YOU TELL 'EM, GEORGE!

I've been defending oil company profits all week, saying we shouldn't tax them and that they are essentially a good thing. High profits in concert with a disgruntled buying public creates the greatest likelihood for research and development into alternative fuels.

Ol' Georgie agrees.

CNN.com - Bush rejects tax on oil companies' windfall profits

The Party of Benevolent Neglect

Since a number of people have been stumbling upon this blog who do not know either funkysmeegs or I, I thought I would take the chance to describe who we are and what we hope to accomplish.

We are The Mustachios. We are a group of young Americans who have come together to support one idea: Benevolent Neglect.

"Benevolent Neglect" is basically a libertarian idea. Regan's contention that "government is the problem" is a main principle of our ideology. However, we are by no means anachists.

While governments are necessary for many reasons, they have no place in the realm of the marketplace. A government, when truly good, will not intrude on the marketplace or on the rights of its citizens. Governments are best when they choose to not to interfere in the marketplace. The pre-Chinese Hong Kong is a perfect example of how "Benevolent Neglect" works to promote wealth and the economic health of a country.

The term "Benevolent Neglect" was originally coined by John Stossel in his special "Is America Number 1?"

Uh, oh.

So Much for Straight Talk

A Religion of Peace

The Chicago Tribune published a story a few days ago about an Afghan man who is being prosecuted for converting to Christianity with the possibility of facing a death sentence.

Volokh has a follow up, and links to the yesterday's State Departmet press briefing. In the Briefing, Sean McCormack said: "there are two sides to this... it is a test of the Afghan constitution," and that within the "confines of the Afghan constitution, this becomes a legal question."

When did this administration begin to buy into relativism? The Administration should not be able to pass this off as simply a legal question for Afghans. This is a human rights question, and an issue on which this Administration should take a much more concrete stance.

Food For Thought

By happenstance, I ran across this article regarding minimum wage mandates in New Mexico. I won't even paraphrase, because this is gold.

From the National Restaurant Association's newsletter, a piece titled "Santa Fe Wage Mandate: Living Isn't Easy".

Meeting payroll at Al Lucero's popular Maria's New Mexican Kitchen, in Santa Fe, N.M., got more challenging last month. Effective Jan. 1, Santa Fe's city-wide starting-wage mandate was set nearly 85 percent higher than the federal standard of $5.15. City Council raised the hourly rate to $9.50 in line with an ordinance passed two years ago to establish a so-called "living wage." The wage is scheduled to rise to $10.50 an hour in 2008. National Restaurant Association member Al Lucero explains the consequences for employees and customers.

Less-Skilled Hurt Most: All 60 of our employees make more than the federal minimum–their skills are worth more than $5.15 an hour. But this mandate undermines the American way of raising your wage by acquiring more education and skills. We had to eliminate overtime. At time-and-a-half, we were paying our entry-level employees $14.25 an hour. We can't afford that.

More Competition for Jobs: The problem: When you have a city wage law that sets an artificially high floor, less-skilled employees lose their jobs to more highly skilled applicants who are attracted to the new higher wage and who are more attractive to employers seeking to offset increased labor costs. The resulting increased competition for entry-level jobs displaces those who most need a job to improve their skills and consequently their hourly wage.

Santa Fe's Neighbors' Gain: High city-wide labor costs have made neighboring Espanola, N.M., and Albuquerque more attractive places to create jobs. recently, statewide restaurant chain Gaduno's of Mexico Restaurant & Cantina closed its Santa Fe location, and Chili's, which operates a lucrative employee stock plan, decided against opening here.

Price of Econimic Illiteracy: City Council mandated higher wages without thinking who would pay. They don't understand that when I sell a burger I'm lucky if I make 3 cents on the dollar. I can't just sell more burgers. We set prices as high as possible without driving away customers. Higher prices mean fewer customers, reducing the need for less-skilled employees–the group the ordinance is supposed to help.

Fool Me Once: Voters across the United States need to be educated. Restaurant owners have to tell it like it is. Call it a government mandate, not a "living wage". It's not a living wage if you no longer have a job! It's important that we talk about the consequences for employees, customers and city tax revenues. Your community could be next.

Roberts Declares Solomon Constitutional

The Supreme Court released a unanimous decision today by Chief Justice John Roberts upholding the Solomon Amendment against a 1st Amendment challenge. The Solomon Amendment uses Congress's spending power to force Law Schools to give equal access to military recruiters on campus. Before the Solomon Amendment was in force, many Law Schools refused to give equal access to military recruiters under the auspices of upholding their own anti-discrimination policies. The Law Schools argued that the Solomon Amendment in a sense forces them to change their anti-discrimination policies, and therefore limited their freedom of speech. The Supreme Court held that the Solomon Amendment does not compel speech, but instead compels action. The Court pointed out that the Law Schools are still free to say whatever they want, they have every right to express their outrage or tell students they don't agree, and therefore no first amendment right is violated.

Today, on All Things Considered, on NPR, Georgetown University Law Professor Chai Feldblum said "I read this opinion as a call to arms. The Supreme Court said that if you don't like the speech of the military, counter it with your own speech." Harold Koh, Dean of Yale Law School said: "I think it is very clear that they are inviting us to engage in more speech, not less, and that sounds to me like an invitation for Law Schools to speak."

Finally, members of the elite left understand the benefits of free speech and a free and open exchange of ideas. I only wish that they didn't act like it was such a shocking revelation.

Turn Away, Pope Benedict

Six hairy men, and nary a trace of clothing to be found. Adam better hope this never turns up in range of the Vatican's gaydar.