Comments on: Kurt Sansone thinks the living wage is 'novel' because his Dear Leader told him so

By: ciccio2010

ciccio2010 — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:02:04 +0000

In reply to Juanito. OK, so maybe Joseph Muscat was reading the Rerum Novarum while recovering from his injury. That would have kept him away from those official ceremonies.

By: Juanito

Juanito — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:10:07 +0000

In reply to Joseph Micallef.

In fact it is older than that. On Wikipedia, on Google, I found this:

The living wage is a concept central to the Catholic social teaching tradition beginning with the foundational document, Rerum Novarum, a papal encyclical by Pope Leo XIII, issued in 1891 to combat the excesses of both laissez-faire capitalism on the one hand and communism on the other. In this letter, Pope Leo affirms the right to private property while insisting on the role of the state to require a living wage. The means of production were considered by the pope to be both private property requiring state protection and a dimension of the common good requiring state regulation.

Pope Leo first described a living wage in terms that as could be generalized for application in nations throughout the world. Rerum Novarum touched off legislative reform movements throughout the world eliminating child labor, reducing the work week, and establishing minimum wages.

And continues………………… J.

By: Paul Borg (another one)

Paul Borg (another one) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 12:02:51 +0000

Labour have nothing new to offer. Old ideas and old tactics. The only new thing that they can offer is a new party emblem and new hardship on us all if they ever get elected.

By: orion

orion — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 09:43:51 +0000

In reply to Gianni Xuereb. mela ghama?

By: Do not trust Labour with the economy

Do not trust Labour with the economy — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 21:28:46 +0000

In reply to maryanne.

Joseph Muscat does it again. Every time he reads something in the foreign papers which sounds new to him, there he goes talking about it in public.

Remember how he copied “human recession” from Larry Summers? The Labour supporters are easily impressed with terms that they do not understand.

The living wage is a concept that makes no sense. It is based on the notion that a person can live decently with so much of food, health care, entertainment etc.

But the truth is that different people have different food, health care, entertainment and other needs. So a “one size fits all” living wage cannot exist.

It would be difficult to imagine every worker establishing his/her own living wage.

Raising the minimum wage to a living wage would impact our productivity ranking and is likely to result in loss of employment.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:50:47 +0000

Quite unbelievable:

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100921/local/muscat-calls-for-joint-celebration-of-independence-and-freedom-days

By: Not Tonight

Not Tonight — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 13:23:26 +0000

It is now 3 p.m. on Independence Day and the only reference I can find on timesofmalta.com to the event we are commemorating is to Joseph’s Muscat’s saying, after laying a wreath at the Independence monument, that Mintoff will soon be out of ITU.

By: Antoine Vella

Antoine Vella — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:45:24 +0000

This kind of behaviour by Joseph Muscat, taking somebody else’s idea and presenting it as his own, reminds me of those students who plagiarise books and websites, thinking nobody will find out.

By: ciccio2010

ciccio2010 — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:55:45 +0000

Daphne, in the list above, you did not mention the mega-pledge before the last election: that overtime will be tax-free.
Now, they tell us that Labour will not pursue this idea any further.
They have realised it was yet another mistake by Labour.

By: Gianni Xuereb

Gianni Xuereb — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:37:30 +0000

Kemm kelna nies ilbierah fuq il-fosos, kif fqajnihom