Those in Washington who constantly reiterate their opposition to a war they say can’t be won are the same people who propose wars to “solve” every other crisis (often caused by their “solution” to some earlier alleged crisis). But those policy wars are never won either. Rather than being given up as unwinnable, they get escalated, expanding government encroachment on our shrinking freedoms, with increasingly adverse effects. Adding more government intervention in virtually every aspect of our lives because politicians who oppose war call everything else a war, cannot stand up to careful examination.
This article does an incredible job of examining the abuse of the word “war” as a marketing tactic for politicians to get people in line to support their cause.
A great article you might want to read about minimum wage. I’ll look around for some opposing views and get them face time too.
Minimum Wage: Yet Another Republican Retreat
Key points:
- Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman and “the overwhelming majority of economists say that minimum-wage laws hurt the very people that proponents seek to help — minorities, teenagers and female heads of families.”
- Remember when Congress raised the minimum wage from $4.25 an hour to $4.75 an hour? From third quarter 1996 to first quarter 1997 (when the rate kicked in), teenagers, blacks and women heading families all experienced greater unemployment. And this during a period of over-all job growth!
I still think minimum wage is being used as a political pawn by both Republicans and Democrats.
As promised, here’s a little more on the minimum wage issue I’ve been discussing.
“Poverty can be done away with, not by increasing the number of well to do people who think about poverty, but by increasing the number of poor people who succeed in getting rich through faith and purpose.
The poor do not need charity; they need inspiration.”
- Wallace D. Wattles
. . . more to come. In the meantime, here’s a better idea than federally mandated minimum wage.
If you don’t already know, I work on the game night media relations staff for the Utah Jazz. Here’s a few tidbits from a ground-floor perspective on last night’s Jazz/Spurs matchup. (photo via dneiwertert … purely meant for humor)
1) Props to the EnergySolutions Arena security people for a job well done. The crowd was unruly to say the least, and I think the ESA brute squad did a mighty fine job protecting the referees after the game. For a minute there, you would have thought those guys were serving at the pleasure of the president as they put themselves in harm’s way to circle the refs and escort them off the floor.
2) “Angry Jazz fans threw objects at the court at the final buzzer, and Coach Gregg Popovich of the Spurs hurried his players off the floor in lieu of the usual live television interviews. via IHT.com. Again, props to the security guys who were standing between the said thrown items and the intended targets.
3) I’ve seen ESA security tell ESPN broadcasters they can’t be in certain places that are off limits at the ESA. Off limits to everyone but Sloan, his staff, the players, Larry H. Miller and the security personnel. I don’t think I read ESPN on that list. Did you? The point is, they don’t care who you are if you’re not approved, and for good reason too. Safety is their number one rule, and they don’t make exceptions for anybody. If you break the rule, they let you know it.
4) People have asked me before if I could get them press passes to sit near the basket. Sure I say, but a) I’ll get fired (which I won’t do), and b) The security guys know if you’re not supposed to be there, and they know it quick. If they don’t know you or recognize you, they question why you’re there. It has happened to members of the media that had legitimate press passes.
5) The ESA crew is a nice bunch. Very nice. But they’re also good at their job, and their job is to create safety.
Somebody thinks I was cold hearted in my minimum wage post . . . I think he completely misunderstood my point and needs to read it again while forgetting about dollar signs. He seems to think money is the answer to problems . . . How many times have you thought that “money doesn’t solve” problems, but in reality, you act and think like it does?
I do it all the time. Do I really believe it? I do more each day. But if any of us really believe that money doesn’t solve problems, how can money then be the cause of any problem? He says that minimum wage doesn’t keep up with the cost of living in this country and that it’s “a problem.” Is money (a minimum wage increase) the real answer? Is money going to solve the problem?
Why you ask? Because our politicians are still attaching unrelated spending to the Iraq bill. Still. This time around they’re (Democrats) attaching money to raise minimum wage, which will later be used for political cheerleading. You mark my words . . . “We increased minimum wage,” and “What a great day for the middle class,” are phrases you will hear a lot in the coming months. (I guess if they pay people more, they’ll get more to pay for this ridiculously costly war in the form of taxes).
“. . . minimum wage goes up to $5.85 two months after Bush signs the bill, then to $6.55 one year later and to $7.25 the next year.” via Time Magazine.
Russ Page and Company moved to new house a few months back, and what you see in the video is our neighborhood in Suncrest. I have to say it’s gorgeous around these parts, and if you’ve ever thought about it, and you love the outdoors, this is an excellent place to live that’s still close to civilization (I heard Coyotes wailing in the dark the other night while our window was open).
In reality, this video is probably about as interesting as Rocketboom was . . . (oh dis).
I’ve been really disappointed by the local Utah news stories I’m reading about CityStinkers.com.
CityStinkers.com is a website that was put together by a Lehi, Utah man who was told he couldn’t coach baseball anymore in the city. He also paid for a billboard to promote the site. The problem is The Daily Herald and KUTV don’t give any detail about the issue. They only say that the guy can’t coach and that the city won’t say anything because of litigation. This is very, very irresponsible on their part, and a sad day for reporting. They were lazy in seeking the truth on both sides, and Lehi City takes the lashes for it.
Right or wrong?
I really don’t know who is in the right or who is in the wrong between CityStinkers and Lehi, but for the media to put the issue in front of hundreds of thousands of people with little or no detail as to why this has occurred is wrong and shameful at best. The sad part is if the city is found guiltless, it still has the “bad press” on its shoulder, and KUTV and The Daily Herald get off scott free with a few extra dollars in their pocket because of advertising revenue.
