With steve I think America would be first.

As for the other comments, employers don’t hire people just because they have more money. They hire people because there’s an increase in demand for their products and services.

Trickle down economics is a failed policy. It was tried and it didn’t work. Give the upper middle class and wealthy a tax break and there’s a good chance they won’t spend it because they don’t have to. They might, but they might not. They get along just fine with what they have and they’re just as likely to hang onto it (possibly in an investment, which might increase the share price of a company, but again, won’t cause that company to hire without an increase in demand). Give the tax break to the middle and lower income brackets, though, and they’ll spend it because they have to. This increases demand for products and services, which increases hiring, which increases sales and profits, which increases the tax revenues that fund admittedly socialist things like police and fire protection, and schools, and the parks that we seem to like in our neighborhoods. (I would argue that neighborhood parks where kids can play increases peoples’ standard of living, but apparently that makes me a socialist…or a marxist, or a fascist, or all three if the person using them has the typical grasp of the terms).

The same thing applies to the minimum wage. Yes, it costs an employer more to hire an employee, but it also means that the employee has a) enough money to survive, potentially although not certainly above the poverty line, and b) more money to spend at local businesses, which increases demand, which increases HIRING, etc, etc.

To borrow the phrase… “Not rocket science”.

If and when those who make comments like those posted here ever happen to find themselves unemployed in this recession that, while the fault of a great many people on both sides, actully blew up under Bush’s watch, I sure hope you’ll have the guts to stick to your guns and tell the unemployment commission to suck it…you’ll go it alone without all their dirty communist help thank you very much.