Embracing Control

"Entrepreneus from the Republican-leaning National Federation of Independent Businesses backed in a letter Friday the tax policies of Republican gubernatorial nominee Ron DeSantis."

Minimum Wage Motivation

The ripple effect of a minimum wage raised by government intervention rather than by market forces are easily predictable.

Therefore, reasoning for the government to continue to intervene creating market inefficiency must reside outside of promoting gainful employment and the betterment of our economy including business owners, workers and consumers.

Wonder what the motivation could possibly be?

A. Attempting to increase the voter base of the Democrats
B. A cog in the wheel of the road traveled to socialism
C. Control of a large faction of the citizenry
D. All of the above

I'll take D, with B most weighted. What say you?

The Coming Minimum-Wage Tsunami Will Wash Away Millions Of Minority Jobs @ Investors.com

The Hamburglar's Got Nothing On Progressives Thievery.

The government understands raising the minimum wage increases unemployment and limits choice for the consumer, ultimately decreasing opportunities for low skilled workers, in turn leading more and more of them to become dependent of entitlements presented by the federal government.  The progressive government leaders welcome additional idiots, which can be found protesting for the raising of the minimum wage, to become dependent on entitlements, which increases the power of the government over the people.

It should be noted those "working for you" politicians powerful enough to give gifts are powerful enough to take them away.  Speaking of government officials flexing their power, in this case through association with the workers unions, we find Hillary Clinton.

She tweeted out attacking GOP presidential candidate and Wisconsin governor Scott Walker informing him how "unions help keep working families strong."  Clinton's comment is demonstrably false, and while Ms. Clinton in no Ludwig von Mises, she fully understands this. The comment was directed at the low information voting class she actually has little to no regard for.

Scott Walker hammered her, and his response, while it bitch slapped Clinton, is very important for folks to understand his comments.  While the low information workers think the unions and supportive politicians are getting up everyday to help them, while they are giving small benefits to them, they are actually increasing their power over them, choking them with punitive constraints. 

The truly excellent website Zero Hedge had a long piece titled "when work is punished," which chronicled in great detail the stranglehold places on entitlement recipients, noting "how financially destructive it can be for low-paid workers to try and break free of their dependence on the public purse."

McDonald's has been the target of paid union protesters, demanding a raise to $15 per hour for minimum wage.  When you lack common skills and educational prowess, your position for bargaining is most weak. While many would say this is why the union is needed, rather than forcing through extortion and bullying (Hi Hillary), some responsibility should be placed on the individual for not taking advantage of the public school system, advancing their education and skills and making poor life choices they expect their employer to pay for.  

The minimum wage is not a wage a citizen should expect to raise their family on. Raises in wage levels should be performance based, not given to those lacking in education, responsibility and skills. When companies are forced through government intervention to raise wages, the result is a reduction in the work force, an economic principle the idiots in the picket line fail to comprehend.

Soon, very soon, the jobs of these low skilled workers will be replaced by robots. Do you think they have a life plan for that?

Hillary and her cohorts do. It involves establishing a permanent voting class of folks who are dependent on government handouts (entitlements). Under President Obama, very limited full time jobs have been created and wage growth is non-existent.

All part of the plan, a plan that not only fails to be recognized by the low skilled workers who are noting short of useful idiots, but eludes discovery by a large part of the sensible and educated folks who are working and are paying the entitlement tab.

The Hamburglar has got nothing on the progressives when it comes to thievery.

Imagine The Ripple Effects

My interests in economics and investing have always led me to follow with keen interest what the futurists have to say regarding coming technologies along with keeping tabs on scientific demographics. They tale very informative tales. Imagine the ripple effects.

With an eye always open for information in this arena, I came across the following article from Business Insider, where futurist Ray Kurzweil notes that artificial intelligence is only perhaps fifteen year ahead.  This, of course, would be a game changer.

And while you are absorbing what Kurzweil has to say, there were two accompanying stories on the outstanding website Business Insider which gave insight The first one I noted was the cheetah robot, described as an MIT project having been funded by the US Military.

Items cited in the piece which were utilized in the development were carbon fiber, Kevlar strips, sensors similar to those used in drones and video games. The ripple effect of the cheetah robot could enrich the lives of millions.  

Another story I came across dealt with immigration and demographic trends, a darling of economic futurist Harry S. Dent. The author in this piece studies data gathered to claim there are indeed two Americas, but no divided by party or in the same way that dolt John Edwards used to go around mouthing off about.  No, the findings from this data, which I find interesting but do not totally subscribe to, gives indication on how immigration impacts these two "America" in differing ways.  Understanding the demographic trends is vitally important for economic and social forecasting. 

Over on The Drudge Report, the following related stories were presented:

*We learn robots learn from watching YouTube.  Investors are rushing to embrace artificial intelligence.

*About your job; it may not exist in the future.  In a recent post, we noted how McDonald's was combating the government mandated rise in the minimum wage using these technologies.

*Investment robots, using computer based algorithm-led investing produced stellar returns, defeating most human money mangers. Computers do not get emotionally involved, or as they say, married, to their stock selections like you and I continue to do.

Are all these stories out today in the media appearing by happenstance?  Or perhaps, does somebody know something we don't?

One thing I have been thinking about noting our dreadful economy and how the American dream for many seems to be dying, I wonder what, beyond returning to sane government, can help us return to high levels of prosperity available for all.  Sure, a robust jobs market would be helpful, but you can forget about that until post Obama. 

There is a common occurrence which seems to usher in advances in the standard of living for the citizenry, and it is nothing government created.  It is a significant advance in technology.  The railroad, the two cycle engine, the assembly line, the airplane, the telephone and the personal computer.  Recently, nano-technology has changed the playing field for an exponential amount of players, and may soon play a huge role in the fight against cancer.

Singularity aside, we are on the brink of life changing technological advancement, and while some of it will be dangerous, the greater majority of these advancements will benefit all of mankind.  I hope I own the stock of the leading companies poised to gain from these advancements, but I, like you, will benefit greatly anyhow.

After all, although many seek its demise and transformation, the freedom of America is still the last great stand on earth, and the birthplace of ideas, for where there is a demand, there will be a supply.

Hiding Outside The Window

I read with interest the following piece from Brian Kofage and his Wounded American Warrior site.

While the author of this piece celebrates the reaction of the corporation against government regulatory intervention in the form of the raising of the minimum wage, as do I, in the macro, hiding outside the window it should be seen that this is the objective of the progressive left in the unemployed citizenry ultimately being beholden to the government.

These agents of socialism are three steps ahead of the actions taking place, and certainly the events reported in the news media.  To thwart them, it will take forward and critical thinking, opposing every movement they attempt, with comprehension of the Overton Window Theory.

Intellectual Squeeze

Excellent piece by Charles Hugh Smith via Zero Hedge, which presents clearly that as governments squeeze the top earners, who are also the employers, through taxation and regulation, it is in fact the middle class and lower income earners ( just the folks the rhetoric claims to attempting to help)  who pay the price.  Simply put, when you tax something, it produces less utility; or it cost more.

Charles Hugh Smith/oftwominds.com

It is simply to observe the lack of knowledge the low information crowd has in the realm of basic economic theory.  A classic example of this is the recent protests in front of fast food chains, demanding a higher hourly wage because the employer can supposedly afford it, rather than due to superior work performance by the employee.

Extra costs placed on corporations, or employers, are not just simply absorbed.  They place reductions on revenues, profits and limit choice, each of which negatively affects the consumer.  In fact, the pain is greater upon those who can least afford it; the low income/information crowd.

If the a large faction of the citizenry fails to recognize terrorist organizations of evil aiming the destruction of the US, we certainly cannot expect them to grasp basic economic principles.

Even at upscale and elite Harvard University, we have mind boggling levels of intellectual vacancies.

False Argument of Minimum Wage

Facts are indeed stubborn.  Given the economic facts we have seen continuously seen for decades regarding the minimum wage, it should be clear the argument is not about "working families"; but rather a political agenda. Once again, the minimum wage is not a wage designed to support "working families" and raising it reduces employment.

Over at Zero Hedge today, a chart showing retail trade offers a notable emerging difference between states that recently hiked the wage and those that held firm. Retail is most telling, as the indusrty has among the highest level of these type of workers.

Retail Trade/Chart via Zero Hedge

Again, raising the wage hurts the very people the propaganda tells us it will help.  In the macro, it reduces the efficiencies of firms, raising costs and restricting their abilities to add workers, which is an overall drag on economic production regionally and thus nationally.

Fast food workers recently went on strike to obtain higher wages, not due to their hard work on the job, but because of the perception that they deserve it and the corporate employer can afford it. In an interview with Business Insider economist, Paul Krugman thinks the overall costs of raising the wage would not cause as many issues as most think.  Krugman fails to recgonize the adminstration he advocates for has no right to direct the capital of private firms through social engineering. Economically, why cause any issues? Why not reduce encumbrances firms face limiting the obstacles faced in advancing growth? 

Unless, of course, you have other objectives.

Common sense would dictate that government intervention in this arena is designed to help the workers and help the economy grow, but that is a farce.  Government mandated wage levels, along with price controls, are impediments to growth.  Therefore, the goals are not economic, but politically driven, with the plans set forth in the Cloward and Piven Strategy the objectives.

Free market capitalism, with limited governmental restrictions on business, is without question the best path to prosperity.  Under the current administration, fees, taxes and government regualtions have increased while freedom and prosperity have decreased.

In the form of the old argument regarding the minimum wage, now you have an example of why.

Sorry, Charlie

It seems many good men lose their soul when they become a high powered politician.  Seemingly consumed with power, a sadly large contingency of these individuals relegate any previously subscribed to principles to the recycle bin.

In recent years, I cannot think of anyone who fits this description more than  Charlie Crist, former GOP Governor of Florida.  Crist, a former QB at Wake Forest and a fellow alumni of Florida State University, has made the journey from a product of the Reagan Revolution to a big government socialist standing in opposition to free market principles he once championed.

Crist won election as governor of Florida in 2007 campaigning as a Reagan Republican, which helped him form his political principles.  After serving one term, Crist decided to run as a republican for a Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Mel Martinez.  Crist, facing defeat in the primary to now Sen. Marco Rubio, became an independent and lost in the general election to Rubio, whom I supported.

Riding the wave of Barack Obama, Crist, without advancing a noted pivot point, discarded all of those once beloved principles of Ronald Reagan and became a Democrat.  Crist could often be seen on the campaign trail and at political events with Obama, who is a stated opponent of our founding principles.

One would hope, having been completely discredited on principles and values, Crist would retire to private life and cease in efforts to serve our state politically.  However, after joining one of the states largest defense attorney law firms, John Morgan's Morgan and Morgan, Crist has announced he will challenge sitting Governor Rick Scott in the upcoming gubernatorial race.

It is not hard to recognize that we have a large contingency of, as Rush Limbaugh would descibe, low information voters.  Americans are awash, drowning in, as Aldus Huxley projected, a sea of irrelevance.  Even still, you would think enough voters would see Crist for what he has priven himslef to be; a man without principles.

Therefore, Crist will play to the lowest denominator, advancing issues that are without merit, hoping to not only secure the vote of Obamabots and rock solid Progressive Democrats, but the low information crowd as well.

Evidence of this was vibrantly clear last week when Crist revealed his plan for a "First Day of Fairness" should he be elected.  Action on this day, which would seemingly bypass a heavily weighted GOP legislature, would be done by executive order.  Like his new mentor, Crist would have a pen and a phone.

As quoted in an article by Aaron Deslatte, Tallahassee Bureau Chief or The Orlando Sentinel, On his first day back as governor, Charlie Crist says he wants to raise the minimum wage and stop job discrimination against women and gays.

That rhetoric will no doubt get the attention of the low information crowd, and although demonstrably false, be ignored by those predisposed to vote D regardless of a platform based on falsities.

Florida does not discriminate against women and gays ( Unlike Crist, I would have utilized a different word of description rather than gays ).  It is illegal for public and private sector companies and organizations to do so.  In actual fact, in order to be politically correct, many companies welcome the opportunity to hire these folks. 

For any company or organization I have ever been involved in, it was a goal to hire the person who best represented the key competencies with the appropriate qualifications and skills to match the job description. 

Raising the minimum wage sounds wonderful to those retained on staff, for they will see an increase in pay.  However, the company which employs them will may have to reduce staff to compensate, forcing the employee to potentially increase their workload or hours worked.  Benefits may be reduced as well, given the extra payroll costs the company may incur.

In the marco, raising the minimum wage increases unemployment, as due to increased payroll costs, refrain from adding staff, which is already happening due to several economic influences, from uncertainty to destructive regulatory action such as Dodd-Frank and Obamacare.

We continue to hear that the minimum wage is a living wage; it is not.  An employee should not expect to earn enough to raise a family on minimum wage.  Rather than raise the wage to accommodate incorrect life decisions of these workers, including the lack of education and key competencies which prohibit a worker form securing a better job, the best way to help them is for a growing economy to create additional opportunities for advancement.

Crist knew this at one time, but the principles behind these economic principles, due to the ignorance of the electorate, do not represent the easiest path to elected office.  What works now is claiming to be the representative of the government who is able, ready and willing to help the people, or, steadily increase the entitlements bestowed upon the lower class workers.

As Thomas Jefferson said, “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”- “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”

Should we continue to elect politicians without principle, like Charlie Crist, we will bring about what Jefferson feared; a democracy which will cease to exist.

Orchestrated Lies Fuel Group Conflict

Early in the first term, the Obama administration engaged in an effort to bring under the authority of the executive branch The Census Bureau.  With most of American still immersed in their slobbering love affair with the anointed one, those tethered to common sense were puzzled at such an effort.

Most thought this effort, which was successful, would be utilized to somehow bolster election oriented results for Obama and his progressive lemmings.  Surely, the administration used The Census Bureau in every way possible to help the prospects of their followers.

Perhaps many did not foresee the arena in which The Census Bureau would play an integral role; unemployment numbers.  Breaking on Tuesday, we learn in a New York Post column by John Crudele that the administration has been alleged to have sought out, (demanded) the manipulation of these numbers just prior to the election.

At the time of their release, many spoke out claiming foul, but those who did, inclusive of famed CEO Jack Welch, were dismissed and discredited as not in command of the facts or extreme opponents of the president who present false accusations.

Welch, and others, were correct, which is why they were so vehemently attacked.

Let me be clear.  The unemployment number criterion has been altered and the number presented to the public today is not the same number presented to the public twenty years ago.  Please examine our previous post on unemployment, Shadow Stats and take a moment to read a recent editorial in Investors Business Daily for further clarification.

The media wont inform the public as Rick Santelli of CNBC further explains, lamenting the media for their complicit action in deceit.



There are 90 million people out of the work they desire, a simply staggering number. When job seekers exhaust a time period of search, they fall off the count which lowers the unemployment rate.

Furthermore, if the economy was improving and job opportunities were increasing, members now on the sideline would re-enter the job search and become part of the statistical pool once again.  With additional workers seeking new jobs, the result would be a slight increase in the unemployment rate.

Therefore, given the minuscule growth taking place in spite of the policies of the Obama administration, the claim Obama made signaling the sudden lowering of the unemployment rate was due to an improving economy, although it sounded good when you say it fast, was yet another falsity presented by our Commander in Mistrutths.

The administration wants to give lip service to working to create jobs, but the actions thrust those able to see in another nefarious direction, one bearing witness to the crashing of our economic system.

Only in the full embrace of socialism is pay dictated by sources with no skin the game, no investment in the process and with no legal right to interject.  Take for example the protests, set to be performed and orchestrated with the full support of those sharing goals with the administration, to have worker strikes at fast food restaurants where the organizers of the movement seek to demand a $15-an-hour wage for fast-food workers, which when boiled down is a transfer of wealth from "haves to have nots" Karl Marx dreamed about.

Although it is portrayed differently in the news media and by union leaders, the minimum wage is not what would be designated as a living wage; better stated, it is designed to accommodate temporary employment and not to produce an income for a head of household.

This is a basic thought process in economic theory, but an alarming number of people think it is good to raise the minimum wage. That action actually decreases employment and reduces prosperity

In the world of free market economics, pay is most often dictated by performance, and should your skills elevate your performance beyond the ability of the employer to adequately compensate, the employee advances to a higher level of employment. 

As the ends justify the means in true Saul Alinsky style, engaging in the misrepresentation of the truth to the public is of little risk to an administration manipulating a trivial society drowned in a sea of irrelevance. The misrepresentation on the aspects of employment in America is one tentacle of several actions designed to encourage class struggle and divisive altercations between the haves and nave nots, culminating in civil unrest ushering in a crashing of our economic system resulting in the fundamental transformation of The United States of America.

A Predictable Economic Event

Wall Street Journal senior economic writer Editorial Board member Steve Moore, whose face time seemed to explode since I visited with him last fall, discusses how the recent raise in the minimum wage has been a major contributor to the steep rise in the unemployment rate for our young workers. Take a listen:


Certainly, in what seemingly is the most significant financial downdraft in our lifetimes, the unemployment rate of all potential workers would rise to difficult levels. But the Congress, in yet another this sounds good when you say it fast move, raised the minimum wage which has had unintended consequences.

Think if you owned a pizza parlor and had five high schoolers working the dining room working for minimum wage, which for discussion is $6/hour. Your budget for dining room employees was $32 per hour. Increased traffic at the pizza parlor for eat in customers could increase your overall revenue, therefore allowing you hire an additional dining room worker. But for the time being, you have 2 cents per hour left in your budget per hour.

In the midst of a growing recession and a rising unemployment rate, Congress decides to raise the minimum wage to $7/hour. Suddenly, should the business owner retain the current staff and hold the hourly schedule, the business owner is now running a budgetary deficit with respect to payroll of 3 cents per hour. With dining room traffic decreasing due to the economic issues, this does not paint a pretty picture.

Additionally, your other staff members, who did not get a raise dictated by the government, are now in a less favorable position versus the hourly workers as the action seems to disregard the merit raises these staff members have achieved over their tenure, potentially leading to a decline in morale.

Since it would be unwise to operate this portion of your business at a deficit, you have some choices to make. How about rising prices? This would be foolish given the current environment. Reduce staff? This is the sensible thing to do, since the remaining workers, happy to be employed and with little alternative due to the economic conditions, will eagerly pick up the slack.

So, the business owner who operated within his budget spending $30 per hour originally, does not go to the government ordered $35 per hour, which exceeds his budget. The business owner drops the dining staff to 4 workers, which would fall within his budget at $28 per hour. Although the business owner has a hard working staff, service suffers with one less worker.

Additionally, the decrease in dining room traffic, coupled with the higher cost of hiring staff, causes the business owner to reduce the budgetary item for dining room workers, which leads the business to be operating with less employees in a contracting environment.

The higher minimum wage acts essentially as a tax on business operations during declining revenues. Recall, when you tax something, you get less of it. In this case, you get less service and most importantly, less jobs, which was the one thing Congress was trying to increase.

Boggles the mind!