Obama Administration Declares War on Franchisors and Subcontractors

In a series of unilateral moves, the Obama administration has been introducing an entirely new regime of labor law without benefit of legislation, upending decades’ worth of precedent so as to herd as many workers into unions as possible.

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Don Boudreaux’s ongoing, excellent coverage of the minimum wage issue

AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE:

No one has more steadfastly, consistently and vigorously brought economy sanity, logic and reason to the issue of the minimum wage law government-mandated wage floor that guarantees reduced employment opportunities for America’s teenagers and low-skilled workers (especially minorities) than George Mason University economics professor Don Boudreaux. On his Café Hayek blog, Don has for many years regularly covered the minimum wage issue with his wisdom, wit, and keen economic thinking, and I applaud his ongoing efforts to educate his readers, students and (hopefully, some day maybe) policymakers about an important economic issue.

In several recent posts, Don has emphasized a very important, but usually overlooked or neglected reason that some empirical studies fail to find negative employment effects following increases in the minimum wagegovernment-mandated wage floor that guarantees reduced employment opportunities for America’s teenagers and low-skilled workers (especially minorities). That reason has to do with the fact that the minimum wage has been in effect for almost 80 years since the Fair Unfair to Unskilled Labor Standards Act was passed in 1938, and it’s been increased 27 times since then. Therefore, the government’s mandated market-suppressing, artificial wage for low- and un-skilled workers has been around for such a long time, and it’s been raised so many times, that the distortionary effects of the minimum wage have long ago been “internalized” by employers who hire unskilled workers. Don explains that phenomenon in a recent blog post where he schools Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein about his “simply poor economic journalism,” and provides this additional commentary:

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The ACA’s overall impact on employment, however, will arguably be larger than that of any single piece of legislation since World War II.

Much of the ACA’s tax effect resembles unemployment insurance: both encourage layoffs and discourage people from returning to work.

Starting this year, the United States’ working population will face three major employment disincentives resulting from the very benefits the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides: (1) an explicit tax on full-time work, (2) an implicit tax on full-time work for those who are ineligible for the ACA’s health insurance subsidies, and (3) an implicit tax that links the amount of available subsidies to workers’ incomes.

A new study published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University advances the understanding of how much these ACA taxes will reduce overall employment, and why. It concludes that the reduction will be nearly double that projected by previous analyses. Labor markets ultimately will reduce weekly employment per person by about 3 percent—translating to roughly 4 million fewer full-time-equivalent workers.

Below is a brief summary of this important update. Please see “The Affordable Care Act and the New Economics of Part-Time Work” to read the entire study and to learn more about author Casey B. Mulligan, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago.

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There is a national crisis of federal employees engaged in the child porn industry and a related epidemic at the state level.

FORBES:

Money drives the crime. It is estimated that a criminal willing to molest a child in front of a live webcam can earn $1,000 a night...

With so many police, judges, clergy, state and federal employees across America involved in the child porn industry Americans should be able to turn to the IRS’s Whistleblower program.

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EMPLOYEE RIGHTS ACT

Looks like a great organization and they cover quite a few different things that will protect employees from their own unions!

Must check it out here.

I just put it up on the right panel under "Join the Second American Revolution" (where I put all "activist" groups).

SHOCK: United Airlines employees kicked disabled vet's service dog...twice!

This happened at Dulles Airport in Washington. These employees should be charged with a crime and dismissed. This is not acceptable!

Sarge, his service dog, was kicked once at the ticket counter and then once again on a shuttle.

And that's not the only shocking thing that happened:

Jim said the stress was overwhelming and asked a customer service representative for help because he had trouble reading a reservation email.

"He said, 'Just read it' and I said, 'Sir I can't read it,' and he said, 'What are you retarded?'" Jim recalls. "Prior to this I told him I have a brain injury and PTSD, I'm a disabled vet, this is my second night here; I need help."

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Female employees in the Obama White House make considerably less than their male colleagues, records show

HOSTILE WORKPLACE

If you've noticed any disappearing staffs recently in places you live, work, or frequent...

The economy is looking bleaker as new applications for jobless benefits rose last week to the highest level in almost six months. It's a sign that hiring remains weak and employers may be going back to cutting their staffs. . .


The rise in claims is a sign that private employers may be ramping up layoffs, which declined as recently as June, according to a separate government report released Wednesday. . .


Another possibility is that small companies, facing tight credit, are still reducing their staffs, even as larger corporations slowly resume hiring. . .


Some companies are still cutting workers. Medical products manufacturer CareFusion Corp. said Wednesday it plans to eliminate 700 jobs, saving the company up to $120 million a year. . .

Economic Outlook for Obama Dims as Jobless Claims Grow, Stimulus Falters

New bad news about Obamacare

WSJ:

It's also dawning on employees that they will lose their coverage. Some will blame management; many more will blame those who wrote this terrible legislation.

Employees who lose coverage get to select a policy from a government-sponsored insurance marketplace called the "exchange." This will be subsidized by taxpayers. Depending on his income, a worker will have to pay between 8% and 9.8% of the cost.

But there are a few hitches. Employers now pay for employee health plans with pre-tax dollars, but workers who buy into one on the exchange pay with after-tax dollars. Families making less than $30,000 and individuals making less than $15,000 a year will be dumped into Medicaid, widely viewed as second-class health care.

Either Mr. Obama was stunningly blind to these perverse effects when he promised people could keep their coverage, or he felt that admitting his plan would collapse employer-provided health coverage could keep it from passing. Either way—self-deception or deliberate deceit—health reform is going to turn out far differently than was promised. And because more workers will be dumped into subsidized coverage, taxpayers are likely to pay much more than the $1 trillion-plus price tag claimed by ObamaCare advocates for its first 10 years.

It doesn't end there...

The Bad News About ObamaCare Keeps Piling Up

Should President Obama revoke a JFK executive order allowing the existence of federal employee unions?

The enemy within. That's what Robert F. Kennedy called the then corrupt Teamsters union in the title of a 1960 book. Just maybe it's time to use that phrase again, referring not to one union especially, but to a whole bunch of them, and employing the words in political speeches, debate and commentary as a rallying cry.

The bunch is those representing public employees. They constitute an extraordinarily powerful special interest that could all but bankrupt any number of local and state governments and vastly increase federal spending.

Why? So members can live much better on average than those of us in the private sector.

To get a better idea of how this works...

The Enormous Cost of Public Unions

Did you know...

...that Democrats voted [5/28/10] in favor of a 1.4 percent pay raise for civilian federal employees proposed by the Obama administration?

But...

The pay and benefits for the public worker is a $1.45 compared to a dollar in the private sector. So there’s a 45% premium there… If you cut the pay and made it equal, the benefits and the pay with private sector workers, it would save about $340 billion. That’s enough to fill the budget holes in every state over the next two years, if we were just on the same playing field.

Dagen McDowell: US Could Save $340 Billion By Cutting Public Wages Down to Private Sector Pay Rates (Video)

So, either the Democrats are total idiots for not knowing this OR they have a different agenda that has nothing to do with being good stewards of our nation's resources...

How Obama (and Obamacare) screwed low-skilled workers

Low-skilled workers have some of the highest unemployment rates in America. Adults without high school diplomas face an unemployment rate of 14.5%, almost three times as high as rates for college graduates, and well above the national average of 9.7%. The unemployment rate for teens, another low-skill group, is 26%.

Reasonable people likely presume that Congress and the administration are doing everything possible to help low-skilled workers get jobs.

But, come 2014, the new health care bill will make it harder for employers to hire low-skill workers. And, as workplaces around the country prepare to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, employers are considering how best to comply. For some companies, that means that low-wage and part-time jobs will start to go, not in 2014, but now.

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HAT TIP: Powerline

How bad is this health care bill?

This bill is so bad, that it is beyond repair...If anything close to the Obama-Reid-Pelosi plans passes, there will be one last chance in November 2010 to stem the tide of government control. It is not too much to say that several more years of Democratic control will result in an almost irreversible economic and political disaster, at least for people who prefer capitalism and individual liberty.

China Confindential: consistently out-reported mainstream media on twin threats to world peace--nuclear-arming North Korea & nuclear-armed Iran

China Confidential is the only media outlet to have accurately predicted both North Korean nuclear tests, including predicting the exact test dates. Using open source intelligence and an international network of volunteer stringers and analysts, China Confidential has consistently out-reported the mainstream media on the twin threats to world peace--nuclear-arming North Korea and nuclear-armed Iran.

POSTSCRIPT: Israeli defense experts are increasingly concerned about a possible EMP attack on the Jewish State. A knockout blow to electronic and communication systems could paralyze the country and allow for an all-out assault by Hezbollah, Hamas, and Syria with coordinated uprisings by radicalized Israeli Arabs. In such a scenario, Iran could be responsible for the sneak attack--delivered by a foreign-flagged vessel--that could theoretically pave the way for the conquest of Israel while affording Iran a measure of plausible deniability.

Could Iran Outsource an A-Bomb Test to N. Korea?

Prepare yourself

To All of My Valued Employees,

There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company and, more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this:

The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job, however, is the changing political landscape in this country. That being said, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests.

First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a back story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You've seen my big home at last year's Christmas party. I'm sure all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life. However, what you don't see is the back story.

I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living apartment was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company -- which, by the way, would eventually employ you.

My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business, to hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.

Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting the Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the discount store extracting any clothing item that didn't look like it was birthed in the 70's. My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision that eventually, some day, I too will be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.

So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9am, mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5pm, I don't. There is no "off" button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have that freedom. I eat, sleep and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to my hip like a 1 year old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden -- the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations -- and never realize the back story and the sacrifices I've made.

Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bail out all the people who didn't. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.

Yes, business ownership has is benefits, but the price I've paid is steep and not without wounds. Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why:

I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don't pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my "stimulus" check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.

The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business, or the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child by the fourth father waiting for her next welfare check? Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country.

The fact is, if I deducted (or stole) 50 percent of your paycheck you'd quit and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who wants to get rewarded for only 50 percent of their hard work?

Well, I agree, and that is why your job is in jeopardy. Here is what many of you don't understand ... to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries.

When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the poor of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep.

So where am I going with all this? It's quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple.

I fire you. I fire your co-workers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child's future. Frankly, it isn't my problem any more. Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire. You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.

So, if you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the Constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about.

Regards,
Your Boss

Mixed Messages From Obama On Stimulus Plan