Last week, I promised I would talk about (read: make fun of) economists in the hopes of getting a rise out of a book-bound non-realist.

This morning’s paper brought the easiest target to me.

There is an article (I don’t know how long the link will be good; azcentral seems to not like being linked) that talks about the length a particular zinc-supply company has gone to ensure a couple of things: that the penny is still used, and that the mint continues to use zinc as the core for the pennies.

The company, Jarden Zinc Products, has paid lobbyists to kill bills relevant to their industry – one, in 2006, that would have made the penny extinct (legislation that would have rounded transactions to the nearest nickel) and now they are lobbying against the ability of the United States Mint itself to decide what materials to use in the minting of coins, in order to best keep costs down (it currently costs 1.7 cents to make a brand new penny, and nearly 10 cents to make a nickel). This would, in effect, cause Jarden to lose their number one customer. According to the article, Jarden has been paid more than $170 million dollars between 2004 and 2006 under a contract with the United States Mint. Also according to the article, the change in legislation would save the American taxpayer $100 million annually.

This is, in my opinion, a clear case of the greater good being usurped for a special interest. Going back to a pure supply-an-demand model, a single zinc supplier is being kept alive (or at least highly profitable) by law, rather than by market forces. If the legislation passes, and the Mint is allowed to choose the materials, then the free market would drive the costs, not an ironclad contract.

This is an example of Common Sense being allowed to drive a need instead of a network of backroom deals. This is, in the end, how I would urge the entire government to do business – by best price, not best friends.

In other news, papers have been filed for the creation of casework by cary, inc., a custom-woodworks firm. Finally, a boss I can’t disagree with and that I can have a reasoned discussion with when he makes a boneheaded mistake.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, support Warriors for Innocence, and write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008!

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Should we raise the minimum wage?

Legislation has been passed here in the state of Arizona to raise the state minimum wage.

Federally, they are considering the same thing.

I am not in favor of raising the minimum wage. People say that by raising the minimum wage, we are giving a “raise” to people who are working for minimum wage. I say we are enabling the people who are working for minimum wage to stay working for minimum wage.

Minimum wage, or entry level, positions are just that – entry level. If you are still working for minimum wage six months after you have started a job, then something needs to change. Your job, your employer, your drive – something.

Liberals are all for raising the minimum wage – it allows their main allies and bestest of friends, the illegal immigrants (invaders) to keep a low profile. If the minimum wage is not raised, and border laws are enforced, then perhaps the youth of the United States would be empowered to get that entry level position that an illegal has been camping in for the last five years. A combination of no increase and enforcement would drive the illegal invaders back where they came from, opening up a whole need for fresh recruits to fill the positions that “No American will do.” This vacuum of people to fill these positions would (gasp!) force some liberals to actually work hard labor for the first time in their lives, since they would no longer be needed to extol the virtues of having illegals do these jobs, and besides, how many doom-saying economists does this country need, anyway?

Once a young person of United States citizenry is hired at a minimum wage job, then reality kicks in rather quickly and they develop the motivation needed to further their station in life – which is, after all, the basis for fulfilling the American Dream.

Next week – I’ll chat about economics again – see if I can get another rise out of some book-bound economist who has never held a real job in their life.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, support Warriors for Innocence, and write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008!

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Today in History:

1954 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower effectively placed the words “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.

The continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the National Ensign, making today Flag Day. (settle down, rosie, I said “flag”…)

Today could also end up being the day Bush twists the arms of the final GOP senators to force his twisted amnesty bill through. GOP senators who voted against cloture, and for the economy of the United States, have been told that they will need to vote for cloture if they want to be “relevant” in the final drafting of this bill.

Couple of points:
1) If the measure is defeated, there will be no need to draw up a final draft.
2) If the measure passes, you won’t be relevant at all after the following election.
3) If this country is sold up the river, We the People have no one to blame but ourselves. Call your GOP senators today, folks. Convince them that they need to keep this country sovereign, and granting amnesty to 12-20 million lawbreakers is not the path to follow. Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121. Go. Call. Take back this country from the power-hungry elitists who have their hand in your pocket!

In other areas:
The “Big Three” automakers are trying to back down the union. Good luck – that tiger was uncaged the first time you let THEM dictate the pay rates.

I have a little story for you. Once upon a time, a man named Fred discovered that he could build a pretty mean widget. He sold his widgets, and made a decent profit. He made more widgets, and sold more widgets, making more decent profit. One day, Fred figured that if he could train someone to make a widget as well as he could, then his output could double, allowing him to make more money. Fred trained a helper.

Life was good. Fred trained more helpers, and expanded his business to meet the growing demand for his widgets. Pretty soon, he had a formidable workforce. Fred took care of his employees, and made sure to increase the companies goodwill bottom line by spreading the wealth that the entire workforce was generating.

One day, Tom, a representative of the Brotherhood of Widgetmakers, visited Fred’s widget factory. Tom talked to the widget makers in Fred’s factory, and told them of the wondrous benefits of belonging to the union. Tom convinced the workers in Fred’s factory to vote for joining the union, making Fred’s widget factory a union shop.

The union, after gaining the upper hand, started making demands of Fred. First, the union demanded more pay for the widget makers. Fred was already paying his widget makers pretty good money, but to keep the peace he agreed to an increase in pay. In order to make up the difference, Fred raised the price of the widgets he was making. Fred’s customers weren’t real happy about the increase, but since Fred was the closest supplier of quality widgets, they went along with the price increase. Since the customers needed to increase the cost of their goods to accommodate the more expensive widget, the cost of living in the area rose.

The union, seeing the cost of living in the area go up, demanded another raise for the workers – this one to compensate for the rise in the cost of living. Fred agreed, and raised the price of the widgets once again.

This went on for a while, each time the increase in wages was accompanied by an increase in the cost of the widgets, which caused other goods to increase in price, which increased the cost of living – which caused the union to negotiate another COL raise.

Finally, Fred’s customers could not absorb the increased cost anymore, and stopped buying Fred’s widgets. They started buying widgets from overseas, where the quality was almost as good and the cost was much lower. Fred, having no customers left, closed his shop. The unemployment rate in his area went through the roof, since Fred’s factory was the only one around that had provided steady employment. The cost of living went way down. The union, no longer having any workers to band together, left town.

The moral of the story is: Let the free market work. If Fred hadn’t been paying a decent wage, he wouldn’t have been able to keep his workers. If Fred had charged too much for his widgets, he would have lost his factory. Oh, wait – that happened anyway. If the union had kept it’s nose out of Fred’s factory, everyone would still have their jobs.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, support Warriors for Innocence, and write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008!

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199 pounds.

I haven’t been this light since 1996.

Only 24 pounds to go to reach my “fighting” weight – actually, just the weight I was in the Corps, when I was in shape.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, and write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008!

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It rained today in the Valley of the Sun. There was even some hail mixed in, and if I had still lived back east I would have been heading for the storm shelter. Since everything in this subdivision is built on slabs, there was only one thing to do: enjoy the beautiful fury of a desert thunderstorm.

Then, I had to drive places.

Note to anyone wishing to drive here in the rain: The roads are SLICK due to a build up of oil and dust, since it doesn’t rain often enough to keep them clean. You will need to allow MORE distance between vehicles (that’s especially for you, Mr. “I have a four wheel drive jacked up to the sky and I can tailgate you with my foglights on”). You will also need to reduce your speed a bit. Yes, I know these two items are the EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU WERE OBVIOUSLY TAUGHT but, like any behavior, the new rules can be learned.

Speaking of foglights – why do you have them on? There hasn’t been fog in the Phoenix Metro area since – well, since never, I suppose, because there is not enough moisture in the air (even when it’s raining!) and enough of a temperature differential between the air and the ground to suspend droplets. There really needs to be a law.

I drove across the valley twice, and up and down once, and saw more than twenty certifiable instance of obliviots behind the wheel. My personal favorite was the teenybopper girl behind the wheel of an Altima on my way home this evening from church. She was on the phone, her head barely cleared the steering wheel, the rain was coming down pretty hard, and she decided that she needed to turn into the gas station. Not bad, except she was in the middle lane, I was in the left lane, and the gas station was to the left. No turn signal, no mirror check, no shoulder glance – nothing. Thank God for protecting me, and giving me the reflexes and awareness of my surroundings. I hit the brakes, was able to swerve right, and she missed my right front fender by about two inches. She didn’t miss my horn, though. I’m pretty sure she heard that – she looked at me, all disgusted, like I was in her way. Well, obviously!

Two guesses on the nationality of the driver, and one guess as to the nation the car was registered in. (Hint: not the US of A. Think further south.)

No wonder Phoenix has some of the highest insurance rates in the nation.

Good news – I’ve been assigned a route, and I start with Monday’s deliveries. I’m really looking forward to being a productive member of society. Again. I don’t see how these leeches can stand not doing anything all day. I was busy with my job search, and I still felt like I wasn’t accomplishing anything. (Full disclosure: I did not collect any benefits while out of work. We were able to provide, with God’s Grace, and not siphon off funds needed for other purposes.)

At any rate, it looks like I’ll be shifting my time frame this weekend. This should be fun.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, and write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008!

Tag: Write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008