A young woman and man have an innovative idea for a new and better Whatsit. Cool
They sell all they own for cash to build a prototype. What risk takers
They put in eighteen hour days, seven days a week. Dedication
The first try building the Whatsit failed and they were out of money, so they took loans to keep going. Determination
Finally, the Whatsit starts to sell. Good going
After a few years more cash is needed to expand the business so they decide to have a public offering for investors, IPO. Good business sense
They offer millions of shares of the new stock and keep several million of the shares for themselves as founders, they also give shares to several of their original employees. Seems fair
The Whatsit company now employs over 2,000 people.
Over a decade the Whatsit company does well and continues to grow, the shares of stock increase in value, they pay dividends and the shares split into more shares. Success!
The young man and woman now hold shares of stock in their company worth $1 billion each.
Greedy bastards!
I love my new Whatsit, but how do I get my fair share of their billions?
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
The Whatsit company now employs over 2,000 people.
Yay!
Half of their employees did not earn enough to raise a family without public* assistance.
Boo!
“Millions of American adults who earn low wages rely on federal programs to meet basic needs, such as Medicaid for health care and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for food.
To learn more about the people who use these programs, we analyzed employment data from 11 states and Census data.
We found:
About 70% worked full time
Most worked for private sector employers in places like restaurants, department stores, and grocery stores
Others worked for state governments, public universities, or nonprofit organizations
Some employers in selected states had thousands of beneficiaries in their workforces.”
Federal Social Safety Net Programs:
Millions of Full-Time Workers Rely on Federal Health Care and Food Assistance Programs
GAO-21-45
Published: Oct 19, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 18, 2020.
Don’t blame it all on the Whatsits.
90 percent of wage-earning adults participating in each program worked in the private sector
10 percent worked for public sector employers, such as state governments, the U.S. Postal Service, or public universities;
*taxpayer assistance
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Millions? What percentage of all workers is that? And why are they only in those jobs and if they were paid $X more what would be the impact on the economy and inflation? The median household income is over $70,000. And the other thing is look at not only income, but spending, how much and on what? For most people except the poor, that’s the key.
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It’s a mares nest (newer definition.)
The numbers change all the time. Damn statistics.
“A 2015 report from the Survey of Income and Program Participation found that, in 2012, 21.8 percent of all U.S. families, on average, participated in at least one major means-tested program per month. The participation rate for one-parent families headed by women, 50 percent, was much higher than that for one-parent families headed by men (29.5 percent) or married-couple families (14.7 percent).”
Depending on who you listen to or what they count, 40-70 percent of people receiving –some form– of public assistance are working full time.
Here’s what they spend it on (I just skimmed it, I don’t know if you can put too much faith in the numbers, and everyone will have a different interpretation.) Interesting, though.
https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2018/article/program-participation-and-spending-patterns-of-families-receiving-means-tested-assistance.htm
Thing is, I understand that some employers have a slim profit margin, and that they need to keep reserves for operating and investment in growth, etc. (I ain’t lyin’, I would never take that risk and responsibility myself.)
But…
If the Whatsits have stock worth a billion dollars each, didn’t A lot of that money come from the taxpayers?
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Quick take on spending…
“Food, housing, and transportation accounted for the greatest proportion of the budget of all families. These three categories made up 66.2 percent of the total budget of families not receiving assistance, compared with 82.5 percent for one-parent and 75.9 percent for two-parent families receiving assistance. (See table 4.)”
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Those earning minimum wage as adults are receiving the results of poor life choices.
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Exactly…facts don’t have feelings.
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“how do I get my fair share of their billions? ”
Quinn has an innovative idea for a new and better thingamajig…………………………..
Or Quinn becomes a politician.
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Yup.
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Nailed it…again!
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