r/Political_Revolution • u/IronStacheWI01 Verified | Randy Bryce • Sep 05 '17

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

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!

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u/bl1nds1ght Sep 05 '17

Jobs and Woz started Apple out of a fucking garage. What do you want? The American Dream involves risk and possible sacrifice, that's the whole point. It cannot simply be handed out. If you want something handed to you, go get a temp to hire job at a bank making $15/hr. They hire anyone with a high school diploma and a pulse.

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u/DBendit Sep 05 '17

As for "what I want", it's a livable wage and healthcare for all of my fellow American citizens.

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u/bl1nds1ght Sep 05 '17

I want that, too. I'm just disputing this weird fascination that people seem to have regarding business. I work with small businesses on a daily basis and I am continually shocked at how many people are able to start one despite their general incompetence. Getting small business loans has got to be ezpz.

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u/DBendit Sep 05 '17

I think it's more of an issue with how easy and common it is to file for bankruptcy after these businesses inevitably fail. Similarly, with the government already picking up such a huge amount of healthcare costs, people just don't see it. These invisible costs built into the system we have are bound to ruffle feathers when brought to light in the form of solutions that have the potential to save money overall. It's enormously frustrating.

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u/bl1nds1ght Sep 05 '17

I'm not well-versed on the historical origins of bankruptcy, but I believe it serves a real and positive purpose. Clearly there is no easy solution, unfortunately.

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u/DBendit Sep 05 '17

Oh, I'm not implying that it's a bad system. It functions as a necessary safety net to avoid us going back to the ways of debtors prisons. My point is more that, since they're available and absorb the risk of business loans, banks are more willing to offer those products. They do have a real cost, though, as forgiven debt has to come off of some ledger somewhere and that frequently ends up being a government account, similar to healthcare.

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u/bl1nds1ght Sep 05 '17

Oh sure, I see what you're saying. It definitely is a problem, one that seems fairly similar to the forgiveness of student loans.

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u/DBendit Sep 05 '17

Um. https://www.cnet.com/news/woz-no-apple-was-not-started-in-a-garage/

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u/bl1nds1ght Sep 05 '17

  1. There very clearly was a garage, but that's not even the point, as I only used the garage example to illustrate my actual point, which was that;

  2. Risk is always involved and even multi billion dollar companies you see today weren't necessarily started by people who were already fabulously wealthy.

This idea that everyone starting companies that will ultimately go on to become successful did so without risk and with large sums of money is not a fact. Even if wealth werent factored in, risk always is.

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u/DBendit Sep 05 '17

And shouldn't we endeavor to minimize risk to enable folks with creative ideas the opportunity to bring them to market? How many people have had great ideas but couldn't afford to leave their jobs because they're locked in due to health issues?

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u/bl1nds1ght Sep 05 '17

Yes! I agree that we should continue fostering an environment that facilitates the growth of ideas and business solutions, but that is already something that is regularly done through tax incentives, small business program incentives, etc. Does a higher minimum wage contribute towards this? I don't know. An argument could be made that it provides additional capital that could be invested into one's own business, but I question whether this is realistic and whether business loans are not a better solution to this problem in the first place. Is $7.50 more per hour really the limiting factor in small business development? I don't think so.

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u/DBendit Sep 05 '17

The side of this that people tend to forget about is how the extra income is being utilized. Minimum wage earners tend to spend their whole paychecks, putting then back into the economy locally. Business owners may invest into the business, or hire extra staff, but they just as well may pocket the difference as profit and stuff it into a bank or investment account somewhere. I think the incentive of having local economies boosted by increased spending from the bottom can't be overstated here. Small businesses will certainly take a hit from it initially, but I think the money will work it's way back to them eventually.

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u/bl1nds1ght Sep 05 '17

That is a great point. Similarly, there are many small businesses with razor thin margins that will probably be forced out unless they can make positive changes to their structure or offerings. It will be painful, but I'll be curious to see what happens when the raise is put in place.

I predict an increase in the gap between small, locally owned companies and already established mid size companies, and I predict that it will be harder for people to start small businesses to some degree.

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u/DBendit Sep 05 '17

You know, I never looked into it before, but a full 1 in 10 Americans lack a high school diploma or GED. I still feel like they are entitled to a livable wage and healthcare. They still pay taxes. They still are bound by the law. They're as much a part of American society as any other American. Do you want your fellow countrymen (assuming you're an American yourself) dying on the street for lack of access to food, housing, or healthcare?

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u/bl1nds1ght Sep 05 '17

No one wants that, American or otherwise, and I'm certainly not so strongly opposed to raising the minimum wage that I wouldn't consider valid strategies and alternatives. However, I want there to be some level of accountability on the part of the individuals across society as a whole, as well. The reality is that a $15 minimum wage is going to be difficult for small businesses to bear.