Quote of the Day
The nearest way to glory --a shortcut, as it were --
is to strive to be what you wish to be thought to be.
Socrates
Pro-Liberty Thought of the Day
Chart of the Day: The War on
 |
| Via Carpe Diem |
More on Counterproductive Minimum Wage Madness
Let's be clear: labor unions know about supply and demand. The only way they can maintain artificially high wages/compensation is to limit the supply of workers, which is why they oppose liberalized immigration, including temporary worker programs. One of the motivations of the first federal minimum wage law was to battle Southern textile mills employing lower-paid blacks (whom obviously could relocate to the Northeast to take advantage of all those plentiful union jobs...) The fact that the market-clearing wage was below that for the Northeast mills is highly relevant; the new federal law left fewer mill and other jobs for poor Southern blacks: with friends like these, who needs enemies?
BeingClassicallyLiberal at liberty.me had a post about 10 days back about a Danish McDonald's worker claiming she was making the equivalent of $21/hour. [For the unknowing reader, classical liberals are contrasted against the modern concept of a social liberal, whom argues for positive rights/liberties, i.e., things that the government or others must do on your behalf, e.g., education, pensions, etc. Classical liberals, like myself, focus on negative liberties, i.e., other parties cannot impede my unalienable rights of life, liberty, and property.] Iacono points out about $7 are price-level differences (the Danes have a higher cost of living, with restaurant prices roughly double that over American ones), and the rest enabled by a legally-protected labor cartel, which essentially deprives a surplus of competitive workers from gainful employment at the lower market-clearing rate. He then points out economic statistics showing how job formation in states without forced unionism policies has been more robust.
Another relevant news item was the Swiss' recent rejection at a better than 3-1 margin of an attempt to establish the equivalent of a $25/hour minimum wage for unskilled labor. The USA Today account noted some of the opposition came from workers whom worried that they would be laid off if the measure passed and, as in America, over 90% of workers make above wage floors.
Crony Big Dentistry in Arkansas
Facebook Corner
(Reason). Nearly 2,000 studies about GMOs all say the food is safe.
So if it is so safe, allow people to decide and label? People have a right to know what they are paying for.
Forcing a label change allows a special interest group to impose its crony will on the average consumer and is really an anti-competitive, fear-mongering weapon of dubious scientific merit. It makes no more sense to label a food as non-GMO than (say) a soft drink as non-alcoholic. GMO foods are often cheaper and more nutritious than "traditional" foods, and the implied stigmatization leaves poorer people worse off, with a lower standard of living, which I find morally unconscionable. We know in other contexts the slippery slope of stigmatization, e.g., the scarlet letter, wearing the Star of David, etc. If non-GMO elitists want to market their products, let them, but they need to meet the burden of scientific proof any claims that their products are "safer", etc.
(IPI). Illinois lawmakers voted down a proposal that would have added nearly $3 to the cost of a case of soft drinks.
No doubt the average Joe Six Pack/Case would feel the pinch....
(Reason). Should police be required to get a warrant before searching the cellphones of people they've placed under arrest? Rand Paul thinks so.
You left out the rest of the sentence that specifies that it is only against unreasonable searches and seizures. If a cell phone is the 21st century version of papers and effects then I assume you are saying it is not unreasonable since the police can search the papers and effects you have on you when you are arrested.
Only a fascist would look to generalize the State's access to personal data. Consider, as an example, a household whom moves its possessions across states, say, with a U-Haul. If the driver is ticketed for a minor traffic infraction, does that give law enforcement the right to go on a fishing expedition in the moving van? Of course not--at least not without a reasonable basis and a warrant. Cellphones are simply a means of transporting our effects; I might normally make a stock transaction in the privacy of my home, but the technology allows me to do that elsewhere, e.g., in my car. Papers are still papers, e.g., even if I apply for a clearance online, I still have to file physical signature papers.
(Stossel). WEB ONLY: Should government ban unhealthy food? No! More from Food Fight! tomorrow at 9PM. http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/3593075270001/should-government-ban-bad-food/#sp=show-clips
No. But you should not be able to buy crap food with foodstamps.
I find it astonishingly hypocritical that people who resent Big Nanny elsewhere, say, Michelle Obama's unappetizing lunches where politically correct, expensive food often ends up in dumpsters, have no problem playing the role of Food Stamp Nazi. Let us all acknowledge, as Bastiat did, the primacy of the consumer.'
(Reason). Here's why The New York Times Jill Abramson faces harsher sexist discrimination than professional Indian women.
What a load of pretentious politically correct crap! There are American women whom have strong leadership skills and are taken seriously on the basis of their intellectual contributions (Ayn Rand comes to mind). Whatever you may think of her political views, Sarah Palin has undeniably more charisma and influence in backing candidates than any comparable Dem politician, including Ms. President Zipper.
I think as long as American women continue to pursue their self-indulgent, intellectually vacuous radical victimization agenda rather than establishing more substantive gender-neutral, inclusive, positive leadership, they will alienate the underestimated fathers, husbands, sons, nephews, and brothers whom otherwise love and respect the women in their lives.
(Reason). Today President Barack Obama will outline why he's never made a false step in foreign policy and how his bold, radical new approach will build on all his past glories.
"Americans have learned it was harder to end a war than to start one". Says the man whom wants to send military advisers to the Syrian opposition, whom has intervened in Libya and has radically expanded undeclared war hostilities with drone bombings in Yemen, Pakistan and elsewhere.
(Cato Institute). "Should the government concern itself with the relationship between the 'creators' of things and the 'transporters' of them?"
The problem is the anticompetitive government granted monopolies that cable companies enjoy. If company x throttles, customers should be able to choose company y instead. However, in many places, choosing ISP's means moving.
Nonsense. We have multiple modes of Internet access--wire, cable, wireless, satellite, etc. Even when there is limited competition, you do not have to pay for poor service. Moreover, the idea that government should intrude in business decisions where it has no competence is fundamentally unacceptable.
More Creative Proposals
Political Cartoon
 |
| Courtesy of the original artist via Bastiat Institute |
Steve Perry, "Oh, Sherrie"
