and cars that are far beyond what they can
reasonably afford on their incomes. I've seen reports of average credit card
debts exceeding $8,000 today. Clearly, something has to be done to reel in
this madness. A cap on the percentage of a person's income that can be used
to establish monthly payments for all loans seems logical (and the least
intrusive) to me.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/