Steve's barking; The price of the News (paper) is too damn high

The New York Daily News recently cut it's staff because it's losing money.
Why is it losing money, it's circulation has shrunk.
Circulation shrinkage generally means add shrinkage.
My general guess why the circulation shrinkage has to do with the fact that the paper, along with the New York Post cost too much. Most of it's potential customers can't afford $1.25 a day.
The best price for these people newspapers is 50 cents.
As a person who enjoyed picking up the News in the morning to have something to read on the bus and the train and the Post coming home 50 cents would be my limit. I might of even drop one of the papers.
I understand that papers want to go electronic, but you still have to have a hook to bring the reader in.
The other problem with going electronic people are actually going back to hard copies of books and e books sales are going flat.
What happened to newspaper publishers, have they lost their way?

Steve's barking; Socialism helps the free market system

Some people might call it heresy, but the fact of the matter, socialism in a capitalist society greatly enriches the free market system.
How is that you may ask?
Think of it as putting money into the hands of consumers. More shoppers to be able to afford products being sold. The more a product is being sold. The more that a product is being sold the more companies want to produce that product. Now that's one of the most important ingredient in the free market system.
Now I know that the free market system needs capital(ism) how else would the entrepreneur gets the money to,produce their product.
Some time the capitalist can and has in the past discouraged the producing and marketing of new products just because they fear any any kind of completion.
Now how would a form of socialism help the U.S. Think of the U.S. health system. If we had a single payee system (I stole this idea from Germany) employers would no longer have to pay for health insurance but the government would pay for your health insurance in a well regulated insurance industry. The consumer would have freedom of choice  as per health insurance which they don't have now.
It's also important to understand that the rich man will only buy so many watches, while the masses can and will buy so much more. The masses need the means (money) to purchase watches.
I understand that many of my fellow countrymen will claim that socialism is a form of taking from some hard working person's money destroying any incentives to invest or start a business..
If one try's to argue with them that socialism can actually be a form of making it easier for the capitalist and entrepreneur they will  scream at you and tell you of the work of Dr Bla,Bla, Bla  from take your pick Harvard, Stanford, Yale, or Steward's College.That the good doctor's work proves that socialism is the root of all evil.

*Watches stand for any product.

Steve's barking; I'm so confused at the American politics.

The Democratic Party complains about Donald Trump and what a ( racist, fool, buffoon, liar) you name it he is. Now Mr. Trump is leading the Republic polls, now why would a Democrat attack him and not let the Republicans worry about him till the general election.
Now it seems that every Tom, Dick and Harriet is attacking the president. I wish some one will tell them that he's not running.
Do the Republicans think that attacking Hillary Clinton will get an easier opponent in the general election?
Why do we start the election process so early, a year and half before the general elections. Don't they realize that fatigue and boredom sets in and nobody wants to go to the poles on Election Day.
Maybe that's what the powers that be want it?

Steve's Barking; Comparing hourly minimum wage to average hourly wage

Date.                      Minimum wage                 Average wage.                 Percentage of average wage

1960.                       $1.00.                                $2.15.                              47%

 1965.                      $1.25.                                 $2.46.                              51%

1970.                        $1.60.                               $3.17.                               50%

 1975.                        $2.10.                              $4.58.                               46%

1980.                         $3.10.                              $6.85                                45%

1985.                         $3.35.                              $9.32.                                36%

1990.                         $3.80.                             $10.53.                                36%

1995.                         $4.25.                               $12.57.                              33%     

2000.                         $5.15.                              $14.16.                               31%

2005.                         $5.15.                              $16.43.                                31%

2010.                         $7.25.                              $18.49.                                39%

2015.                         $7.25.                              $19.65.                                36%

One of the arguments against raising the minimum wage is that the minimum wage was always used for persons just entering the work force and for students who need extra money.

To look at this argument I decided to look at the minimum wage compared to the average hourly wage.

I used the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to find the minimum wage every five years since 1960 and compared it with the average hourly wage from those years. I got the hourly wage from the Bureau of Labor Statistics using January of each year that I used to get the minimum wage.

When I had my first job I was in high school in 1960 I was making 47% of average hourly wage.

When I got my first full time job in 196 I was making 50% of the average hourly wage. If I was just started working today I would only be making 36% of average minimum wage.

Of cause if the minimum was to rise so would the average hourly wage.

          

Steve's barking; Trouble for my mind about Clinton city ( a moral tale)

If you think that Mr. Trump has his foot in his mouth, what about the other side. What about Ms Clinton. It's bad enough that she had a private server taking all her e-mails, and her supporters scream that she's being picked on, for those before her had used private servers. Well as I understand it US State Department rules from after 2005 state that all State Department e-mails must go through the State  Department server. May be Hilary didn't get the message. I have a bigger problem with her statement that she used and paid a state department employee to set up her server. Now my puny brain is telling me this is a no, no. Most corporation would have a person fired if they used an employee to help them with personal things even if they are paid. Reasons, (1) person might not want to do it, but fear of retribution so they felt that they had too. (2) If others in the organization know, they may fell that there's favoritism from the boss to that employee that did private work for that boss. Now I maybe wrong but I do believe that most government agencies have rules against having an employee doing outside work for a director.


I'm still trying to get it through my head how could some one who is an assistant to head of the State Department and who should be on call 24/7 be given permission to,have a second job.

Steve's barking; It's time to give foreign aid to Porto Rico

It's time to give cash aid to Porto Rico.
Yea I know we give aid in the form of welfare to our commonwealth Porto Rico, but that's not enough. We should be giving Porto Rico cash grants to help pay it's bills.
Why may you ask should we give cash grants.
Well over 100 years ago we got Porto Rico in a war, and when we have war with nations we give them cash assistance not welfare assistance.
Because Porto Rico is a high bread we have got to give them both cash assistance better know as foreign aid and welfare assistance that states actually get.

Every body talks about the debt crisis in Porto Rico yet no one does a thing about it.

Steve's barking; Let's turn bigots into martyrs

In the matter of Kim Davis , the Rowan county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, sighting her religious belief, the government in it's infinite wisdom turned her into a martyr by sending her to jail. Right on government.... Let's divide the country even more.
I hear that from some that she's not religious because she was married three times. Now what does being married three times got to do with most of the religions in the U.S.?......, and how does being married three times got to do with a person's religious belief.

Steve's baring; I see the jobs

I see the light, or something. There are jobs out there that aren't being filled.
Been to my local mall and all the fast food places have help wanted signs, stating that they pay competitive rates, what ever that means.
I saw in the a paper ( I don't remember which one) that there is a need for truck drivers, as of right now the industry is 35,000 short and the need is getting worse.  I don't believe that driving a truck is taught  at community colleges.. There seems to be a need for bus drivers, another thing not tonight in junior college. I may be wrong but driving a truck is a good solid middle wage job, and a bus driver is a nice low middle wage job.
 Of cause the bottom for all jobs should be $15 an hour.
When I say all jobs I mean all jobs, not just fast food workers. Now if fast food workers were to make $15 an hour , all this home care attendance would line up to take jobs as fast food workers.
Would anybody want to have a home care worker taking care of their parents or grandparents who couldn't cut it as a fast food worker?

If we have no workers for our jobs our boarders will be flooded, with illegal Mexicans and Canadians.


So much for my incoherent ramblings for today, be writing again soon.