Free Republic

President Obama’s recent State of the Union address was the culmination of months of advocacy from Democrats and activists for a higher minimum wage. The President proposed a raise to the minimum wage for federal contractors by executive order to $10.10 per hour and called on Congress to raise the national minimum wage for all workers to the same mark, along with indexing it to inflation. A raise of the national minimum wage was framed as giving low income workers the “living wage” they deserve and fighting perceived growth in income inequality in America. Though the President’s proposal is well...

One of Utah's biggest school systems apologized Thursday and told angry parents it was investigating why dozens of elementary school children had their lunches seized and thrown away when they didn't have enough money in their accounts. "This was a mistake," said Jason Olsen, a spokesman for the Salt Lake School District. "There shouldn't have been food taken away from these students once they went through that line." The district came under national criticism after as many as 40 kids were given fruit and milk and their real lunches were thrown away Tuesday at Uintah Elementary in Salt Lake City.

Oklahoma is back on track to reduce its personal income tax and make sure it remains economically competitive. Last year, Oklahoma legislators voted to reduce the state’s personal income tax from 5.25 percent to 5 percent starting January 1, 2015. There was also a provision to lower the income tax further to 4.85 percent in 2016 if certain revenue targets are met. Governor Fallin signed the measure into law and Oklahoma became one of eighteen states to cut taxes during the 2013 legislative session. Unfortunately, the tax cut package was ultimately ruled unconstitutional by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The package...

Economist Andy Xie has an interesting article in CaixinOnline that contains his views on 2014. I agree with nearly all his viewpoints but one. Please consider Breaking Out Is Hard by Andie Xie. The global economy is unlikely to accelerate in 2014. The hope that the U.S. economy is reaching escape velocity won't pan out. Abenomics is likely to fizzle out in 2014. Emerging economies will likely remain in low gear. The chances are that the global economy, weighted by nominal GDP at current exchange rates, will grow at 2 percent Globalization, turbo-powered by information technology, has cut short the...

“I just want what is fair for everybody…” If I’ve heard that line once, I’ve heard it hundreds of times on those occasions when I end up discussing business, economic, and public policy issues with members of the clergy. With the uptick in minimum wage worker strikes over the past few months (we saw another “round” of them at Wal-Mart stores this past week), I’ve had these conversations quite frequently. What is striking to me is that the starting point for many of these Pastors, Priests and Rabbi’s is to say that they are standing up for “workers’ rights.” But...

The United States is in the midst of an economic paradigm shift as evidenced by the evolution of state-level economies. States that used to be bastions of economic innovation are experiencing decline, while other states pick up the slack and replace them on the cutting edge of industry. In terms of public policy, the key to this shift lies in economic freedom and pro-growth tax and regulatory policies; states are realizing these policies are more likely to grow their economies rather than levying high taxes. Data show states with lower tax burdens vastly outperform their high-tax counterparts in nearly every...

This week marks the 50th anniversary of Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty," and as the joke goes, "Poverty won." Five decades after a blizzard of programs began descending on the American people, the poverty rate remains essentially unchanged. That's a little unfair. What counts as poverty today would not have seemed so impoverished 50 years ago, when many of the poor lived without electricity and were no strangers to hunger. Today, the biggest health problems of the poor are more likely to stem from obesity than anything approaching starvation. Defenders of the war on poverty -- and the massive bureaucracy...

President Barack Obama is set to speak on Thursday about how he will target job creation, housing, law enforcement and education in the poorest U.S. communities, part of his pledge to narrow the gap between rich and poor in America. Obama signaled last month that he plans a new focus this year on income inequality, which he called "the defining challenge of our time", pushing to raise the minimum wage and find new ways to help poor children break out of the cycle of poverty. As part of this effort, Obama will create "promise zones" in San Antonio, Philadelphia, Los...

For all the folks who have not seen Aaron Russo's manifesto. A clip to watch when you have time - over an hour long.

“Let us leave a spare place at our table: a place for those who lack the basics, who are alone.” - Pope Francis via Twitter January 7, 2014 In three short phrases, Pope Francis has once again taken the lead in advocating for economic justice and fairness. Where not long ago a battle raged over the growing and disproportionate wealth of the so-called “one percent,” the new 77-year old leader of the Catholic church has gained more support in nine months than the Occupy Wall Street movement or Fast Food Forward have in five years. This new found papal popularity...

New York's new mayor, Bill de Blasio, in his inaugural speech, denounced people "on the far right" who "continue to preach the virtue of trickle-down economics." According to Mayor de Blasio, "They believe that the way to move forward is to give more to the most fortunate, and that somehow the benefits will work their way down to everyone else." If there is ever a contest for the biggest lie in politics, this one should be a top contender. While there have been all too many lies told in politics, most have some little tiny fraction of truth in them,...

The first rule of public relations disasters is to change the narrative as quickly as possible. With that in mind, I’ll give Family Glazer a cookie for their rapid response in turning the 4-12 stench that was sooooo last season into a Loviefest. Well done. New coach Lovie Smith is a proven winner with local ties, and having a team that competes for the playoffs every year would certainly be refreshing. Call me jaded, though, on at least one big point. I’m not sure even winning automatically will fill Raymond James Stadium every Sunday and beyond. I think fans are...

Staying in a kind of reflective mode from Last SundayÂ’s Gospel on Greed and how to avoid it, there may be value in pondering why Jesus called some (or all) mammon (wealth) unrighteous. The phrase occurs in the Gospel of Luke where Jesus says: I tell you, make friends for yourselves by your use of dishonest wealth, so that, when it fails, they will welcome you to eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:9). We discussed yesterday what it means to be welcomed into eternal dwellings and who these friends who welcome us really are. But in this post perhaps we can consider...

TransCanada Corp. Chief Executive Officer Russ Girling said he is “very confident” the controversial Keystone XL pipeline will be approved by President Barack Obama. In a recent interview with Bloomberg TV, Girling said the review process is near its end and he expects a decision “in the coming weeks we’d see a permit … that’s our hope.” “I remain very confident. It’s a very important project” and the safest way to move oil to the U.S., Girling said. “I remain 100% confident this project makes sense for energy security and all the jobs and economic benefits that come with it,”...

During 2013, America continued to steadily march down a self-destructive path toward oblivion. As a society, our debt levels are completely and totally out of control. Our financial system has been transformed into the largest casino on the entire planet and our big banks are behaving even more recklessly than they did just before the last financial crisis. We continue to see thousands of businesses and millions of jobs get shipped out of the United States, and the middle class is being absolutely eviscerated. Due to the lack of decent jobs, poverty is absolutely exploding. Government dependence is at an...

While American babies are born with 54,320 debt on each citizen, PLUS a $149,947.00 per taxpayer on their shoulders, Australia’s national debt is a half-a-trillion only. The amounts are simply staggering. And, as the National Debt Clock keeps turning, numbers are at 17,224,121,XXX,XXX trillion. The clock’s mechanism is so accurate and runs at such speed that a naked eye can barely catch changes at the infinitesimal seconds at which it turns. As American citizens at large need to understand the methodology of a debt and the way to recovery, we repeat here the economic formula, courtesy of Investopedia: GDP =...

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog Obama says we should raise the minimum wage, but barackobama.com advertises for “unpaid” interns In February 2013, Obama said:“Tonight, let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9.00 an hour. This single step would raise the incomes of millions of working families. It could mean the difference between groceries or the food bank; rent or eviction; scraping by or finally getting ahead. For businesses across the country, it would mean customers with more money in their pockets....

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog I dare liberals to buy a McDonald’s franchise, and pay the workers $15 an hour Liberals are always talking about how easy it would be for McDonald’s to pay its workers $15 an hour.However, so far, no liberal has actually bought a McDonald’s franchise and paid those wages.So, I dare liberals to prove that it’s as easy as they claim it is. I dare liberals to buy a McDonald’s franchise, and pay the workers $15 an hour.

If you could abolish income inequality, or poverty, but not both, which one would you choose? Scenario #1: Income inequality has been abolished, but poverty remains. Scenario #2: Poverty has been abolished, but income inequality remains.

Since the release of Evangelii Gaudium there have been countless articles and commentary about the economic portions of Pope Francis’s Apostolic Exhortation. Some of the commentary has been downright bizarre, such as Rush Limbaugh denouncing the Pope as a Marxist, or Stuart Varney accusing Francis of being a neo-socialist. Not far below the surface of many of these critiques one hears the following refrain: why can’t the Pope just go back to talking about abortion? Why can’t we return the good old days of Pope John Paul II or Benedict XVI and talk 24/7/365 about sex? Why doesn’t Francis have...