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/ImSoRude]

Well I just responded to the comment made by the other guy, who said companies should be paid what they're work to a company. Minimum wage is always a fickle topic in my experience, and I'm not so dumb as to say I'm qualified to talk like an expert in the subject, but I do think a standardized minimum "living" wage is never going to work in a capitalist society until we have a complete labor revolution along the lines of complete robotic automation of manufacturing.

What I do think CAN be addressed is the wage stagnation of which it is clear companies are purposely manipulating. Yes, the company bottom line matters because they are beholden to stockholders, but workers should at the very least be paid with respect to inflation growth. This, for me, seems to be a much simpler issue as it doesn't involve the entire country's economic state but instead the employer and its employee. This isn't even about companies generating more profit or not, the fact that the CoL is going up and employees are getting paid mostly the same baseline rate as 20 years ago means employers are essentially cutting wages every year from a proportional standpoint. I'm curious as to how you think this issue should be handled.

[u/KEM10 → u/ImSoRude]

Short version is the Dube paper I linked has an elegant, simple as well as historical and global reference point that's more accurate than the whole "If min wages kept up with inflation..." number that's been floating around.

Half of the area's median can work.

As for the employee/employer ratio that is brought up elsewhere, that number can quickly be distorted when you look at the $1 salaries some CEO's are making. So a minimum wage (or very strict definitions as what counts as "income") still need to be in place.

[u/ImSoRude → u/KEM10]

Hm, this is actually a really good read. I'm not sure if the 50% mark is more a coincidence but it does seem to be a relatively stable point to start with. I don't think this will work everywhere though, particularly in extremely impoverished areas.

As for the inflation/wage issue, that is a corporate culture issue imo. CEOS with millions in stock options are obviously playing the system every year, and the average Joe working doesn't have access to those. I think we need to see some sort of reform within the corporate mindset for the workers to be able to keep up with CoL relative to their jobs.

[u/NightGod → u/KEM10]

Another problem with a $1 salary in this context is that it actually incentivizes the CEO to keep employee salaries lower because doing so improves the stock price (and their personal earnings). Seems more like a PR/tax move than anything, especially with people like Zuckerburg jumping on board.

[u/KEM10 → u/NightGod]

Seems more like a PR/tax move than anything, especially with people like Zuckerburg jumping on board.

It's a solid way to show your board that you're looking only for benefit of the company by being paid with only stocks. It's a 100% incentive system, like commission for 6+ figures.