The only service a friend can really render is to keep up your courage
by holding up to you a mirror
in which you can see a noble image of yourself.
George Bernard Shaw
On Smoke, Mirrors and ObamaCare
A few days back I rebuked a "progressive" troll who was confused, thinking my prediction of job losses had to do with the minimum wage (cited in a political cartoon), not healthcare. He completely missed the point the issue was total compensation (not to mention the minimum wage is relevant to just over 2% of workers). The "Affordable Care Act" is an oxymoron; the federal government healthcare programs have exacerbated sector cost pressures; the government sets typically below-market reimbursements, effectively shifting the cost burden to private-sector plans. The government is also requiring coverage for ordinary expenses like preventive care, birth control, etc. This is not "insurance"--it's bundled health services. For example, I have a vested interest to minimize out-of-pocket costs, but there is overhead to handling these costs through a centralized bureaucracy, even a private-sector insurer. A provider might be willing to negotiate a better price if I provide quicker reimbursement, less paperwork. "Community rating" generally involves shifting costs, say, from older to younger workers; "guaranteed issue" basically allows some high risk policyholders to socialize their expenses from day 1. And one grossly understated point is that people getting their healthcare through insurers tend to use more products and services than the self-insured/uninsured, not necessarily with commensurate better outcomes. What this means is increased healthcare expenditures due to competition for scarce healthcare resources. The conceit of centralized healthcare is that economies of scale will drive down medical costs; the problem is a problem Mises recognized a long time ago: without a true market, it's impossible to allocate resources efficiently. In short, businesses realize that ObamaCare will exacerbate healthcare costs, not reduce them. These costs are not in general correlated with marginal productivity gains.That is, labor cost is increasing, and there's less demand for labor at a higher price.
Facebook Corner
(Illinois Policy Institute). Cronyism in the car industry didn’t start with Chicago’s ongoing attempt to control ride-share companies. In 1982, big car dealerships successfully lobbied to ban their competitors from making Sunday car sales. A generation of car buyers has lost out because of it.
Don't buy the limiting time argument we are open 8 am to 9 pm during week. And 9am to 6pm on Saturday certainly there is ample time to shop for a car
If you want to buy a car then you will find the time to do it. There is no reason to be open on a Sunday.
Spoken like a true fascist. Let the market decide. If auto customers agree with you, if it's not worth the dealer's time and effort, the dealer may change his mind. The problem with fascists is they are afraid of the competition and want to use the State to dictate the terms of competition. If my day off is Sunday and I want to shop for my car then, I don't have to defend myself against some busybody; your authority and opinion stops at your front door.
Sunday is the Lord's Day!
Then shop for your next car another day of the week. You don't have the right to impose your religious customs on others; it's not your money or your car.
Besides, if the author is like most car buyers then he buys a car about every 4 years. Is it really plausible that over a period of 4 years he has no time to shop for a car between 9 am - 9pm during the week or between 9-5 on a Saturday?
It's none of your business; I don't have to account to you how I run my business or shop for anything.
Je is taking a few more journalistic liberties in this point. First of all, dealers do not have a say in wether a competitor opens nearby, this is simply untrue. The only restriction is that a "same make" dealership can't open within 9 miles.
I don't care how uniform or context-driven an anti-competitive restriction is; it's still an intrinsic violation of economic liberty.
Some of the other reasons were because many dealership employees, not just the "sleazy sale guys" but also cashiers, receptionists, detailers and billers) were working 7 days a week and wanted a day off. Another argument for the law was to reduce dealership expenses since there were very few deals done on Sundays but it still requires a full staff.
My, how generous you are, looking out to "protect" your competition from making a business "mistake"--under state-enforced rules. Fascists always argue that they are restricting individual liberties for the common good. Do you think hospital and computing service departments don't operate outside peak business hours? I suggest then you postpone your future heart attack until your surgeon has finished his round of golf!
Apparently, the author has never owned a computer. Every dealer is open 24/7/365 online. You can compare models, options, prices. You can search inventory. You can visit several third party consumer sights like edmunds, autotrader or Kelley blue book and shop around more than you ever could at a dealership. There is much more competition today than there was when dealers were open on Sunday, and the market is more consumer friendly than it has ever been.
Apparently you don't mind internal inconsistencies--you acknowledge you can do everything but buy a car or visit a dealer when you want to.
Not buying it. I work with the industry. Sundays are for browsing lots without being harassed. Since they work on commission, you could see people working 7 days a week to make a living. Not to mention - I'd be on call 7 days a week
And your point is? For decades, IT professionals like myself have carried pagers or cellphones, worked evening hours, weekends, holidays; so do medical professionals. Besides, there's no reason compensation models can't vary. My auto insurer doesn't work through agents, for instance. The issue isn't whether it's a "good" idea; it's whether you have a right to stop other people from making "mistakes". Presumably a dealer will factor costs in extending operations, perhaps expand hiring.
Funny nobody complains about some dealers being closed on Friday night and nearly all are closed on Saturday nights. This is much a do about nothing and bunch of BS brought up by Oberweis.
Speak for yourself. Take a simple example of dealer service hours, which usually coincide with my work hours and often must be scheduled days, even weeks in advance. In this day and age, dealerships are anachronisms, thinking the customers must schedule themselves at the dealer's convenience...
In what's supposedly a free society, the idea of having one's business forcibly closed one day a week is absurd. Decades ago when I lived in Texas, department stores were closed on Sundays, and it was obvious that was primarily protectionism to benefit an entrenched group of businesses. Fortunately for Texans, those "blue laws" have since been abolished. Now if we could just do the same in IL ...
Gee, I hope so. I remember when I lived immediately east of DFW, I couldn't buy beer locally. (Not that I drink that much, but Clinton was about to be elected, and I knew he would be a disaster...) In another county, I think supermarkets had to seal the beer/wine sections on Sundays until about noon.
fine...you want to give staff tine to be in church on Sunday, just make it that they can't open until noon. But, how will they close deals anyway? A lot of banks and finance companies won't be open to get approvals from...
This is absurd. For example, Catholics have long been allowed to go to a designated Saturday mass to fulfill their Sunday obligation, not to mention only about 40-50% of professed Christians attend church regularly. And in one case, I already had locked in an auto loan credit line with my bank; these are all issues that a dealer will resolve without your need to know. The question is whether you have the moral authority to prevent a car dealer from making a decision he is entitled to make in a legitimate capitalistic system.
(Tom Woods). Whenever I post an antiwar item, I lose likes on this page. People even stopped liking this page over my video against Iraq War lies earlier tonight. So these "limited government" people think you're being too darn cheeky when you expose the stupidest government propaganda of all.
I think where it gets touchy is stridency like when Ron Paul seems to suggest that 9/11 was blowback for our involvement with Saudi Arabia. I take a softer line, that there are unintended consequences to foreign meddling, however well-intended.
For my own lightly read personal blog, where I notice it most is especially if I post a pro-immigration commentary; my anemic readership may get cut in half. I've never quite understood how some conservatives profess to hate Big Government--except when it comes to INS....
Political Cartoon
On the movie that should have won Best Oscar...
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| Courtesy of Jerry Holbert and Townhall |
Shawn Mullins, "Lullaby"
