Why Republicans Should Consider Punting on the Minimum Wage

It's simple. Low information voters are too ill-informed to understand the outstanding, rational and logical arguments against raising the minimum wage. You can't tell these people that when you increase the price of labor, people buy less of it. They look at you like you are crazy.  Their understanding of economics is abysmal. When you tell them businesses will increase prices, they think you are insane.  These people, who have obviously never had to make payroll, say things like "if a business can't afford to pay $9 per hour, it shouldn't be in business."  I guess the guy mowing lawns should just shut down and fire his 5 employees. 

Or they will say that increasing the minimum wage will make the person that earns the minimum wage more productive.  Really? How?  They are utterly clueless. When you ask them, "why not raise it to $25 or $50 or $100 per hour," they look confused.  I mean, if $9 is good, $50 must be better, right?  These people will never get it. They lack intelligence, which is why they are in the minimum wage zone to begin with.

Republicans should just punt on the issue and let these idiots reap the consequences of their actions. It's a losing issue. It allows the Democrats and their fellow travelers in the media to paint Republicans as non-caring, evil, etc. It allows them to do it on a periodic basis.  By increasing the minimum wage and indexing it to the low level of inflation that social security payments are increased, the issue is taken off the table for good. Let the Democrats own the higher unemployment that comes from it in the short term, and in the long term, the issue goes away. 

Alternatively, the Republicans might want to just go all-in and propose a $20 per hour minimum wage.  Then, let the Democrats explain why that would be a bad idea. Put them on the ropes and make them explain the logical limits of their proposal.  If it passes, blame Obama and the Democrats when unemployment goes through the roof.  It will be painful in the short term, but prices will ultimately increase across the board and equilibrium will be reached once again.  As Jesus said, you will always have the poor.

I'm no Republican strategist, but what they are doing isn't working. Republicans are, as usual, battling the media on this issue and it just isn't worth it. There are bigger fish to fry. 

What is the difference between a bailout and a rescue?

Apparently, Money Magazine thinks it depends on your political party.  On page 104 of its April 2012 issue (yes, some of us still read paper magazines on occasion), it has a headline entitled "The recession boosted spending" in reference to the federal budget.  It talks about increased government spending and closes with this jewel: "There was also the bank bailout (begun under President Bush) and the auto rescue (mostly on Obama's watch)." (emphasis added). 

This is a prime example of how slight changes in words demonstrate the bias in the media.  If a Republican did it, it is a bailout for big money and cronies.  If a Democrat did it, it is a "rescue."  Cronies do bailouts; heroes do rescues.  Crooked politicians bailout their buddies, but people of strong will and great courage do rescues.   By simply using a word with pejorative overtones when dealing with a Republican while using a word with positive overtones in dealing with a Democrat, the media shows its true colors.  This is very subtle, but a very real demonstration of media bias in favor of Democrats in general and Barack Obama in particular.  They coronated this empty suit once before.  Let's not let them get away with it this time.

What liberal media?

If you don't believe the media has a pro-Obama agenda, take a look at these headlines at The Right Sphere.

More on Gas Prices

The Weekly Standard gets in on the game, showing how gas prices are now up 67% since Obama took office. They include a helpful graph from the Heritage Foundation which compares this to the same period in the Bush administration. Of course, my readers have been aware of this issue for quite some time.

The Vindication of George W. Bush

Well, I predict this won't be the first time that President Bush is vindicated. The WikiLeaks contain plenty of information about the actual, confirmed presence of WMD's in Iraq. Of course, anyone who was paying attention already knew this.

President Bush was wrong on the bailouts and wrong on a lot of big government spending initiatives. But on Iraq and terrorism, I believe he will be largely vindicated and that vindication has already started. King Barry is already following many of his policies, policies which The Chosen One campaigned against in 2008. The WikiLeaks confirmation of wmd's in Iraq is just a taste of what is to come on this. Of course, the media will do all it can to bury this one.

UPDATE: A commenter at Instapundit refers to King Barry as Barack W. Bush and explains why.

Sometimes the Scum Rises to the Top

Usually, the "cream rises to the top." It looks like that in Carter County, the scum has risen to the top this time, with disgraced former Republican Kent Williams being re-elected to the Tennessee House. WJHL just reported that Williams said that he didn't think he would be chosen again as Speaker of the House. Well.....duh.

Jerome Cochran reportedly stated that he had no other political aspirations. Well, that's probably a good thing. Mr. Cochran is a very nice, upstanding guy. I have a lot of respect for him, but I think he has a difficult time connecting with the voters in Carter County. Of course, Mr. Cochran also had to run against the constant pro-Williams bias of the Elizabethton Star and the Johnson City [de]Press[ed]. I seldom read the dePressed, because I refuse to give my money to such a leftist newspaper. I read the Star on occasion, and it seems that they were relentless in their positive exposure for Williams and in their negative exposure for Cochran. I have no idea if the Star endorsed a candidate, but they didn't need to. Their support for Williams was obvious from the content of its stories.

Carter County needs a strong conservative to step forward to defeat Kent Williams in the next election. I predict that the need for that will become more apparent during this term for Williams. His day in the sun is over. He will be relegated to nothingness in Nashville as he is a man without a party. Carter County will pay the price for sending him back to Nashville, as I predict he will be completely ineffectual.

The Shifting CBS News House Projection

At 10:00 or so, Katie Couric stated that CBS projected that Republicans would ultimately gain 44 seats in the house. By 10:30, she stated that CBS projects that Republicans would ultimately win at least 50 seats. Wonder where the projections will end up?

PC Lefties Eat One of Their Own

NPR has fired Juan Williams for comments made about Muslims on FoxNews. I'm not fan of Juan Williams, but this is ridiculous. This is what he said to Bill O'Reilly:

"Look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

How dare Juan Williams breach the PC protocol and say what probably 90% of honest Americans think. I would love to see a poll on how many people agree with Mr. Williams.

The Skewering of Jon Stewart

Glen Reynolds calls him a rube, and rightfully so. [And yes, I tag Stewart with the media, since so many dumb masses consider his reports to be news instead of entertainment. Incidentally, those are many of the same people who cannot differentiate between news and opinion on Fox.]