StoryTribe Comics
July 30, 2008
Comics
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Is ‘Liberal’ the New ‘Conservative’? Schwarzenegger Seems to Think So
As Governor of California, it may seem like an obvious step to toe in with some liberal ideas. California Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (of Terminator and Kindergarten Cop fame) signed on late last week to a push from state lawmakers for an outright ban of “trans-fat” foods in restaurants statewide.
This has seriously irked the senses of conservatives who think the government ought to mind its own business when it comes to the choices consumers make, but it is being lauded by overzealous health nuts who feel their own popular opinion ought to be inflicted on others.
So, government entities can dictate when and where you can smoke, what you can eat, when and where you can posess a lawfully registered firearm, how much you can flush, should pass laws to protect men who want to dress like women at work (and vice versa), should encourage homosexuality in the military, and discriminate on the basis of race so long as it benefits those who claim to be in the “minority.”
As Michelle Malkin puts it, “Is this the kind of ‘rebranding’ of the Republican Party Schwarzenegger wants the national GOP to adopt?”
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PowWow
July 29, 2008
PowWow
After resting up after a much-needed couple of days off, here are some links to the glorious media reports we failed to cover over the weekend (insert your own sarcastic skepticism as needed):
- AP laments good news on the economy
- ABCNews takes up bong hits for Jesus
- Iowan single-handedly shuts down strip-clubs across Iowa (maybe)
- Rhode Island 24-year-old kills parents with hoe (not the Iowan kind)
- Tennessee liberals piss off the wrong redneck
- Moon-walking astronaut declares “we have been visited” by UFO’s
- Chicago blacks protest educational inequality by… skipping school?
- FCC approves monopolization of satellite radio industry
- Least popular New Zealand name for a child: ‘Number 16 Bus Shelter’
- Dog bites boy. Boy bites back.
- #&@%!#@ Mower!!!
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Finally Media Reports Success from No Child Left Behind
July 25, 2008
Lifestyle
While critics across the country, from school administrators to presidential hopeful Barack Hussein Obama, complain that President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind initiative has been an epic blunder of ineffective and inefficient governmental policy, Libby Quaid of the Associated Press reported Thursday a success of epic proportion. As she puts it, “Sixteen years after Barbie dolls declared, ‘Math class is tough!’ girls are proving that when it comes to math they are just as tough as boys.”
Janet Hyde, Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin, headed the study in which the group of five female researchers have stumbled upon an elusive outcome - a study that might suggest girls are as good at math as boys. According to Janet, “Girls have now achieved gender parity in performance on standardized math tests.”
Janet points to research performed by her and four other female researchers, which, according to Libby’s article, was conducted on incomplete statistical information from ten states who submitted just enough reviewable information about a 2002 annual math test required by No Child Left Behind.
In the face of conflicting complete national statistics such as those from ACT and SAT, which show boys average 533 in math, and girls 499, Libby says that Janet dispels these facts by assuming that “more girls lower on the achievement scale take [the SAT]” than boys, which skews the statistics.
The five ladies contributing to the Gender Similarities Characterize Math Performance study are Janet Hyde, Sara Lindberg, Marcia Linn, Amy Ellis, and Caroline Williams.
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Minimum Wage Hike to Stall Economy… Some More
July 24, 2008
Business
When Democrats pushed to pass an increase in the federal minimum wage in 2007, the media was all aglow at the boon it would be for the American economy, from the ground floor up. Today, the media is reporting the downside as most most conservatives predicted they would. However, they are limiting the scope of their report to the impact on small business, saying things like, “The bad news: Higher gas and food prices are swallowing it up, and some small businesses will pass the cost of the wage hike to consumers.”
Sure, the widest base of people who will directly see the effects of a minimum wage increase are the people making and paying minimum wage. However, these reporters who apparently passed Economics 101 by a hair don’t even begin to touch on the real effects a minimum wage rate hike has on the American economy.
The media doesn’t report on the impact the “minimum” wage has on the value of the U.S. dollar. As economists across the globe are worrying about the faltering dollar in schemes of oil prices and other global economies, here in the U.S. we just increased the base rate of the dollar, which causes the base value of the dollar to decrease by 12%. Interestingly, one of the figures quoted in today’s reference article is this: “David Heath, owner of Tiki Tan in College Station, Texas, said the increase will force him to raise prices for his monthly tanning services by about 12 percent.” Heath pays his employees just above minimum wage.
Naturally, small businesses with scraping profit margins are going to pass the cost to their customers. Yet, the media doesn’t report on the effects on large corporations - such as those who have unions. Many unions across the country base their effective members’ salaries on the minimum wage - as the minimum wage increases, so does the pay to these workers. Are “big” businesses immune from the minimum wage cutting into profit margins? Of course not. Do these businesses pass on the cost of the increase to consumers? Of course they do. Just because the numbers are bigger, doesn’t mean the profit margins are any greater.
Will the increased minimum wage have any effect on the mortgage crisis in the U.S.? This isn’t likely, since most people working for minimum wage can’t afford the cost of a traditional mortgage anyway.
Will increasing the minimum wage have any effect on the rising cost of health care? Again, unlikely, since most employees making minimum wage are likely not to have health insurance in the first place. Based on a 40-hour work week, the extra $112 dollars (about $95 after taxes) earned each month will have little impact on their ability to pay for health-care such as emergency services or maternity services, which can easily add up to more than $10,000 for an average visit.
Will an increased minimum wage offset the cost of higher fuel prices? Consider that the 12% increase in the federal minimum wage is compared with the 89% increase in the average price of fuel in the U.S. over the last 18 months.
Securities speculators? Give me a break.
How about food? Nope. Corn is up nearly 60%, wheat is up nearly 35%, and sugar is up 75%… since 2004.
So, in the face of this already slow economy, what’s the best thing we can do? Make businesses all across the country start clamping down on their profit margins some more, increasing the prices of goods and services some more, and - best of all - boost the overall amount of tax revenue being fed into the federal government while disproportionately increasing the overall citizen burden on tax dollars. Medicare? Medicaid?
Thanks a lot, Democrats.
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Did You Know?
One third of Americans identify themselves as 'Independent' when it comes to political affiliation. Don't let the Red and Blue fool you. It's okay to be Independent!
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