McDonald's Thrives, Employees Collect Food Stamps, Other Government Assistance - And You're Loving It!

I have a problem with big businesses like McDonalds. It's too big and their greatness is not reflected in their value as an employer. I know there will always be "big dogs" and "small fries" within any group of anything - and I am not mad at success - but can we at least get a good grip of what success entails?

McDonalds to Uncle Sam: You Scratch My Back, I'll Scratch My Back

McDonalds is a ginormous corporation that generates BILLIONS of dollars in profit annually (even quarterly), yet the employees are barely paid. How can McDonald's be a great American success story when it takes money out of the hands of Americans to subsidize the payment of wages to its employees?

Actually, in what world do we live in where there is a minimum wage and a living wage and we allow the minimum wage to be set so substantially lower than the living wage? If the minimum wage does not equal the living wage, it is mathematically impossible for anyone to thrive off the minimum wage, without working multiple jobs. What is the point of having a minimum wage if it means that 40 hours a week are simply not enough?

The problem that is created when the minimum wage is lower than the living wage is that companies are not doing anything illegal by watching their employees enroll into government assistance. Companies like McDonald's are aware of the number of employees seeking that assistance and can easily see within their own company that the wages paid are simply not enough to support the most basic needs of a huge percentage of their employees - and it is so much more lucrative for them to not care and do nothing.

At What Point Does "Taking" Tax Money Become Simple Theft?

McDonalds, and other megacorporations, could easily raise the wages of employees and still generate billions of dollars in profit, without ever collecting one cent from taxpayer dollars, and (I don't care what anybody says or calculates) without raising the price of that Big Mac made from Lord-knows-what (that people are obviously okay with eating, still, for whatever reason).

We cherish McDonald's in the country as a great American success story, but how many of the employees of McDonald's experience that same pride as an employee of one of the greatest business endeavors in this country? And as one of the greatest examples of business success in the world, how in the hell can McDonald's justify the use of tax payer money to basically pay what they are not paying to employees, when they are well aware of the economic situation of our country and their employees (unless of course the justification is to never reduce the profit margin for any reason, in which case it would make way more sense to do nothing and keep saving...)

I say saving because it obviously saves the corporation money. If McDonald's did increase the wages of employees (and this is not a sob story for corporate profits) it would cost them, obviously, the extra money they put into, and that would be compounded by employer contribution taxes, health care costs, and other liability costs like general liability and worker's compensation, and I'm sure in other ways, too.

I just don't care.

STOP FEELING BAD FOR CORPORATE PROFITS ALREADY - Are You Benefiting?

I am not saying McDonald's should go out of business (however, I personally do not understand why they are even in business as they current serve very little that I would actually ingest into my body - and pretty much nothing from their menu comes to mind...) but I am suggesting that, as is possible with any company, mistakes are being made. If they do not generate enough revenue to pay their employees a decent wage, they have a bad business model that requires some reworking.

Gasp, profits might need to drop a little (a little - we are talking BILLIONS GENERATED QUARTERLY - put away the tissues for corporate profits), maybe the price of a Big Mac does need to go up a little (I bet Burger King would enjoy a McDonald's price hike), because as with any company, the revenue from your products and services should support the overhead of the company.

By having employees who qualify and receive government assistance - at billions annually - there is obviously a problem with the wages and that part of the overhead is not being supported by the revenue from the products - although McDonalds generates more in profit quarterly than the amount of funds received by it's employees annually through government assistance.

McDonald's is robbing the poor (America - check our balance sheet) to finish paying the portion of the poor that they employ, and all while pocketing cash hand over fist.

If McDonald's could not thrive as a company by paying its employees enough that they did not qualify for government assistance, I still would not feel bad - but are you joking? These people pay millions of dollars for some air time on TV - adjusting the wages of the employees across the board will marginally effect profits, but could easily be compensated - causing no effect on profit margin - just by skipping some commercial advertisements at millions of dollars a piece here and there. Or whatever.

The bottom line, McDonald's wouldn't sweat if it doubled the wages of all its employees. I'm not an economist or analyst of finances, but I still don't give a damn what anybody says - these people are straight up crying wolf when they cry about profits or the imaginary need to increase items on the menu - and if they do, they do! Who's fault is anyway if the McDonald's business model (that includes fair compensation to its employees) is unprofitable?

If it really is, do the right thing and go out of business, McDonalds. But again - that is like, NEVER, going to happen. They could honestly double the wages AND provide whole, natural, organic food and STILL not even notice anything because they make so much money...

Sources for "McDonald's Thrives, Employees Collect Food Stamps, Other Government Assistance - And You're Loving It!":

"McDonald's Reports Solid Third Quarter 2013 Results" from McDonald's Press Release
http://news.mcdonalds.com/Corporate/Press-Releases/Financial-Release?xmlreleaseid=123038

"McDonald's Low Wages Cost Taxpayers $1.2 Billion Per Year: Study" by Jillian Berman, Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/15/mcdonalds-wages-taxpayers_n_4100866.html