When you get to the end of your rope,
tie a knot and hang on.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Back Pay for Furloughed Workers? Thumbs DOWN!
This is the kind of thing that drives me crazy. In the real world, if you own/manage or work for a business and if things happen which affect business for reasons beyond their control (say, a natural disaster or loss of electrical power), you don't get paid. Is it "fair"? I have worked on an hourly basis for government entities, and the government entities in my experience always had holidays not observed in the real business world; this means I didn't make money on federal holidays. (I have worked for government contractors also as a full-time; in those cases, we generally had to show up at local facilities for training or other duties, but we were salaried, not hourly.) Is it "fair" that I didn't get paid because of federal policy? I have a problem with federal employees getting an extended vacation at the expense of the taxpayer.
I haven't seen this bill's fineprint. I remember at the end of my Officer Training School in Newport, there was a monster snowfall in the area and planes were grounded. I still recall the Navy's solution was if we didn't get to our duty stations (in my case, Orlando) in time, the extra days would come out of our annual leave. Yeah, what a vacation; I had to walk through unplowed thigh-deep snow to get something to eat, the wind so cold and biting that my eyeballs ached. I didn't think it was "fair" I should take a hit for an act of God. (As I recall, the airport reopened earlier than expected, so I lost little, if any leave.)
To hear my utterly useless and pathetic Congressman Cummings argue that it was only "fair" to pay workers for doing nothing is morally repulsive. Unless there is some quid pro quo like requiring the workers to make up for their absence or have it taken out of their vacation, this is little more than crony unionist pandering by both parties. There are millions of unemployed people due to economically-illiterate policies, like ObamaCare, the minimum wage, or other regulations and policies that contribute to the $1.8T regulatory drag on the economy. Let's add Cummings to this year's JOTY (I may have also nominated him earlier this year). This piece of work has some chutzpah when Democratic policies have contributed to the unemployment problem in the private sector, and long-term unemployed don't get bailed out by the government. So a few people go without pay for a few days or weeks: why do they get more empathy than the structurally unemployed, involuntarily out of the labor force for months or years?
But for the House GOP to propose and pass this (the vote was unanimous) was purely defensive and completely political (among other things, some GOP lawmakers have federal workers in their districts); this is exactly the kind of unprincipled crap that makes us in the Tea Party loathe both political parties.
Pro-Liberty Thought of the Day
Yet Another JOTY Nominee: Barbara Mikulski
Living in a state with worthless economically illiterate professional "progressive" politicians like O'Malley, Cardin, Mikulski, Cummings, and Hoyer is embarrassing. To hear a morally corrupt populist whore for crony capitalist/unionist special interests describe Ted Cruz supporters like me "tea baggers" is yet another breach of civility. Sen. Cruz has already shown more leadership and had more of an impact in just a few months than Mikulski during her unaccomplished legislative tenure. I want to assure readers that I've never wasted my vote on one of Maryland's loser Democrats.
Images of the Day
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| Via Bastiat Institute on FB |
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| Via LFC on FB My original: "Taxation is a Statist method to manipulate economic behavior" |
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| Via Laissez-Faire Capitalism on FB |
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| Courtesy of the Laissez Faire Capitalism on FB |
Bastiat Must Be Rolling Over in His Grave:
French Bipartisan Protectionism vs. Internet Booksellers
Recall one of my favorite Bastiat quotes: ""Treat all economic questions from the viewpoint of the consumer, for the interests of the consumer are the interests of the human race." For books, holding other things equal, this includes qualities like low price and convenience. The French parliament, including the opposition "conservative" UMP party, which already is engaged in anti-competitive and anti-consumer price floors, has passed another anti-consumer provision to exclude Amazon's free delivery option (typically available for a certain minimum sale total threshold, e.g., $25). This is an economically perverse policy that protects crony French bookstores and constitutes a violation of free market principles and most likely WTO or Europe trade regulations; I strongly urge Obama and American trade representatives to register relevant appeals. It's shameful and pathetic that the same land that produced Bastiat is resorting to such policy madness; if French bookstores have a failed business model and cannot compete with Amazon, the answer is NOT to force French consumers to pay artificially high book prices.
Does the House Have a Constitutional Requirement to Fund a Bad Law (Like ObamaCare)?
Great Response to Progressive Propaganda Clip "The Story of Broke"
It All Starts With a Cookie...
Instead of teaching a mouse how to cope for himself, the morally hazardous host is run ragged trying to accommodate an ever-growing list of demands....
Political Humor
It is day three of the government shutdown. Right now 33 percent of the government is doing absolutely nothing, which is not bad considering that before the shutdown 80 percent wasn’t doing anything - Jay Leno
[It turns out those new automated red tape dispensers bought during the end-of-fiscal-year "use it or lose it" shopping spree leverage the ability of bureaucrats telling other Americans what to do....]
Regarding the problems with starting Obamacare, President Obama said that Apple had some glitches with the iPhone but then they fixed them. Technically the president is correct, but you have to remember: Apple has geniuses working there. This is Washington. They don’t have any geniuses. - Jay Leno
[I think it was Sebelius, not Obama... The Obama Administration is full of idiot savants with the remarkable ability to generate excuses...]
Some New Clips From the Welcome Home Blog
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Glenn Foden and Townhall |
The Contours, "Do You Love Me?"
Government Blatant Violation of Economic Liberty
"It's conscience and conviction that have taken over me, and I just can't roll over any more", Bruce O'Connell, owner/operator Pisgah Inn and American patriotBlue Ridge inn's act of defiance lasts about 2 hours
The Obama regime, in yet another petty, pathetic attempt to manipulation of public opinion, ordered closure of the booked-solid 51-room Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which operates on federally leased land, one of two privately owned places (Peaks of Otter Lodge) for lodging, meals, and/or bathroom facilities along the nearly 470-mile road. Many of the employees live on the property and would have to leave if the inn closed; unlike federal workers, they won't be paid during their work break. The Park Service is now blocking access to the inn.
