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.
While many of our citizens remain unaware, a slow creep of regulatory instruments are eroding the lifeline of our economy; credit. If you are working hard to make ends meet and catch bits and pieces of newscasts from national and local news outlets in the mainstream media, you likely have no knowledge of how serious this issue is.
Rahm Emanuel, former Chief of Staff of President Obama said the administration should never let a crisis go to waste. They took advantage of the fear in the aftermath of the banking crisis to power grab much of your liberty when it comes to your finances, likely without your understanding of the "small print."
It has been three years since Lehman Brothers collapsed, and although many of the experts say Uncle Sams balance sheet is improved and the worst is behind us, I don't buy it. Neither does Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus, who joins Mary Thompson, David Faber and Joe Kernen for a frank discussion on CNBC's Sqauwk Box this morning. Take a listen:
The experts are almost always wrong. Discredited economist Paul Krugman and social economic pontificator Jared Bernstein coupled with comments such as "The housing crisis is contained" and "Pass the stimulus and unemployment will not exceed 8%" come to mind.
Bernie Marcus is not wrong, and listening to him will get you more saving, more doing.
With a new wave of foreclosures coming, property owners will be seeking opportunities for refinancing among banks, but the big banks are not able to extend the necessary credit due to strict regulations. These banks can borrow from the FED at zero and lend to the public at 5%, and a banker can have a fine career in banking doing that. But this lending is not taking place, and the alternative option of small banks is being crushed by Dodd-Frank, which quite simply is killing small banks. Regulations have wrecked the residential appraisal industry, spearheaded by The Architect of Ruin, Andrew Cuomo. These regualtions allow the government to pick winners and losers as well, which raises costs and handicaps the entrepreneur.
The markets have been up this week, and given all the horrendous economic news this week, such as an unexpected rise in jobless claims, inflation and sobering news on poverty, you may wonder why. Euro Tarp! You got it, the FED is essentially bailing out Europe, which can be equated to QE3, a new installment of quantitative easing on a global scale. A socialist European dream! Of Course, I am quite sure this will fix the problem with the PIGS? Well, it won't work!
The economy is in crisis, and we are far from out of the woods. Uncle Sam is a major event way from taking a substantial leg down, and the FED is short on tools to fight the problem due the poor crony capitalism decisions made under Obama and Bernanke. Could the crisis in Europe be such an event? If so, will global governance, all for our benefit no doubt, claim more of our liberty in creating a global banking system, which could lead to a dollar collapse?
The big banks continue to get bailed out while the small banks are being killed off by excessive regulation, crippling the credit line for consumers, who are on life support. Collusion between the administration and the FED is extremely alarming, contributing to the unnecessary extension of the economic crisis we are in.
All these goings on are the antithesis of what should be taking place, and strongly appear to be orchestrated. These are critically troubling times, and our country as we know it could hang in the balance. As I pray we make it to November 2012, we must hold our freedoms dear, protect our sovereignty and remember that free market capitalism is indeed the best path to prosperity.
Those of us Americans who live in the world of sanity are still attempting to put our arms the senseless tragedy of the assassination attempt on Representative Gabrielle Giffords, (D:AZ), which left her gravely wounded.
Representative Giffords was holding an event called "Congress on Your Corner" at a Safeway grocery store in northwest Tuscon when a deranged imbecile shot her in the head at point blank range. The gunman killed six others, including Federal Judge John Roll, and wounded another dozen or so.
Congresswoman Giffords was known as a moderate, blue dog Democrat who is well respected on both sides of the isle. I have seen a dozen or so interviews with Rep. Giffords, most notably during somewhat frequent appearances on FOX News "On The Record", hosted by Greta Van Susterin, and have always found her to be principled and respectful.
Although Giffords was not considered a controversial public servant, the Police have indicated Giffords was targeted. Giffords was a supporter of the Obama health care overhaul, but fought the administration hard on border security issues. At this point, it is unclear if any of these or other political positions played a role in the assassination attempt.
In a most unfortunate turn of events, although regrettably expected, many on the far left wing have turned to throwing blame at every conservative political opponent they can think of, from the Tea Party to Rush Limbaugh.
MSNBC's Keith Oblermann immediately played the political card and assessed blame:
Sarah Palin, in an effort to identify supporters of Obamacare who were up for election to be challenged, utilized a map of the United States which had targets placed on the geographical map of the locations of these members of Congress. This illustrative chart, retrospectively, was ill advised in the design. To be clear, no sane individual or group thought the bulls eye to signal the literal action of shooting someone, and everyone knows it.
Olbermann talks about Rep. Allen West speaking of not letting his opponent come out of his home. I recall, it was union thugs on the left that actually terrorized the family of a Bank of America executive, with a child at home, and prohibited them for leaving their home.
Glenn Beck regularly makes the case for non-violence on his radio and television programs.
NY Times Economist Paul Krugman, veering from his supposed area of expertise, has blamed the right as well, suggesting they create a climate of hate. As usual, Krugman is out of line and completely wrong.
For what it is worth, most reports identify the killer, reported to allegedly be Jared Loughner, to be on the left side of the political isle.
What happened in Arizona yesterday is an attack on America, our freedoms and our system of government. The fact that in our political discourse an elected official is not safe from physical harm is something that cannot be tolerated.
Perhaps most sickening regarding the tragedy in Arizona was that a beautiful 9 year old girl, Christina Green, was among those murdered. Recently elected to student council, young Christina had an interest in the political arena and was taken by a neighbor to meet Rep. Giffords. The Green family is like many families in America, with Christina and her mother being supporters of President Obama and her father on the opposite side. Christina, ironically born on September 11, 2001, hoped to attend Penn State.
Perhaps, from both sides of the isle, we can think of Christina as we seek to conduct our political differences with civil discourse and respect. Contrary to media reports, every single Tea Party event I attended did just that. It is for our children, like Christina, that we are so passionate about stopping the transformation of America.
My thoughts and prayers are with all the victims of the unspeakable tragedy. After proper travel through our legal system, I demand the perpetrator be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I hope he is executed, not after 20 years of appeals, but six weeks from Tuesday.
Obamacare, much like the conditions on last weeks disabled cruise ship so accurately pointed out by Investors Business Daily's Michael Ramirez, is starting to really stink. Recall, we had to pass the bill to find out what is in the bill, and the more we uncover, the more we don't not like.
Almost immediately, many corporations, some of whom helped craft the legislation, quickly realized the burden the legislation would have and sounded a loud alarm. McDonalds led the way.
Of course, many of us recognized this from the get go, including Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who spoke yesterday on the subject. The lovely Shannon Bream of FOX News has the story:
As noted by Bachmann, certainly among my favorite currently elected officials, some 111 corporations and unions have been granted a waiver in terms of adhering to the biting regulatory grip of the legislation. Obviously, once again, the government under this administration is picking winners and losers, which is in violation of free market principles. I run a handful of small businesses, but, seriously Dude, where is my waiver ?
While rising costs and the prospect of a restriction on choice seem apparent, the problem is much worse than recognized by the average American.
Today, Donald Berwick, recently appointed by President Obama to be the nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, finally was formally introduced to Congress. Be advised, much like the NEA is not about the advancement of public education, the new healthcare plan is not about improved healthcare nor cost containment, but rather the redistribution of wealth. Don't buy it? Take a listen:
Berwick thinks government can more efficiently run health care than the private sector. No doubt, Berwick missed Reagan's proclamation that government is not the solution to the problem, government is the problem.
Additionally, the new heatlthcare bill contains measures allowing for death panels. I know you remember the intellectually hampered Sarah Palin getting lambasted by the mainstream media for having the gal to incite the public by claiming the formation and implementation of death panels existed within the bill. Golly, Palin is just so lacking in "intellectual curiosity".
I know facts are hard to come by when you live your life on the left side of the street, but perhaps if you favorite Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman describes that death panels are in fact part of Obamacare, and he did just that this weekend, you may recognize Palin posting on Facebook beat the New York Times to the story once again. Investors Business Daily slams Krugman on the nations top editorial page
Thankfully, due to the results of the recent election, which decimated the Democrats, the brakes will be slammed on the accelerated onslaught of crony capitalism under President Obama's transformation of America.
The country is in great peril due to the insane policies of this administration, and the sooner we put an abrupt halt to the implementation of said policies, the better.
Every weekday morning while wrestling my bowl of cinnamon flavored oatmeal, I am monitoring the financial markets with the gang on CNBC's Squawk Box, sick twisted freak that I am. There have been some historic moments on Squawk, most notably with Rick Santelli's shout heard round the world , and the discussion today was along those same lines as America has a choice to make. Take a listen:
Although Joe Kernen and Rick Santelli have fun slapping Steve Liesman around, the choice America has economically is between the Keynesian economic theory regrading the issue of governmental stimulus in the marketplace (Obama) versus the supply side theories of very limited governmental intervention by lowering costs of production and helping to lift the entrepreneurial spirit of free market capitalism, which then trickles down benefiting everyone (Reagan).
New York Times economist Paul Krugman is in the forefront of those promoting the Keynesian theories, and recently wrote that due to a failure to spend enough, the United States is preparing to enter a third depression. Investors Business Daily takes him to task on that thought.
One of my readers alerted me to a piece blaming George W. Bush for all the deficits we are now experiencing. While the Bush administration did expand the deficit, due primarily to events in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, it is the current policies of governmental interference, in the form of increased regulation and taxation, the assault on small businesses across the fruited plain and the uncertainty of the playing field going forward that has hindered investment, placed meaningful growth in a stranglehold and exponentially bloated the federal deficit. In fact, the governmental stimulus in the public sector further crowds out private investment, where most of the jobs are created.
Explaining the poor decisions the current administration is making is Robert Mundell and Art Laffer, who joined CNBC's Larry Kudlow recently for a frank discussion.
The Obama administration has engaged in a level of governmental stimulus never before seen, and our economy has little if anything to show for it. Foreign countries that engage in this type of socialist activities have run out of other peoples money, causing the civil unrest we have witnessed. Uncle Sam will be dealing with these same issues if we don't change course quickly.
There are a few politicians emerging that understand the severity of the issue, including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) and Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan (R). For our economy to improve, outside of a sweeping change in November, the government should do just as Rick Santelli suggested, and that is to stop spending immediately.
BAHL is a REALTOR, Real Estate Investor and Residential Real Estate Appraiser in Orlando. He holds a BS degree in Economics from Florida State University.
