Tag: Article

TonyTown.com - Our Deficit is still no good!

Why you should still be worried about our economy.

There is a link floating around on Facebook citing data from the CBO saying that the federal economy’s deficit is on a downward slope. The problem is that 5% of the real findings were taken out of context and if you’d read the whole thing, you’d know why none of the politicians are bragging about it.

Read the whole thing, it will be a quick lesson on economics and math and why you shouldn’t base your political leanings based on FB posts unless they cite real data…say…like the CBO’s findings. Which cooincidentally places blame on ALL of the politicians, not just your trusted party.

To give a sense of how much deficit reduction would be required to reach an illustrative target(not a recommendation!):Suppose that policymakers wanted to reduce debt from is current 73 percent of CDP to its 40-year average of 38 percent, and to make that reduction of 35 percent linearly over 35 years – that is, by 1 percent of GDP per year.

To achieve that goal with policy changes that phased in over time would require changes that save nearly $2 trillion over the coming decade.

Cept for one problem. WERE NOWHERE NEAR THAT AND SHOW NO EVIDENCE OF EVEN MEETING 10% OF THESE GOALS.

Please watch the full presentation HERE at CBO.GOV

So stop pointing the finger at Republican and Democrats, because we’re the ones that voted these guys in and let them ruin what was an economic titan.

-me





FLSA exemptions need to be revised.

This has always been something that really pissed me off. Everyone knows I’ve paid my dues in the restaurant industry, but the deliberate exemption of tipped employees from the FLSA has always made my ass twitch.

What most of you dont know is that one of the BIGGEST reasons for the notorious turnover in restaurants is tipped wages always starting at 2.13/hour.

This is by far the easiest way to discourage potential talent…by paying them less than $4k per year for full-time service.

You see the big problem is servers aren’t just serving. 99% of the tie they are also tasked with general labor, maintenance, prep and cleaning. It may not be life endangering but it is in fact one of the most hostile work environments in existence. Between alcohol service, money handling, and the employer passing off losses to the employees…it’s rarely a great job, so when an employer also makes the job completely irresistible by offering only $2.13 an hour…you can understand why so few people are able to work the job, much less do so for extended periods of time.

In the years since this incredibly poor exemption was made legal, restaurant industries all over have opted to make it even harder, by user-paying other positions that ARE NOT TIPPED and guaranteeing them a portion of a tipped employee’s take. Barbacks, Bussers, Expo, Bartenders…I’ve even seen salaried employees decide they deserved a share of the tips.

So nowadays almost all restaurants operate with incredibly low labor costs.

I’ve seen what the take is on busy restaurants and slow ones…in both cases there is honestly no reason to lowball the service.

That said, last I looked there were still a few really good restaurants to work for and learn the skills properly without having to deal with truckloads of crooked owners and managers that think that just because it’s not illegal it’s okay.

If you’re wondering where this little rant started up, John Light over at BillMoyers.com recently published a great article (CLICK HERE TO READ IT) on how exemptions from the FLSA are heavily exploited.

Thanks for the bandwidth, and remember, if you can’t afford to tip, you sure as hell cant afford to be eating at restaurants. Be Smart.

-Tony