the salt makers

There are few things that can be described as "home runs" in the arena of political debate. One such example is the "debate" over federal minimum wage legislation. "Debate" must be placed in quotations in this instance because, in the national arena, there is little discussion of the grand repercussions of this legislation. As it turns out, an incredibly effective way to win an argument is to never allow one in the first place.

Minimum wage laws are the textbook example of bad legislation enacted by a government solely as a boon to constituents that have learned how to vote themselves largess out of the pockets of the faceless masses that make this beautiful capitalist system work. The pervading logic is "You have to because we said so."

Regardless of personal feelings, labor is a good like any other tangible product that can be sold or traded in the open marketplace. It just so happens that it is a good that virtually everyone has to sell. When government arbitrarily sets the price of any good, the people that suffer most are always the people at the bottom of the quality scale. If, for example, the government was to pass legislation dictating that every car sold in the United States, regardless of quality, materials or options, cannot be sold for less than $20,000, public or private, the car manufacturers that sell cars worth $10,000 or $12,000 will immediately find themselves priced out of the market. They either go out of business, or start making their cars worth $20,000.

Logically, if the government decides that all labor, regardless of skill or aptitude, cannot be sold or purchased for less than $7.25 an hour, the scores of people in the work place, or those looking for employment, whose labor or production skill is only worth $5.00 or $6.00 per hour will immediately find themselves priced out of the economic system. The people who are most affected by this type or price-fixing are those who are less educated, less skilled and less employable. This group of people is populated inordinately by minorities.

Oh, I'm sorry, "the diverse."

As such, minimum wage laws are racist.

But discussions on this subject could go on for chapter after chapter, only to be ignored by the plebians that cling to buzzwords like "liveable wage," claiming to help the very "diverse" classes they claim to adore.

No, this post is about hypocrisy.

GOP hits Pelosi's 'hypocrisy' on wage bill

By Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
January 12, 2007

House Republicans yesterday declared "something fishy" about the major tuna company in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco district being exempted from the minimum-wage increase that Democrats approved this week.

"I am shocked," said Rep. Eric Cantor, Virginia Republican and his party's chief deputy whip, noting that Mrs. Pelosi campaigned heavily on promises of honest government. "Now we find out that she is exempting hometown companies from minimum wage. This is exactly the hypocrisy and double talk that we have come to expect from the Democrats."

On Wednesday, the House voted to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour.

The bill also extends for the first time the federal minimum wage to the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands. However, it exempts American Samoa, another Pacific island territory that would become the only U.S. territory not subject to federal minimum-wage laws.

One of the biggest opponents of the federal minimum wage in Samoa is StarKist Tuna, which owns one of the two packing plants that together employ more than 5,000 Samoans, or nearly 75 percent of the island's work force. StarKist's parent company, Del Monte Corp., has headquarters in San Francisco, which is represented by Mrs. Pelosi. The other plant belongs to California-based Chicken of the Sea.

"There's something fishy going on here," said Rep. Patrick T. McHenry, North Carolina Republican.

During the House debate yesterday on stem-cell research, Mr. McHenry raised a parliamentary inquiry as to whether an amendment could be offered that would exempt American Samoa from stem-cell research, "just as it was for the minimum-wage bill."

A clearly perturbed Rep. Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who was presiding, cut off Mr. McHenry and shouted, "No, it would not be."

"So, the chair is saying I may not offer an amendment exempting American Samoa?" Mr. McHenry pressed.

"The gentleman is making a speech and will sustain," Mr. Frank shouted as he slammed his large wooden gavel against the rostrum.

Some Republicans who voted in favor of the minimum-wage bill were particularly irritated to learn yesterday -- after their vote -- that the legislation did not include American Samoa.

"I was troubled to learn of this exemption," said Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, Illinois Republican. "My intention was to raise the minimum wage for everyone. We shouldn't permit any special favors or exemptions that are not widely discussed in Congress. This is the problem with rushing legislation through without full debate."

A spokeswoman for Mrs. Pelosi said Wednesday that the speaker has not been lobbied in any way by StarKist or Del Monte.