In 1974 and '75, I earned $2.50 an hour for pumping gas

Oeditpus Rex

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Wed Oct-04-06 12:13 AM
Original message

In 1974 and '75, I earned $2.50 an hour for pumping gas

and being a clerk in a small grocery store. That was the minimum wage then in California.

Today, the minimum wage is $6.75 � but in 2006 dollars, $2.50 is equivalent to $10.34.

In 2003, I earned $13.50 as city editor of a small daily newspaper. In 1974 dollars, that's equivalent to $3.62.

http://146.142.4.24/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

Interesting, isn't it?

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graywarrior

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Wed Oct-04-06 12:15 AM
Response to Original message

1. Yes, very interesting.

I made more in 74 working at Mass Gen Hosp than I do now.

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ComerPerro

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Wed Oct-04-06 12:20 AM
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2. Conservatism at work

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leftofthedial

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Wed Oct-04-06 12:54 AM
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3. I work at the fillin' station on the interstate

Pumpin' gasoline and countin' out of state plates
They ask me how far into Memphis son, and where's the nearest beer
And they don't even know that there's a town around here

Today's dollar ain't worth a trickle-down dime.

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reyd reid reed

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Wed Oct-04-06 01:31 AM
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4. Scary is what it is.

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SeattleGirl

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Wed Oct-04-06 01:34 AM
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5. Wow, I was doing the same thing at that time, minus the clerk

part. But the gas jockey part -- yep, that's what I did. I actually liked it, once I became immune to the smell of the gasoline.

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Robeson

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Wed Oct-04-06 01:37 AM
Response to Original message

6. Hey don't worry. There are some wealthy people in this country...

...whom you can vicariously live through, so why worry! Afterall, their wealth represents the American dream! As long as the super rich are rich, we're all rich!

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hfojvt

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Wed Oct-04-06 01:41 AM
Response to Original message

7. outside of California and some other states

minimum wage is still $5.15.

It's hard to believe I am only making 116% of the former minimum wage. Most of that 16% is eaten up in FICA taxes which have gone up from about 3% to 7.65%. I wonder what the income tax rates and standard deductions were.

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