Blue Efficacy said:
Well, many (not all) conservatives don't want people (such as dealers) to have health care, so what does that tell you about the decency thing?
Also aslan, a number of those occupations you listed you DO INDEED tip indirectly. It is called a commission. It's the exact same thing as when they add 18% to the bill for a large party at a restaurant. A tip, built into the price of the product.
Sorry, a commission is an incentive to sell more, not a tip. The customer has nothing whatsoever to do with commissions nor the amount of commissions. It is better characterized as a variable wage determinable by the sales person via his number of sales. No one buys a product he doesn't need so that a salesman can get a commission. Imagine the following conversation:
Consumer: Are you on commission?
Salesperson: Yes. My living depends on how many washing machines I can sell.
Consumer: Well, I don't really need a new washing machine but I feel compelled to buy one so that you can make a decent wage.
Salesperson: Oh, thank you. If I sell three by 5 o'clock, I will get an additional 5% commission.
Consumer: In that case, I'll buy three. Maybe my in laws can use them. Thanks a lot for giving me the opportunity to help you make a decent living. What else do you sell?
Fade to black.
A forced tip at a restaurant for a large party is not a tip at all. First, it is simply an increased price for the food, since you have no choice about it, along with an exemption from tipping. Second, in my case, it is a decrease in the amount that the waiter will get, since I normally tip 20% or more.
On the decency issue and healthcare. No one in the US is denied healthcare. I think you are mixing healthcare with healthcare insurance. If you can't afford healthcare insurance, and you cannot afford to pay a doctor directly, go to the nearest emergency room when you are sick. You will be treated for free. If there were a proposal to help poor people obtain healthcare insurance via a government subsidy, I would not oppose it if it would be at least as good as the free healthcare already given the poor.
Also, I wonder why you say that many conservatives don't want dealers to have healthcare? I have never heard that absurd charge before. Maybe what you mean to say is that many conservatives don't want dealers to have healthcare insurance the way YOU or LIBERALS want to give it. I can surely understand that. There are far better ways to give dealers healthcare insurance (or alternatively, healthcare direct) than the present Obamacare. I get this all the time-- many conservative don't want this or don't want that or want tiny babies to die, or whatever---when the simple fact is, they are only opposed to the methodology, not the end result. Far left liberals, not liberals in general, have a way of demonizing conservatives out of hand without ever giving recognition to their real reasons and intentions. There is hardly an American, let alone a conservative, who does not want everyone to have adequate and reasonably priced healthcare, even free where necessary; it is only the methods that are different. So let's keep this real, realizing that few people anywhere want to deny anyone in real need of the means to a dignified, secure, and healthy existence.