Chaim Amalek emails: Mocking people for praying to God comes too easily for our cultural elites. Would they have dared mock Martin L. King for his public prayers to Jesus, or more recently, any of Obama’s pastors or an Imam? Never. But there is something about a White Man praying to Jesus that predictably sets these same people off.
…I don’t think his claims were ever that strong, but plenty of top flight economists have advocated eliminating the minimum wage, including Milton Friedman. The problem is that these men formed their views at a time when immigration into the US was tightly controlled and very limited. American workers were not forced to compete with a third world labor force such as is now resident here. Personally, I think the way to go about this is 180 degrees opposite from what we usually hear: impose a $40/hour minimum wage on all foreign born labor not employed in agriculture. Change the H1B visa program to require that employers pay such visa holders triple the prevailing wage paid to U.S. citizens in the market and field in question. Create a cause of action that would let any US citizen (but only a US citizen) sue any business that fails to pay its illegals or H1b visa holders these amounts, and for treble damages (think of all the unemployed lawyers this would help!). And require prior shareholder approval for any CEO compensation package in excess of $2,000,000/year.
…There used to be actual serious intellectuals among the Republicans, as well as seasoned politicians who had seen quite a bit of the world before venturing into politics. Like Ronald Reagan, who ran a labor union full of liberals and leftists. Or Gerald Ford, who served in the Navy during WW2. Even Nixon had a rather varied background, arising from humble beginnings and moving across many social strata before becoming president. By rubbing shoulders with very diverse sets of people, they built out their understanding of the world and how it operates. This generation of Republican leaders, on the other hand, seems as ghettoized as hasidim. (And liberal democrats are often even worse.)
