Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen announced Monday that the Republican’s tax cut has allowed the company to raise wages and invest in its employees.

Average Hourly Rate for The Kroger Company Employees....$9.52

The local Kroger's here (Frys) employs MANY middle age employees, in fact most grocery stores here are that way. And no most people are not supporting their families working at Kroger.

If Kroger needed the middle class funded freebies to raise the wages of their employees then maybe they are just hoarding the cash on their books for the last 10 years and they should stop spending billions on stock buybacks. (cash is up 30% since 2016)

Fry's pays its employees an average of $10.81 an hour. Hourly pay at Fry's ranges from an average of $7.60 to $18.61 an hour.

Employees with the job title Meat Manager make the most with an average hourly rate of $20.87

Employees that improve your job skills make more money..

20 bucks an hour wont provide for a family of four to any degree of a future to save and invest and pay for college etc...this is not an example of a success story of the middle class theft tax cut for corps that you are looking for.

Kroger has enough money to pay their employees without the need of a freebie backed by debt and taxation of the middle and lower class.

Ok lets do the math for fun here...just to make this a real conversation.

40k a year is gross, net depending on your state and local tax situation is more like 30k (FICA, federal, state, local, medicare)

Lets just say 35k to be stupid but it really is less than 35k. So depending on how much in benefits you get from the employers side I know the insurance premiums we pay come out pre-tax but in total we have a mid tier plan with a moderate max family and individual limit, script costs are in the mid tier and co-pays we budget 1k for (copay, dental, scripts) runs 4k a year so a total of 5k a year in insurance/dental costs.

So lets say these example people you mention want to wing it and get the bare bones vulture medical coverage and it runs 3k a year...thats lousy insurance and you better hope you dont get sick or you will be eating at the food bank quickly...now you are down to 32k (but really this number is much lower).

32k is our fake number now and how much are we taking out for a 401k? The max ammt allowed is 18.5k and I guess if you want to play stupid again we can say that these mystery people are only contributing to the employer match and lets say that is 5% so that would equate to 2k a year....and NO IRA either right because these mystery people dont need to save for retirement. So now our fake 32k is down to 30k but really that number is more like 20k but for sake of a silly discussion we will say 30k.

30k equates out to 2500 or so a month and how far does 2500 a month stretch when you have two kids? Any idea? How much is average rent now, lets say in a middle class cheap rent location as Missouri or Kansas (we wont even discuss large metro numbers here) I know here in middle class Arizona you cant find a 3 BR rental appt let alone a house for under 1500 a month unless you are major slumming and want to play safety roulette and I know some people do that but it would be SUPER difficult to find under 1k a month in rent...but lets say 1k a month just for more stupidity...that erases 12k there and now we are down to 18k....or 1500 a month. 

How much are utilities including cable, internet, phones, electric etc...I know mine run 500 a month plus (elec averages 250 here including gas and thats being pretty frugal) cable and internet here runs 150 not even having prem channels, my family phone plan is cheap TMobile at 120 a month...so I'd say 500 is probably on the light side, but lets use that number for fun again....that is 6k a year. And now we are down to 12k.

How much is food, clothing, vehicle costs, auto insurance, discretionary costs etc? Id say that 1k is dusted and you are using credit cards or savings to make ends meet.....and thus why two incomes are needed.

Even if the second income (at the sacrifice of the kids, now the kids do not have a parent at home) is close to the same 20 an hour, do the math in the example I said above and start contributing to TWO IRA's, TWO full boat 401k's, TWO cars, TWO sets of auto insurance, saving for college and general savings...oh and investing.

Making even 80k a year for a family of four barely starts one saving for retirement, college, general savings, vehicle replacement etc.....

So spare me the Trump back slapping with this Kroger joke....and remember that the 20 an hour was for a prime position at Kroger, most do not earn even HALF that.....and how does the math work then?

Ok I will play along with your reply here because it makes no sense and every word you say is lacking long term thinking and planning.

So how much net do you think someone brings home off a 40k gross? My number was soft, its more like 32k from taxes alone.

How much do you think insurance costs? 300 a month insurance does not exist unless it is a roulette plan and those kinds of plans regularly end up with higher costs than trying to cheap on the premiums. We noticed this the last two years...trying to go the less premiums route only works when you have zero medical needs. Even people trying to make a point about how they can live on 40k have medical expenses and this cannot be dismissed.

How cheap can someone go on rent? And you notice rent is the word I am using not own...you think that is a good thing? People being forced into cheap rent vs ownership? Of course sometimes there are no choices but I'd rather pay down my principal than pay a landlord who is paying down theirs with my rent. So 1500 a month for a 3 BR is high, what ISNT high? Any firm numbers from you or are we just saying nothing and that means it is free?

How much are utilities and the items I listed? Want to go the free/cheap tv route? Thats fine but it is not representive of the general population...same goes with the phone...no phone to try and make a silly point? Ok but that is not the general population. No internet to make a point? I dont think so...there are costs and my figure is actually light, 500 a month for all listed is not much...I also did not include any car payment or vehicle property taxes etc...but yeah some people say they dont have those things so that means most people do not.

Bottom line is this...even if people are making it work, how are they planning for the future if they cannot max out a 401k, an IRA and make any future savings? Is this a success story? People making ends meet is not a success story, that is fighting to survive and that mentality means a higher social cost as they age or if they have medical issues...society pays when medical bills get unpaid and someone files BK to avoid them...society pays when the average person (fact) has less than 5k in savings and less than 10k in retirement savings...those are real numbers. So clap clap clap that people are making it work on 40k gross a year, but making it work is not going to work when the going gets tough or as they age.

This is just another of your attempts to pick a fight and reality goes out the window.