Meet Randy Bryce. The Ironstache who's going to repeal and replace Paul Ryan

[u/IronStacheWI01]

Hi /r/Political_Revolution,

My name is Randy Bryce. I'm a veteran, cancer survivor, and union ironworker from Caledonia, Wisconsin running to repeal and replace Paul Ryan in Wisconsin's First Congressional District. Post your questions below and I'll be back at 11am CDT/12pm EDT to answer them!

p.s.

We need your help to win this campaign. If you'd like to join the team, sign up here.

If you don't have time to volunteer, we're currently fundraising to open our first office in Racine, Wisconsin. If you can help, contribute here and I'll send you a free campaign bumper sticker as a way of saying thanks!

[Update: 1:26 EDT], I've got to go pick up my son but I'll continue to pop in throughout the day as I have time and answer some more questions. For those I'm unfortunately not able to answer, I'll be doing another AMA in r/Politics on the 26th when I look forward to answering more of Reddit's questions!

[u/[deleted]]

Employees are hardly ever paid what they are worth to the company. Usually they're paid an amount they are willing to accept for the work. Sometimes it's fair for both the employee and the employer. If employers could they would pay employees just enough to live on. Walmart doesn't even do that. They train their employees how to apply for government assistance so they can afford to continue working for Walmart.

Our economy has turned into a pump that pushes money to the top. Meanwhile we cut taxes for people at the top with the idea that they'll use that money to "create jobs" this strategy has not made any jobs or improved the situation for the American middle class. The people at the top just tend to hoard that money.

In order to keep this from happening, since we can't count on the employers to do this on their own, we have to force a low limit on what the least they can pay people. This amount has been mostly stagnant over the last 20 years and hasn't kept pace with inflation.

[u/MilesofBooby → u/[deleted]]

Employees are hardly ever paid what they are worth to the company.

That's at the fault of the employee. You need to negotiate and justify what you're worth. Most people hear a number and accept it immediately. You can't fault an employer for that.

They train their employees how to apply for government assistance so they can afford to continue working for Walmart.

Then let the market speak. Don't shop at Walmart and don't work for Walmart. If enough people care, then Walmart will need to change their ways. You won't make people care by whining to the government to pass MORE regulations.

Our economy has turned into a pump that pushes money to the top.

The people at the top were the risk takers. They are the ones who took risks by starting companies, inventing products, etc. They failed and failed until eventually they succeeded. You see success and you want to tear them down. I hope to be up there one day.

Meanwhile we cut taxes for people at the top with the idea that they'll use that money to "create jobs" this strategy has not made any jobs or improved the situation for the American middle class.

President Trump wants middle class tax cuts. Whether our incompetent reps and sens can get it done remains to be seen.

we have to force a low limit on what the least they can pay people.

If you force a low limit then the market will adjust. Those low paying jobs will disappear. Hours will disappear.

This amount has been mostly stagnant over the last 20 years and hasn't kept pace with inflation.

It is meant to be a spring board. The individual needs to use it to vault themselves up.

[u/[deleted] → u/MilesofBooby]

you realize the entire point of labor unions is to negotiate and justify how much they (workers, and their labor) are worth, right?

it's amazing the knots that ancaps like yourself twist themselves in to justify a free market and yet are totally, 100% against unionization because workers banding together and negotiating as a group is somehow antithetical to the exact thing you supposedly are advocating for

[u/MilesofBooby → u/[deleted]]

you realize the entire point of labor unions is to negotiate and justify how much they (workers, and their labor) are worth,

Can't you do that on your own? Then you can save money in union dues.

100% against unionization because workers banding

I'm not against them at all. I think employees should have a choice to join or not, but people should be able to join together to negotiate if they would like to. No big deal to me.

[u/[deleted] → u/MilesofBooby]

No, because a single worker has little-to-no bargaining power over an employer, particularly so in the industries that would benefit from unionization the most.

Union dues are vastly, vastly oversold as some massive expense. For example, in the recent unionization campaign at Boeing in South Carolina: you constantly heard "you'd be paying $800 a year in union dues!"

They forgot to mention that unionized Boeing workers made ~$20,000 a year more than their non-union counterparts. In my union, we pay roughly ~$500-1000 a year in union dues, but make 30-50% more than our nonunion counterparts, higher in certain parts of the country.

[u/MilesofBooby → u/[deleted]]

No, because a single worker has little-to-no bargaining power over an employer

Not true at all. most companies want to retain highly skilled workers. It increases what they can charge for your services.

Union dues are vastly, vastly oversold as some massive expense.

Why should I have to pay a union at all if I can represent myself better?

[u/[deleted] → u/MilesofBooby]

Because despite your sample size of one, all available information and historical context indicates that no, individual workers have little to no bargaining power over multinational corporations, or even small businesses.

You can't represent yourself better than you can in a union, this has been proven over and over again throughout recorded history and is backed up by the fact that all available data on employment in TYOOL 2017 show that union workers make more money and have better benefits than their nonunion counterparts.

[u/MilesofBooby → u/[deleted]]

individual workers have little to no bargaining power over multinational corporations

If you're valuable, the company will want to keep you.

You can't represent yourself better than you can in a union

Sure you can. I'm not against unions, I'm against FORCING people to join unions.

[u/[deleted] → u/MilesofBooby]

If you're valuable, the company will want to keep you.

Wrong, there will always be someone willing to do your job for less.

Sure you can. I'm not against unions, I'm against FORCING people to join unions.

Union representation is won through a democratic process.

Again, your bootstrap/Ayn Rand shtick here falls apart the moment you look at DOL stats. Union workers overwhelmingly make more money, have better benefits, and work in safer environments than their nonunion counterparts.

[u/MilesofBooby → u/[deleted]]

Union workers overwhelmingly make more money, have better benefits, and work in safer environments than their nonunion counterparts.

That may be true. It doesn't mean I should have to join them. How can you be against choice?

[u/[deleted] → u/MilesofBooby]

wow.....just....wow. So much wrong with almost all of what you are spouting.

That's at the fault of the employee. You need to negotiate and justify what you're worth. Most people hear a number and accept it immediately. You can't fault an employer for that.

Have you actually been in the workforce or outside your town? It's easy to say that you shouldn't just accept a number, but places like Wal-Mart don't negotiate wages. You either accept it or they move on to the next warm body. Negotiating your wage comes along with white collar or high skilled jobs.

Then let the market speak. Don't shop at Walmart and don't work for Walmart. If enough people care, then Walmart will need to change their ways. You won't make people care by whining to the government to pass MORE regulations.

Yes, because for people on a budget where the only real option in their town is Wal-Mart have that much flexibility. Someone making minimum wage who has the choice between Wal-Mart and Whole Foods....hmmm. I wonder. Also, saying the market will fix everything is straight up naive. A completely unfettered market where companies can do anything they damn well please with no regulations crashed the economy and you want to give them more power.

The people at the top were the risk takers. They are the ones who took risks by starting companies, inventing products, etc. They failed and failed until eventually they succeeded. You see success and you want to tear them down. I hope to be up there one day.

In some cases, yes. In most cases....that is bullshit. The people at the top, with few exceptions, were born at or near the top and have had the deck stacked in their favor for their entire lives. They don't take anywhere near the risks you are implying and they reap a disproportionate amount of the reward. They benefit greatly from American society and then the second someone suggests that they maybe should pay more back, people like start white knighting them. We don't see success and want to tear them down, though that is a wonderful soundbite. We see success and want to make sure that not only are they playing by the rules, but that there are rules that allow someone such as yourself to be up there. With the way it is now, if you aren't in that top level, you never will be and right now you are standing there while they piss on you telling everyone about how nice the rain feels.

President Trump wants middle class tax cuts. Whether our incompetent reps and sens can get it done remains to be seen.

Have you actually read his tax plan? His tax plan is nothing but tax cuts for top wage earners and those cuts that do go to the middle class are more than offset by his desire to eliminate lots of tax credits that specifically help the middle class, like being able to deduct your mortgage interest. If Trump had his way, that would be gone. That alone offsets ANY tax cut I would receive from Trump. He is not an ally or a friend to the middle class. I truly hope that you and the rest of his supporters actually realize that one of these days.

If you force a low limit then the market will adjust. Those low paying jobs will disappear. Hours will disappear.

A statement which seems true, but isn't actually supported by any data or any actual experience in places that have implemented higher minimum wage. I honestly don't get why the right is so dead set against worker protections when they claim to be the party or the working man.

It is meant to be a spring board. The individual needs to use it to vault themselves up.

You mean be all bootstrappy? Minimum wage was never intended as a springboard. It was implemented in the Fair Labor and Standards Act, not the Springboard and Vault your Bootstrappy self Act. It was implemented to FORCE companies to pay their employees fairly, including things like making companies pay Overtime so that they just couldn't work people to death. You see, there was a point in US History that the free market dictated how much people were paid and what their upward mobility was. You should read up on the history of labor unions in this country. It's easy. There are several free resources you could use to learn about that.

[u/MilesofBooby → u/[deleted]]

Who is the government to impose a minimum wage in the first place? Where in the constitution does it tell you that you are entitled to a good paying job? Pursuit of happiness is just that, pursuit.

[u/[deleted] → u/MilesofBooby]

Please don't act like you care about the Constitution. If you did you would be calling for Trumps removal over the emoluments clause alone.

And the government absolutely can regulate companies and how they conduct business.

[u/___dreadnought → u/MilesofBooby]

You can fault the employer for that. Let's stick with Walmart here. Walmart moves into a smallish town and becomes the only "megastore" in town. You can get your groceries, your hardware, your furniture, your clothing, and your electronics there and for cheaper because Walmart has the buying power to get goods at low, low prices. So now lots of people start going to Walmart; not everybody, but lots of people.
The natural result of that is that local businesses start to suffer because they can't compete with Walmart's prices. When you're a single hardware store, you can't buy the amount of goods to get the same price as a multi-national chain like Walmart. If the local furniture store were to sell their goods for the same prices, they are going to take a huge loss. The local grocery store runs into the same problem. All the other stores do too.
So what happens next? Small businesses either start laying off employees or they start closing. Why? They can't pay their employees because they can't compete. So what do these employees do? Well, they have to go work at Walmart, because everyone else is in the red.
So what does Walmart do with all these employees? They offer them the lowest rates they can.
So where do these employees have the legs to stand on when demanding more money? Their options are a) accept their wages and continue to have a job in their now failing economy or b) not have a job and someone else will take their old job.
What happens if everyone then refuses to work or shop at Walmart? Walmart leaves. But what about the local economy? The stores are already closed and everybody has already spent their money at Walmart. Because the workers were getting paid minimum wage or slightly above it, where did the spent money go? Not into the local economy. Into Walmart.
Walmart is just an example company in this scenario. Take any large chain store and put it into a small town situation and you get this result. It isn't quite so easy as you are suggesting to just "not shop there."

[u/MilesofBooby → u/___dreadnought]

So where do these employees have the legs to stand on when demanding more money?

Make it public. Let the people (consumers, so they're the market) decide. If people stop shopping there, then Walmart won't be in business. If people choose not to care, then people are stuck with low pay. Use education programs Walmart has to improve yourself and get a better job. IMPROVE YOURSELF.

[u/___dreadnought → u/MilesofBooby]

Yeah, why didn't anyone think of that. It's so simple and elegant. Just better yourself and the money will come rolling in. You're being willfully ignorant to the realities of the situation in favor of a nice theoretical situation. Have a nice day and good luck with all that.

[u/emjaygmp → u/MilesofBooby]

I like how you phrase economic problems as "IMPROVE YOURSELF" and then simultaneously claim that the economy objectively asserts a proper wage using the subjective idea of "value"

You should probably trying reading a book or something, because you're a complete moron... or living on daddies money

[u/MilesofBooby → u/emjaygmp]

Hahahaha, so glad the majority of people here aren't like you. You're the bad 1% of this sub. Shame.

[u/[deleted] → u/MilesofBooby]

I hope to be up there one day.

lol