90 Miles From Tyranny

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Just In Case You Were Not Sure...

Minimum Wage Laws Kill Jobs

President Obama set the chattering classes abuzz after his unilateral announcement to raise the minimum wage. During his State of the Union address, he sang the praises for his action, saying that “It’s good for the economy; it’s good for America.”[1] Yet this conclusion doesn’t pass the economic smell test; just look at the data from Europe.

There are seven European Union (EU) countries with no minimum wage (Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, and Sweden). If we compare the levels of unemployment in these countries with EU countries that impose a minimum wage, the results are clear – a minimum wage leads to higher levels of unemployment. In the 21 countries with a minimum wage, the average country has an unemployment rate of 11.8%; whereas, the average unemployment rate in the seven nations without a minimum wage is about one third lower – at 7.9%.

Nobelist Milton Friedman said it best when he concluded that “The real tragedy of minimum wage laws is that they are supported by well-meaning groups who want to reduce poverty. But the people who are hurt most by high minimums are the most poverty stricken.”[2]

[1] Barack Obama, State of the Union Address, New York Times, January 28, 2014.

[2] Milton Friedman, The Minimum Wage Rate, Who Really Pays? An Interview With Milton Friedman and Yale Brozen, 26-27 (Free Society Association ed. 1966), quoted in Keith B. Leffler, “Minimum Wages, Welfare, and Wealth Transfers to the Poor,”Journal of Law and Economics 21, no. 2 (October 1978): 345–58.

The Opposite Of Sheep.

A Moment Of Serenity..

Almost Everything You Have Been Told About The Minimum Wage Is False

The Democrats, their union supporters, and liberals in general are making a hard and concerted push for an increase in the minimum wage. President Obama mentioned the subject prominently in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night and even promised to take executive action to increase the minimum wage federal contractors must pay their workers starting in 2015. While Republicans and small business owners are sure to resist this push, it is important that everyone on both sides debates the issue with the correct facts. Much of what you hear about the minimum wage is completely untrue.

First, people should acknowledge that this rather heated policy discussion is over a very small group of people. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics there are about 3.6 million workers at or below the minimum wage (you can be below legally under certain conditions). That is 2.5 percent of all workers and 1.5 percent of the population of potential workers. Within that small group, 31 percent are teenagers and 55 percent are 25 years old or younger. That leaves only about 1.1 percent of all workers over 25 and 0.8 percent of all Americans over 25 earning the minimum wage.
Within that tiny group, most of these workers are not poor and are not trying to support a family on only their earnings. In fact, according to a recent study, 63 percent of workers who earn less than $9.50 per hour (well over the minimum wage of $7.25) are the second or third earner in their family and 43 percent of these workers live in households that earn over $50,000 per year. Thus, minimum wage earners are not a uniformly poor and struggling group; many are teenagers from middle class families and many more are sharing the burden of providing for their families, not carrying the load all by themselves.

This group of workers is also shrinking. In 1980, 15 percent of hourly workers earned the minimum wage. Today that share is down to only 4.7 percent. Further, almost two-thirds of today’s minimum wage workers are in the service industry and nearly half

We protect banks and politicians with guns. How about we start protecting something important with guns like our children?

The Promise Of Fool-Proof Birth Control...

University Of Minnesota Students Want Crime Alerts To Avoid Using Gender Descriptions

Image Suggesting Only Men Commit Crimes

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – School officials at the University of Minnesota are working with male student and facility organizations after they wrote a letter to the school’s president about the gender descriptions given in crime alerts.

The letter, sent on Dec. 6, 2013, was issued by members of the Male American and Male Studies, Male Faculty and Staff Association, Male Graduate and Professional Student Association, Men’s Forum, Male Student Union and Huntley House for Manhood. It was directed to University President Eric Kaler and Pamela Wheelock, the vice president of University Services.

Students and staff mailed the letter more than a month after the campus went on lockdown because of an attempted robbery at Anderson Hall on Nov. 11, 2013. University of Minnesota Police wrongfully identified a student as the suspect. On Tuesday, school officials reported there have been 25 robberies in and around the University, an increase of 27 percent over the last few years.

The organizations wrote that while campus safety is crucial, the profiling can be devastating for male students.
“[We] unanimously agree that campus safety should be of the UMPD’s utmost importance; however, efforts to reduce crime should never be at the expense of our men, or any specific group of people likely to be targeted. In addition to causing men to feel unsafe and distrusted, gender profiling is proven to inflict negative psychological effects on its victims.”

Boy or Girl? Who knows, but non-discriminatory.

At Wednesday’s forum, Ian Taylor Jr., president of the Men’s Forum, said members of his organization feel threatened when the use of a gender description is given in the crime alerts.
“The repeated male, male male suspect,” Taylor said. “And what that does it really discomforts the mental and physical comfort for students on campus because they feel like suspicions begin to increase.”
The letter then gave 12 recommendations to UMPD Chief Gregory Hestness on how to improve their response.

The recommendations include requiring officers to attend diversity training, and attach a link on crime alerts to the U’s no-tolerance policy on gender profiling.
On Jan. 27, 2014, a formal letter was issued by Wheelock.
“I am concerned that members of your organizations and others in the University community believe there to be an increase in gender profiling,” Wheelock said. “As I stated earlier profiling will not be tolerated on campus. If there is a concern or complaint about University police practices, both Chief Hestness and I are committed to investigating the matter promptly and thoroughly.”

She did disagree with the organizations when it comes to excluding gender descriptions in the alerts.
“I firmly believe that a well-informed community is an asset to public safety…I believe that sharing more information in our Crime Alerts, not less, is most beneficial in terms of public safety, especially when that information is available.

The information we share can include a complete description of suspects, unique identifying characteristics such as an accent or a distinctive piece of clothing, or the description of vehicles involved.
We have reviewed what other Big Ten Universities and local colleges and universities include, and our practice of including the gender of a suspect when it is available from a victim’s description is consistent with their practices.”

In other news, University Of Minnesota students want shoe size to be off limits in crime investigations because of the negative stereotypes for men with small feet.

Original Article is HERE
(I may have left out a few details in the article, but discrimination is discrimination!)

In another related story, Blondes want hair color descriptions to be omitted in crime alerts because it makes blondes appear too wimpy and overly good-mannered with no "edge".