Michell Malkin has found a bunch of depressing news:
1) "President George W. Bush on Wednesday said increasing the national minimum wage is likely an issue on which he could cooperate with Democratic leaders in Congress." The Democrats want to raise the minimum wage to $7.25/hr making it almost as high as Washington State's.
Damn it! The law of supply and demand is as immutable as the law of gravity. You raise the cost of hiring people, and less people get hired. And who gets paid the minimum wage: poor people, young people, retired people. A president, especially a Republican president should know that!
As Thomas Sowell wrote in his brilliant Basic Economics:
"Unfortunately the real minimum wage is always zero, regardless of the laws, and that is the wage that many workers receive in the wake of the creation or escalation of a government-mandated minimum wage, because they lose their jobs. Making it illegal to pay less than a given amount does not make a workers productivity worth that amount--and if it is not, that worker is likely to be unemployed."
2) "Military: Force an immediate drawdown of troops in Iraq and conduct oversight hearings on missteps on the war. The announcement Wednesday that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was resigning met Democratic demands that he step down to take responsibility for the situation in Iraq."
So Bush is already giving in to their demands. Should have heard him dancing at his press conference trying to explain why just last week he said Rumsfeld was staying. But "immediate drawdown" from Iraq? ("Drawdown" means "cut and run," make no mistake.) That would be a disastrous move leading to an oil-rich Taliban nation.
3) "Judiciary: Conduct oversight hearings on treatment of terrorism detainees, domestic surveillance programs and President Bush's use of 'signing statements' affecting some requirements in the laws he signs."
So give terrorists the same rights as not only lawful combatants, but U.S. citizens. Hobble our intelligence gathering by not allowing interrogation beyond "pretty please tell us when the next attack will be" nor allow surveillance of terrorists in the U.S.
4) "Transportation: Limit the number of Transportation Security Administration airport screeners to 45,000."
Longer lines for security. Of course they won't privatize it. Actually, I think that's a promise they might break. Since when do Democrats cut back on government union dues paying workers?
5) "Energy and environment: Increase incentives for biodiesel, ethanol and other alternative fuels as well as wind, solar, geothermal and other sources of alternative energy. Impose a national cap on industrial carbon dioxide emissions. Resist Bush's efforts to open more public lands to oil exploration."
So more high-cost low efficiency biofuels, more unreliable and and expensive "renewable" fuels, and impose a cap on economic growth while preventing exploration for more domestic sources of oil.
and 6) "Agriculture: Increase conservation programs and require more corn- based ethanol in motor fuel blends."
More of the same crap.
Maybe I can get a prescription for Paxil. Otherwise it's going to be a long long two years. And that's assuming something good happens in '08, and I'm not counting on that.
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