Whether you love or hate Michael Moore, he’s not going away, and he’s not going to shut up (which is what I particularly love about him).
In this op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times, Moore wants to offer an olive branch to conservative Republicans to reassure them that everything is going to be OK.
This article appears in Nov 16-22, 2006.
I doubt anything Michael Moore says will mollify the conservatives.
Karyn, PLEASE tell me you’re not a tree-hugging, latte sippin, man-kissing-man supporter of Michael Moore and his fellow democrats?
You can’t be that easily impressed by his ‘celebrity’.
Are you part of the SAME group that’s claiming that Saddam didn’t get a fair trial too? http://www.itv.com/news/index_f45092a2d58cd52d844069e98e6dab21.html
Sure…EVERYBODY wants to live in a ‘perfect world’. Sure, “RAISE the minimum wage”, you say? “If you give people this additional money in their paychecks, they’ll just put it back into the economy…”. YET ANOTHER STUPID idea by the democrats!
My views on the minimum wage? Well, I’m a believer in a “FREE MARKET”, which means i.e. that the market will pay, whatever they feel the item/services are worth! Unfortunately, for the democrats (most of them), they for some reason think that ALL businessmen are making loads of money and should be able to afford to pay their mminimum wage employees a mandatory higher rate. STUPID! LAZY! THOUGHTLESS DEMS! Bottom Line? IF SOMEONE IS NOT MAKING WHAT THEY’RE WORTH, THEN SPEND THE EFFORT TO INCREASE YOUR OWN DAMN VALUE!! STOP WHINING ABOUT WHAT YOU NEED AND MAKE IT HAPPEN FOR YOUR SELF! STOP LOOKING FOR FREAKIN FREEBIE HANDOUTS!
Now, to clarify, I do understand that not ALL of the Democrats support the Dem vision completely. However, as a ‘party’, the entire Dem party is painted with a broad brush, which unfortunately STILL scares the hell out of me.
STOP THE HANDOUTS! STOP THE IGNORANCE! GROW UP AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR OWN FREAKIN SELF!
If you’re a supporter of this Michael Moore vision, your an absolute moron.
hugs and kisses
Bud Thomas
Oh….and I’m sure that some IDIOT will catch the fact that I mispelled “YOUR” instead of “YOU’RE”. Control your ADHD and focus on the damn point!
Kiss this!
Michael Moore is a fat windbag. Don’t support him, support a person with real honor and accomplishments, and not self-serving AT ALL!
Thanks for the memories Kin George!
100,000+ DEAD IRAQIS (They’re human too)
2,800+ DEAD AMERICANS.
NO W.M.D. FOUND, EVER!
NUCLEAR IRAN, NUCLEAR N. KOREA
IGNORING CONTIUNUED GENOCIDE IN AFRICA
$300 BILLION WAR COST
LARGEST TRADE DEFICIT, EVER!
LARGEST DEBT, EVER!
PROMISED AZ HELP WITH BORDER 6 YEARS AGO.
HIGHEST GAS PRICES, EVER! HIGHEST GAS COMPANY PROFITS, EVER!
HOMOPHOBIC, BIGOT, AND RELIGIOUS HYPOCRITE.
KILLER OF MOTHER EARTH.
Yes, spellcheck? Dudes, it’s a blog. Get focking over it!!
Inspired by by it’s own gluttony and the greed of oil companies, last year Americans paid billions more in higher oil/gasoline prices. Not to mention the additional tax dollars to help the oil companies make even MORE profits!
Think of the Minimum Wage hike as a permanent gas price hike. I have a feeling my boss ain’t selling his Hummer. Besides he can always borrow the old ladies Range Rover, it gets 6 more miles to the gallon!!
I know, I know, Katrina. I haven’t forgotten, I just saw a news piece featuring millions of dollars worth of damage to unused modular homes that are sitting in a mud pit somewhere. So you see it’s still on my mind.
–Tort
“For the ‘first time in recent memory’ this country will import a dollar value of goods and services exceeding what the federal government collects in revenues that now amounts to $2.4 trillion a year.”
–Michael Mandel, Business Week
Oh crap, are we in trouble?
Globalization of our economy, is that Clinton’s fault? Oh Slick Willie, he really nailed this economy, and not in a good way. Free trade anyone? Anyone?
“If you give people this additional money in their paychecks, they’ll just put it back into the economy…”. YET ANOTHER STUPID idea by the democrats!”
Isn’t this exactly how Mr President George Bush expects his tax refunds to work? You know, give minimum-wage making Walmart employee (the poor people) a handout so they can buy yet another Chinese made TV and “simulate the ecomony”.
Here’s a switch for you, instead of STUPID MINISCULE TAX BREAKS for the poor (Walmart employees), we raise their miniscule wages. Maybe they won’t have to beat back an illegal Mexican for a second job.
Bud: Free markets are inherently without morals — good or bad. That’s why some regulation by the people is needed. It sucks, but greed is part of human nature. And as for spelling … you have my word that on this blog, I will never mock anyone for their spelling. (Unless it results in a hilarious typo. Then, well, I hafta mock that.) However, as for the comments, that’s a free forum, so I have no control over your fellow comment peeps.
I hear you Mr. Jimmy Boegle. Just trying to stimulate so activity here on your blog. Banks did it.
Bud, buddy, soooo sorry. I take it all back. Kissy-kissy, hug-hug.
Banks! Are you a some sort of word-nazi?
Speakin-of, did I hear the National Socialist Germans Workers’ Party is back in action??
And we love ya for that, Tortillas.
Jimmy: Regardless if the Free Markets are ‘good or bad’, it comes down to whether or not business ‘makes sense’ and is making a profit. Consider this, if a business owner is paying its staff $5.15 per hour and the staff feels it’s too low, they’ll ALL leave for something else. However, if the owner CAN find someone for $5.15 per hour and they’re all still there, WHY in the hell should he be forced to pay $7.25 per hour? Bottom line, if the business IS generating a profit and the company can afford to make widgets at great profit of $X per piece, they’d be ‘smart’ to either give their staff a raise (improve their retention rate) or offer better benefits or something. What I’m getting at is ‘the markets will decide the going rate’ – it’s all basic supply/demand of the staffing, etc. In other words, IF no one accepts a rate of $5.15 per hour for this type of work, then the business owner(s) will have to re-evaluate their expenditures and make ends work somehow, or they’re out of business.
Personally, I think that government should NOT dictate what the minimum wage should be…it’s stupid. Each of us MUST continuously improve our intellectual capital in order to stay ‘in demand’ and well honed.
Lastly, greed is good to a point. It’s not a bad thing to want to make more money, as you say, it’s natural. As long as someone doesn’t start crossing legal/ethical/moral boundaries – it’s fine. I don’t consider a business owner trying to make a profit and paying its staff a ‘market driven’ wage.
Capice?
“Bud: Free markets are inherently without morals — good or bad. That’s why some regulation by the people is needed. It sucks, but greed is part of human nature. And as for spelling … you have my word that on this blog, I will never mock anyone for their spelling. (Unless it results in a hilarious typo. Then, well, I hafta mock that.) However, as for the comments, that’s a free forum, so I have no control over your fellow comment peeps.”
Greed is bad. (See: Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, the mainstream newspaper business which is destroying itself, etc., etc. It goes on and on and on.) Wanting to better one’s self by making more money — even by becoming rich in an ethical manner — is splendid. There’s a difference there. By your logic, sweatshops are hunky dory. Correct? Well, no. That’s unethical, even though a free market would allow it. Same goes for child labor. A free market needs ethics injected into it; otherwise, you get exploitation.
Actually, most of the ‘sweatshops’ were either comprised of ‘illegals’ trying to make money, or it was done earlier in the century – remember, when the boss would actually ‘LOCK’ the door on the seamstresses or warehouse workers? What I’m talking about is not sweatshops, but the choice between someone working at burger king for $6.50 an hour or trying to ‘learn something new’, go back to school to improve their skills and marketability IN ORDER to gain advancement and self fulfillment. Child Labor is another 19th century problem, at least here in the states. so, your point is irrelevant.
The free market doesn’t need an injection of ethics, MOST PEOPLE need an injection of ethics.
Bottom line is this, we’re past the days of slavery, child labor, etc….we’re discussing the ability of the workers to choose between accepting and/or working at a job for a low wage. This being, there choice….EVERYONE has the ability to improve themselves. Unfortunately, most of the ones that you’re defending choose not to… Yes, there will always be a select few that shouldn’t be painted with the broad stroke of the brush, but I’m stating – in general terms.
Bud
“There’s a difference there. By your logic, sweatshops are hunky dory. Correct? Well, no. That’s unethical, even though a free market would allow it. Same goes for child labor. A free market needs ethics injected into it; otherwise, you get exploitation.”
A worker earning minimum wages makes about $15,000 per year. Before taxes and other contributions.
The new minimum would give them a $4000 raise.
Contrary to the myth spun by Corporate America, the majority of minimum-wage workers aren’t teenagers making a little extra money after school. They are men and women trying to support families. According to a 2004 briefing by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) titled No Longer Getting By: An Increase in the Minimum Wage Is Long Overdue, if the minimum wage were to be increased to a modest $7 an hour, 72 percent of those who would be directly affected are over the age of 20.
Forty-four percent work full-time (working at least 35 hours a week), and 36 percent of families with workers who would benefit from an increase rely exclusively on that person’s wages.Contrary to the myth spun by Corporate America, the majority of minimum-wage workers aren’t teenagers making a little extra money after school. They are men and women trying to support families. According to a 2004 briefing by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) titled “No Longer Getting By: An Increase in the Minimum Wage Is Long Overdue”, if the minimum wage were to be increased to a modest $7 an hour, 72 percent of those who would be directly affected are over the age of 20.
44 percent work full-time (working at least 35 hours a week), and 36 percent of families with workers who would benefit from an increase rely exclusively on that person’s wages.
Sorry about the double paste,
“While it is natural to have sympathy for our fellow citizens who work at low-wage jobs and still live in poverty, we should remember that our notion of poverty is relative. Using U.S. Census data, Heritage Foundation scholars examined the living standards of poor Americans and found that the average poor American has a car, air conditioning, at least one color television along with cable or satellite TV, a home that is in decent condition and enough food in the refrigerator. Poverty in America, especially for those who do not work, is less a matter of material deprivation than of emotional and spiritual loss, the pervading worry that comes from knowing that one is dependent on the arcane determinations of state and federal bureaucrats, and the loss of self esteem that comes from knowing that one is not self-sufficient.
But for the working poor, this type of poverty is largely abolished. They are able to face the future with optimism and confidence, however modest their income, precisely because it is earned. They know they are contributing to the national economy and have taken control over own lives.
Increasing the minimum wage will do little to improve the conditions of poor Americans. Relatively few of those workers who receive wages at or near the minimum are members of poor families. For those poor who are working, wage increases are substantial and come quickly as they accumulate job experience. Increasing the minimum wage will, however, eliminate entry-level jobs for unskilled workers, making it more difficult for those who want to work to find jobs.
There is no such thing as a dead end job. Low-wage jobs provide the poor with an escape route from poverty. It would be a shame if, in the name of helping the working poor, we made this escape route more difficult for them to follow.”
–The Heritage Foundation
Tortillas: “But for the working poor, this type of poverty is largely abolished. They are able to face the future with optimism and confidence, however modest their income, precisely because it is earned. They know they are contributing to the national economy and have taken control over own lives.”
Well Tortillas, why stop there? If you’re going to raise the minimum rate per hour to $7, how about making it even better for them? Raise it to $20 per hour! or better yet, $25 per hour? This would surely solve all the issues with their ‘feelings’ of contribution to the economy, right? Oh yeah, with the exception of ALL those smaller businesses that would be required to close its doors and place those $20/hour minimum wage earners BACK on welfare and unemployment for another 18 months.
Sure, the ‘raise’ seems like it would benefit the people. However, you need to look at it from all different angles. As I said, the wages NEED to be absolutely justified. Supply and Demand are key factors, along with benefits, etc. IF I can find someone for $5.15 per hour, they’re content and feel positive about their contribution, what’s the problem? As I posted before, if I offer $5.15 per hour and my turn over is TOO high, or no one ‘legit’ takes the job, then obviously I need to increase the pay/benefits in order to meet the market requirements for the job.
Why a minimum wage at all? I’m with you.
Why border control at all? Afraid to compete with an illiterate Mexican for a job? Why don’t Americans lift themselves “ABOVE” this kind of work.
Bud calims: “What I’m getting at is ‘the markets will decide the going rate’ – it’s all basic supply/demand of the staffing, etc. In other words, IF no one accepts a rate of $5.15 per hour for this type of work, then the business owner(s) will have to re-evaluate their expenditures and make ends work somehow, or they’re out of business.”
Here is a story of some graphic designers I recently posted here. Typical wage for starting artist in Arizona is about $12-$15 per hour. And you’re RIGHT, they won’t work for $5.25, that’s because the English-speaking Indians will do it for for LESS. Those WORTHLESS GRAPHICS ARTISTS! Why doesn’t he realize their potential, dammit they should “STOP LOOKING FOR FREAKIN FREEBIE HANDOUTS!” Why didn’t he just buy the $327-million Newspaper and keep their jobs!
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003381357
Hey, not to worry Bud, you can say “I told you so” right after the next elections or when our entire economy crashes beacuse of the burden of a minmum wage.
Thanks for not dropping the blog Bud!
“remember, when the boss would actually ‘LOCK’ the door on the seamstresses or warehouse workers?”
Yes, WALMART, recently.
Oh geez, that was two years ago. Surely the “working poor” now find that OLD story inspiriational.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/national/18WALM.html?ex=1389762000&en=659ee9a0025b35de&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND
“Even some retail industry experts questioned the policy. ‘It’s clearly cause for concern,’ said Burt Flickinger, who runs a retail consulting concern. “Locking in workers, that’s more of a 19th-century practice than a 20th-century one'”
I know, it was single incident. Still, it’s whacky stuff.
Bud, I’m sure glad you’re not my boss. Not only would you be paying me crap, but you would constantly be telling me in numerous ways how I am nothing because I’m not trying to “improve myself”. My guess is you’re a screamer, too!
Unfortunately, improving oneself costs money. Take another job to pay for it? Now I don’t have time for school. Oooo! how about my bos paying for it? Bud wouldn’t like that, I’m sure.
One question, Bud, what is your career?
Love, Wanda
Wanda, Thanks for the love…it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside…
Well, I’m definitely not the screaming type – it’s pointless as far as I’m concerned. I’m a ‘bottom line’ manager. If I had an employee that was actually motivated to go back to school (or at least many of my staff), I’d seriously consider offering them tuition reimbursement – it makes sense and it’s an additional benefit to my team.
Also, take into consideration, there are a thousand different options for improving oneself. Whether it’s alone, online, library, classes, etc. It doesn’t just need to be in school. It’s called self discipline. I’ve witnessed MANY people that claim constantly that they’re just too busy. Fact is, those people are the same ones that watch 2+ hours of TV a day, are usually poor time managers, and have no set goals. It’s not rocket science. There are no excuses. People better themselves each day, and in worst shape than you’re probably claiming.
Welcome to the real world. If you want something, DON’T expect anyone to hand it to you.
As far as my career? Well, let’s just say, Jimmy knows me… 🙂
LOL Bud….
Um, I do? Most of the circles I run in are far more lefty than the stuff you’re saying here, Bud. Heh heh.
Not sure Bud’s logic is necessarily “RIGHT”. He makes great points on the human beings lifting themselves above their poverty. Sounds spiffy. He also speaks of reality, and our reality is that there is good sized segments of our society that just can’t get it together. I supppose if Bud’s theories were the only ones at work, then it would work itself out.
It’s virtually the same theory that is expected to work in Iraq. Show them the way, the Iraqis will lift themselves to freedom. But the progress has been slow. Why??? The “Theory” was short sighted. Not taking into consideration several factors already at play in that country, mainly the interests of other countries, religions and the plain hatred for America.
Same with the minimum wage. On its own Buds proposals sound great. If you don’t take into account ALL of the factors working against it. Like corporate America OUTSOURCING jobs to the lowest bidder. By Bud’s theory, an American worker’s value is exactly worth the lowest amount a corporation is willing to pay, FREE (world) MARKET.
“IF SOMEONE IS NOT MAKING WHAT THEY’RE WORTH, THEN SPEND THE EFFORT TO INCREASE YOUR OWN DAMN VALUE!!”
So the choice to all of those College-trained graphic designers that just lost their jobs to India? The effort (few years) they just spent training was single-handedly erased by your BOSSES, who without much notice to the employee, SOLD THEIR JOBS OUT.
These artist will now have to “THEN SPEND THE EFFORT TO INCREASE YOUR OWN DAMN VALUE!!” They have choices. Go back to school for “RE-TRAINING”. Don’t forget to move back in with mom & dad. Take out a student loan, and if your belly is a little grumbly then “TAKE CARE OF YOUR OWN FREAKIN SELF!”
Compassionate conservativism at work, FOR SURE.
Oooooh Noooo! Jimmy! You’re not a blood-less-heart conservative??
I think I am pretty liberal. But then people send us letters saying I have taken the Weekly rightward. But I also get letters saying I am a leftist Commie bastard. It’s all very interesting, Tortillas.
One’s perception of the media, the government and, indeed, another person, is entirely based on where they stand on the political spectrum. Take that to heart.
To give an example, I know plenty of rightwingers who say CNN is a lefty channel and that Fox News spouts the truth, but I also know some various leftwingers who say CNN is a rightwing channel and that we aren’t being told “the real truth” because it’s mainstream media. Their judgments cannot be seen as absolute, but their viewpoints can both be equally valid, as people have all forms of political ideologies. It’s all about where one fits on the political spectrum, and how that position compares to the position of whatever they are making judgement on.
Perhaps you should not try so hard to fit into a neat little political package. Stop belonging to political “clubs”. To appreciate the idea of small government doesn’t mean I have to be an inconsiderate money-grubbing jerk and it doesn’t mean I want to take all your money, and all your stuff.
You can be pro-border-control, and be against the further criminalization of these squatters.
You can be pro-choice and still teach your children to respect the sexuality and choices of other human beings, and abstain.
You can be NOT against gay marriage and set a heterosexual example yourself by NOT EVER DIVORCING and showing them queers what marriage really means.
You can be pro-war, but when you’ve been lied to and the hypocrisy is clear as day, you can change your mind
You have choices. Not the ones determined by your “club?