RightWave

So, scuttlebutt is that the next Obama-led “economic stimulus package” to come out of Congress may well include another increase in the minimum wage.

Really?

As if the first one wasn’t bad enough.  Let’s think this one through, shall we?

So, the economy’s in a downturn.  Employers are already making labor cuts to save costs and keep businesses afloat (and costs down for the consumers).

The government’s response?  Make labor more expensive.

Well, duh.  Cuz, you know, that makes sense.

I’m no conspiracy theorist, but if you follow the path of results down from this plan, you end up with more government payouts being funded by fewer actual taxpayers (likely paying much higher percentages of their incomes to the government).  That’s not sustainable!  Is the goal to have every industry crawling to the government for a bailout?

Anyone else thing this is sounding awfully Randian in how it’s playing out?  I’m certainly no die-hard objectivist, but come on.  I know the lefty’s are bleeding hearts, but surely they haven’t lost all capacity to process logical outcomes?

Oh, well, maybe so.

All I can say, folks, is gird up.  Get ready for the fight.  Even though things look bleak, it’s important that our side not give up - that we keep fighting and making our case to the American people and make it in a way that’s personal and folks can relate to.  If we slink away and resign ourselves to the fact that everything’s going to hell in a handbasket, well, it will.  And no one will be there to pick up the pieces on the other side.

To quote the great Winston Churchill:

“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never–in nothing, great or small, large or petty–never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

Or, if you prefer:

When John McCain came on the screen on Saturday Night Live this weekend, I got nervous (be honest, didn’t you?). 

But, I was pleasantly surprised that he was (finally) off his global warming soapbox, at least for a little bit.  SNL would have been a natural place for him to peddle his bill of goods and play to the liberal-skewed staff and audience.  But, alas, Senator McCain talked about…EARMARKS!  Hurrah!  Hurrah!

Now, I realize this doesn’t mean that he won’t push forward on his cap and trade scheme (did someone say “$1.3 billion tax increase?”  Oh.)  But, at least he’s back to his core competency - stopping the runaway growth of government.  I’m happy to have him talk about that all the time and stop talking about all his other nonsense.

 Anyway, in case you missed it, here’s clip:

UPDATE - Kathryn Jean Lopez over at the Corner has a different clip posted from the SNL appearance.  And, her post reminds me of something my mother said to me the other day.  “Would Ronald Reagan have done something like this?” …meaning is this really becoming of a Presidential candidate?  Probably not, but who knows?  President Reagan was an actor after all, and pretty darn funny.  But, he had class.  Does anyone anymore? 

I’m working on trying to get an earmark for myself in the farm bill!

In the meantime, I commend to you Dr. Barry Poulson’s great column on an outrageous earmark for Nevada, Lake Wobegon West:

Tucked into the farm bill winding its way through Congress is a $175 million earmark to build a lake in the middle of the Nevada desert. Nevada should name this “’Lake Wobegon West’ and use ‘Surf Nevada’ to promote tourism. This lake could replace the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ in Alaska as the poster child for wasteful federal spending.

Read on…

Annie Patnaude over at the AFP Blog has a great post on the more than 200 jobs Gov. Terminator wants to add to the government payroll to act as the enforcers of his green policies.

 Can’t you just imagine their uniforms?

Disney films notwithstanding, take-from-the-rich schemes are usually a bad idea.  Yet, time and again politicians play that game to fund pet projects or, in many cases, just to find and tap the “next” revenue source.

In New York, the assembly is considering a “millionaires’ tax” to pay for mass transit in New York City.  The plan calls for anyone in the state making $1 million or more annually to pay a 3/4 of 1% surcharge for the next five years.  (a prize for anyone who can name a temporary tax that actually got phased out… Virginia’s BPOL Tax, anyone?)

Former MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch, who Governor Patterson has tapped to head a Blue Ribbon Commission to study the idea, had this to say:

“Any revenue – any hockable, borrowable revenue – is a good thing,” he said. “I take it any way the Legislature wants to give it to me.”

Revealing, ain’t it?