State of the Union

[SDHornet]

Anyone watch it? I was wrapping up season 4 of Mad Men and caught the end of the Rubio response. I was telling my wife how team brown could rally around this guy and how its our turn to have a brown guy in "la casa blanco" and then that guy keep wiping his mouth and reaches for a tiny bottle of water. I got up, turned off the TV and went straight into the man cave without saying a word. JFC!!

[SuperHornet]

I completely forgot about the SOTU. It killed my chance to see The Abby Show (AKA NCIS). Now there's a NCIS: L.A. repeat from a few years ago.

I still can't believe the President is naive enough to belive that raising the federal minimum wage will actually help people. Businesses will cut staff, reduce people to part time, cut hours for P/Ters, and switch to temps, which will actually LOSE jobs in the long run. Additionally, the costs will get passed to the public, so that the cost of EVERYTHING will skyrocket. Thus, any "extra" income resulting from the $9/hr will get eaten up by the higher cost of food, gas, and everything else.

What an ignoramus. We should have elected Cain....

[CID1990]

Meh

[BDKJMU]

I didn't see the propaganda speech. What'd I miss?

[kalm]

I didn't see the propaganda speech. What'd I miss?

Same right leaning centrist, now with the shackles off, pandering ever more to the Republican Party.

(it was actually in the background as I was doing stuff around the house. I have no clue what he said and I'm positive none of it really matters. )

[GannonFan]

I completely forgot about the SOTU. It killed my chance to see The Abby Show (AKA NCIS). Now there's a NCIS: L.A. repeat from a few years ago.

I still can't believe the President is naive enough to belive that raising the federal minimum wage will actually help people. Businesses will cut staff, reduce people to part time, cut hours for P/Ters, and switch to temps, which will actually LOSE jobs in the long run. Additionally, the costs will get passed to the public, so that the cost of EVERYTHING will skyrocket. Thus, any "extra" income resulting from the $9/hr will get eaten up by the higher cost of food, gas, and everything else.

What an ignoramus. We should have elected Cain....

Eh, I don't think there's really any long term damage from raising the minimum wage. Of course, I also don't thing there's any long term benefit to doing it either - at the end of the day things equilibrate afterwards and there's no real change. But it makes the Dems feel good that they are doing something for the poor (although it does nothing for the poor). But yes, as an economic growth idea, it's really a pretty hollow thing to champion. Sounds great, but does nothing. Whoopee.

[kalm]

I completely forgot about the SOTU. It killed my chance to see The Abby Show (AKA NCIS). Now there's a NCIS: L.A. repeat from a few years ago.

I still can't believe the President is naive enough to belive that raising the federal minimum wage will actually help people. Businesses will cut staff, reduce people to part time, cut hours for P/Ters, and switch to temps, which will actually LOSE jobs in the long run. Additionally, the costs will get passed to the public, so that the cost of EVERYTHING will skyrocket. Thus, any "extra" income resulting from the $9/hr will get eaten up by the higher cost of food, gas, and everything else.

What an ignoramus. We should have elected Cain....

Eh, I don't think there's really any long term damage from raising the minimum wage. Of course, I also don't thing there's any long term benefit to doing it either - at the end of the day things equilibrate afterwards and there's no real change. But it makes the Dems feel good that they are doing something for the poor (although it does nothing for the poor). But yes, as an economic growth idea, it's really a pretty hollow thing to champion. Sounds great, but does nothing. Whoopee.

Yeah...this.

Entry level jobs should be stepping stones. By the same token, for those businesses who rely upon these folks for business, there's a slight bump in demand.

[BDKJMU]

-HS and college kids working their 1st job(s) and living at home with mommy & daddy don't need a raise in the minimum wage.

-For every dollar increase in the minimum wage it costs businesses much more than that because of accompanying payroll taxes & benefits. You can't force businesses to spend more on these teenage & no/low skilled labor that the value of their labor is worth. If you do that will either force layoffs, cut back in hours for employees, price increases, or a combination of the 3, none of which are good.

-Many wage scales, esp union, have their floors tied to the minimum wage. Raise the minimum wage, and you're raising the entire wage scale. Again, that will be passed on to all of us in higher costs for goods & services.

[GannonFan]

-HS and college kids working their 1st job(s) and living at home with mommy & daddy don't need a raise in the minimum wage.

-For every dollar increase in the minimum wage it costs businesses much more than that because of accompanying payroll taxes & benefits. You can't force businesses to spend more on these teenage & no/low skilled labor that the value of their labor is worth. If you do that will either force layoffs, cut back in hours for employees, price increases, or a combination of the 3, none of which are good.

-Many wage scales, esp union, have their floors tied to the minimum wage. Raise the minimum wage, and you're raising the entire wage scale. Again, that will be passed on to all of us in higher costs for goods & services.

At the end of the day, everything moves with it - costs and salaries - so eventually, at the end, the poor are just as poor as when we started. Yes, it can also cause short term impacts that aren't desirable, but ultimately it's a do-nothing policy that let's politicians pat themselves on the back and say what good people they are without doing anything to help the poor. Like I said, it's an economic policy devoid of anything substantial. When that's one of the biggest pillars of an economic policy, it means we don't have an economic policy.

[kalm]

-HS and college kids working their 1st job(s) and living at home with mommy & daddy don't need a raise in the minimum wage.

-For every dollar increase in the minimum wage it costs businesses much more than that because of accompanying payroll taxes & benefits. You can't force businesses to spend more on these teenage & no/low skilled labor that the value of their labor is worth. If you do that will either force layoffs, cut back in hours for employees, price increases, or a combination of the 3, none of which are good.

-Many wage scales, esp union, have their floors tied to the minimum wage. Raise the minimum wage, and you're raising the entire wage scale. Again, that will be passed on to all of us in higher costs for goods & services.

You're failing to recognize the demand side of the equation.

[Ivytalk]

The last one I watched "live" was Clinton's "the era of big government is over" howler back in '96. All of the modern SOTUs are politically motivated wish lists. I just read the executive summary in the paper or on the Net. Nothing new here. Move along.

[Pwns]

I liked the proposal of amping up vocational/technical training instead of more of this college-for-everyone insanity that we've heard in the past.

Other than that, for the most part, I wanted to beat my head against the wall for most of the things he said.

1) How on Earth do you think the ACA has caused health care costs to go down when the mandate has not even taken effect yet?

2) If women are so badly shafted across the board when it comes to pay, how is it single and college educated women are now making more than single college-educated men?

3) Raising the minimum wage...all that's going to do is raise prices and make things difficult for middle-income folks.

4) Solar Energy....LoL. Why don't we just put every fat person in the country on a tread mill with an armature in it. That'll generate about as much energy

[89Hen]

The last one I watched "live" was Clinton's "the era of big government is over" howler back in '96. All of the modern SOTUs are politically motivated wish lists. I just read the executive summary in the paper or on the Net. Nothing new here. Move along.

+1 We watched the Westminster instead.

[D1B]

The last one I watched "live" was Clinton's "the era of big government is over" howler back in '96. All of the modern SOTUs are politically motivated wish lists. I just read the executive summary in the paper or on the Net. Nothing new here. Move along.

+1 We watched the Westminster instead.

Kroll Show and Workaholics reruns for me. Fuck Barack Obama.

[Franks Tanks]

I liked the proposal of amping up vocational/technical training instead of more of this college-for-everyone insanity that we've heard in the past.

Other than that, for the most part, I wanted to beat my head against the wall for most of the things he said.

1) How on Earth do you think the ACA has caused health care costs to go down when the mandate has not even taken effect yet?

2) If women are so badly shafted across the board when it comes to pay, how is it single and college educated women are now making more than single college-educated men?
3) Raising the minimum wage...all that's going to do is raise prices and make things difficult for middle-income folks.

4) Solar Energy....LoL. Why don't we just put every fat person in the country on a tread mill with an armature in it. That'll generate about as much energy

I also don't understand how this "women are not paid equally" narrative has started. Every woman at my company gets paid the same as their male counterparts (same position and experience level). Does a female doctor or teacher get paid less than male? No. Women's overall salaries may be lower, but that does not mean they are getting paid less for comparable work. I simply don't get how this is an issue. Can someone explain?

[Bronco]

-
He was talking about how they pay women in the white house

BY: Andrew Stiles - April 11, 2012 2:52 pm

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

According to the 2011 annual report on White House staff, female employees earned a median annual salary of $60,000, which was about 18 percent less than the median salary for male employees ($71,000).

Calculating the median salary for each gender required some assumptions to be made based on the employee names. When unclear, every effort was taken to determine the appropriate gender.

The Obama campaign on Wednesday lashed out at presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney for his failure to immediately endorse the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, a controversial law enacted in 2009 that made it easier to file discrimination lawsuits.

President Obama has frequently criticized the gender pay gap, such as the one that exists in White House.
http://freebeacon.com/hostile-workplace" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Franks Tanks]

-
He was talking about how they pay women in the white house

BY: Andrew Stiles - April 11, 2012 2:52 pm

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

According to the 2011 annual report on White House staff, female employees earned a median annual salary of $60,000, which was about 18 percent less than the median salary for male employees ($71,000).

Calculating the median salary for each gender required some assumptions to be made based on the employee names. When unclear, every effort was taken to determine the appropriate gender.

The Obama campaign on Wednesday lashed out at presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney for his failure to immediately endorse the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, a controversial law enacted in 2009 that made it easier to file discrimination lawsuits.

President Obama has frequently criticized the gender pay gap, such as the one that exists in White House.
http://freebeacon.com/hostile-workplace" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Gotcha thanks.

That is only a problem if the men and women have an even distribution of roles and experience. The men may be paid more on average, but they can have more high profile roles and more experience to earn the higher pay. How is this just glossed over?

[Gil Dobie]

Watched H5O recorded from Monday

[Baldy]

I didn't see the propaganda speech. What'd I miss?

Same right leaning centrist, now with the shackles off, pandering ever more to the Republican Party.

(it was actually in the background as I was doing stuff around the house. I have no clue what he said and I'm positive none of it really matters. )

Obama's proposals:

1. A bigger, more aggressive federal government.
2. Continuing to prop up Obamacare
3. Raising the minimum wage.
4. More intrusive gun control.

Gotta give it to kalm, he knows right leaning centrist boilerplate conkspeak when he hears it.

[D1B]

Same right leaning centrist, now with the shackles off, pandering ever more to the Republican Party.

(it was actually in the background as I was doing stuff around the house. I have no clue what he said and I'm positive none of it really matters. )

Obama's proposals:

1. A bigger, more aggressive federal government.
2. Continuing to prop up Obamacare
3. Raising the minimum wage.
4. More intrusive gun control.

Gotta give it to kalm, he knows right leaning centrist boilerplate conkspeak when he hears it.

Baldy, how many loads did you blow on your 19" Sears Boob Tube when Rubio was hacking dustballs?

[houndawg]

Obama's proposals:

1. A bigger, more aggressive federal government.
2. Continuing to prop up Obamacare
3. Raising the minimum wage.
4. More intrusive gun control.

Gotta give it to kalm, he knows right leaning centrist boilerplate conkspeak when he hears it.

Baldy, how many loads did you blow on your 19" Sears Boob Tube when Rubio was hacking dustballs?

Just one, but it was really small.

[kalm]

Same right leaning centrist, now with the shackles off, pandering ever more to the Republican Party.

(it was actually in the background as I was doing stuff around the house. I have no clue what he said and I'm positive none of it really matters. )

Obama's proposals:

1. A bigger, more aggressive federal government.
2. Continuing to prop up Obamacare
3. Raising the minimum wage.
4. More intrusive gun control.

Gotta give it to kalm, he knows right leaning centrist boilerplate conkspeak when he hears it.

Boy howdy do I!

I disagree with everything on that list. Do you think that "change" is really going to come about this time?

[Baldy]

Baldy, how many loads did you blow on your 19" Sears Boob Tube when Rubio was hacking dustballs?

Just one, but it was really small.

If your ol' lady would open her eyes and her mouth a little wider, she woulda seen and caught the whole load.

[Baldy]

Obama's proposals:

1. A bigger, more aggressive federal government.
2. Continuing to prop up Obamacare
3. Raising the minimum wage.
4. More intrusive gun control.

Gotta give it to kalm, he knows right leaning centrist boilerplate conkspeak when he hears it.

Boy howdy do I!

I disagree with everything on that list. Do you think that "change" is really going to come about this time?

Of course not. There will continue to be $1,000,000,000,000+ deficits, high unemployment, sluggish economy, etc.

[houndawg]

Just one, but it was really small.

If your ol' lady would open her eyes and her mouth a little wider, she woulda seen and caught the whole load.

She was trying to not laugh.