Minimum Facts From Washington Times
Minimum Facts From Washington Times
Morgan Spurlock — the guy who lived for a month on McDonalds in the movie “Super-Size Me” — has a new television project. In the first episode of his show, which will air on FX, Spurlock and his fiancée live on minimum wage for 30 days. In today’s Washington Times columnist John McCaslin has this to say about the episode:
The Department of Labor has set the federal minimum wage is $5.15 per hour, although many states have minimum wage laws that are higher. (If employees are subject to both the state and federal minimum wage, they are entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages.) Ohio, where Mr. Spurlock sought employment, is one of only two states with minimum wage rates lower than the federal rate, the other being Kansas, which might explain why he chose the state for filming. Had he chosen to stay home and look for work in California, he would have found the state’s minimum wage is higher than the federal rate.
McCaslin wants to give his readers the impression that Spurlock’s experience was uncommon because Ohio’s minimum wage is so low. That’s not true. Twenty-nine states have a minimum wage that is at or below the federal limit. Six states don’t have any minimum wage at all. In other words, 35 states have the exact same minimum wage as Ohio.
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This is awesome. Maybe more people can see the adverse effects of being chronically poor.
June 10th, 2005 at 11:57 amSpurlock is a genius. He and his fiancee are a true “point of light” in the Republican Dark Ages in which we now find ourselves.
June 10th, 2005 at 12:13 pmThank you, Morgan Spurlock.
June 10th, 2005 at 12:25 pmNow for someone to expose the companies that hire illegal immigrants to do the “work that Americans won’t do” for dirt wages, meanwhile using the practice to drive down wages and make the company mucho dinero.
June 10th, 2005 at 12:37 pmIn addition, the ire is focused on the immigrants for taking American jobs, when its the fault of the companies.
June 10th, 2005 at 12:39 pmMcCaslin sounds like a typical right winger who would dispute today being Friday if a democrat said so.
June 10th, 2005 at 2:10 pmAny decent copy editor would have flagged that “many” as too vague. There was an opening for a copy editor at the Times. Maybe I should infiltrate them and force them to tell the truth… if I could stand working there for more than a day.
June 10th, 2005 at 2:18 pmI wonder if someone studied the states that have no minimum wage, do you think they’d find that these states are typically very, very poor states? It’s interesting that all of them are in the ‘deep south’ except for Arizona, which has the ‘benefit’ of bordering a large pool of cheap labor and therefore probably doesn’t need a minimum wage.
June 10th, 2005 at 2:29 pmOsama Bin Laden said that he would bankrupt America.
June 10th, 2005 at 3:48 pmWhile he’s on the run dragging a dialysis machine around with him you wonder how much effort he is able to put toward his goal.
Bin Laden said it and Bushie is doing it..
Give Bushie three more years and you’ll have your proof.
As a card carrying Democrat, I want to stand up with Patrick and proudly say that, yes, today is Friday.
June 10th, 2005 at 4:21 pmWe don’t need Osama to bankrupt America. We are doing fine without him. The government now spends over $20,000 per year for every man woman and child, yet only a tiny portion of Americans pay this much in taxes. I’d like to see the vote tied to taxes paid. For every 10K you pay in income taxes, you get one vote. This would chop off about 60 million voters from the rolls immediately. It also would wipe the Democrat party off the map, but they are doing that anyway.
June 10th, 2005 at 5:57 pmMiss your nap, Paul?
June 10th, 2005 at 6:41 pmPaul,
I think our gov. is spending something like 70K a year on each Iraqi. It’s probably closer to 120K. Go back to sleep. And when you do wake up, die right.
June 10th, 2005 at 6:45 pmMcCaslin is a fool and a hack.
He’ll probably get a promotion.
June 10th, 2005 at 8:44 pmIs money wasted in the guise of Homeland Security included in that $20,000?
June 10th, 2005 at 9:53 pmThis goes to show that it is very important to PLAN YOUR UNEMPLOYMENT. Don’t just get fucked over by a bug-fucking bastard like Bush without having made plans.
But if by terrible fate and a sudden drop in government truth-telling (apparently because this numbnuts Paul guy above didn’t figure on the $600 billion Iraq invasion bill WIPING OUT the taxes paid by all the rich people in America in the last five years), and find yourself in Ohio feeling very much like Tecumseh, make sure you keep an eye on your shoes. You just never know when $50 million in rare coins that are missing will appear, magically, at your feet.
The other $250 million that is missing, Paul above, is missing for good — gone down the gullets of the most guilty bunch of bastards in US history — bastards you support to the point of wearing their rectums as a neckwarmer, and being damn proud of it.
June 10th, 2005 at 11:57 pmIf you get dumped by Auntie Sam (Bush’s party persona), don’t do it in Ohio.
But if you do find yourself stuck in Ohio without a plunger, look down!
There’s $50 million in loose change floating around somewhere in Ohio, and today could be your lucky day.
Either that, or rob a rich person. They seem to be asking for it.
June 11th, 2005 at 12:09 amThis Paul, different from the Paul in LA, has already descended far past wingnuttery.
June 11th, 2005 at 1:23 am“I think the biggest waste in America is allowing food stamps to be used for sugary snacks such as soda, ice cream, sugary cereals, and other sugary treats. ”
I just read the first sentence and posted. The guy is a wingnut, and he knows less about nuclear devices than a physices post grad., or even a first year physics major, but the second graf deserves a Welcome back, Buckshot.
June 11th, 2005 at 1:27 am“
I propose we dub Tony, Commander Pretzel, his twisted logic demands it, but he does tend to stick to his name.
Buckshot, Commander Cupcake or Commander Ding Dong, whatever name he shows up in. The reason should be obvious to most. Commander Ho-Ho or Commander Twinkie, because BS has a few friends. And Polish Sausage, well… he remains, as always, Commander Cocktail Weenie.
June 11th, 2005 at 1:53 amI cite this as a source and a justification for naming the trolls as such.
There is no simple “yes” or “no” answer to the question of whether the Chicago defendants intended to incite a riot in Chicago in 1968. Abbie Hoffman said, “I don’t know whether I’m innocent or I’m guilty.” The reason for the confusion–as Norman Mailer pointed out–was that the alleged conspirators “understood that you didn’t have to attack the fortress anymore.” All they had to do was “surround it, make faces at the people inside and let them have nervous breakdowns and destroy themselves.”
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/Account.html
June 11th, 2005 at 1:58 amUncle Sam whimpers uncle. Failed foreign policy. Impeach this idiot now.
US in talks with Iraqi insurgents
June 11th, 2005 at 6:31 am#11 Buckshot/Paul/Small wiener,
June 11th, 2005 at 10:50 amI guess you do not understand that Americans pay 45% of their income on taxes, 50% on the cost of living..Pleae learn math and understand that you are left with 5% of your income.
Can you get off the income tax and start adding property tax, food tax, gas tax, cable tax, internet tax, electric tax, phone tax and sales tax.
Thats the problem with Buckshot, he’s a tunnel thinker and can’t grasp the big picture.
Did I say ALL Homeland Security was a waste of money? No, I said the amount of money BEING wasted within Homeland Security, as in a percentage, high or low. Comprende?
June 11th, 2005 at 1:19 pmHe’s a White Nationalist. He’s KKK without the religion. He’s a nazi.
June 11th, 2005 at 1:40 pmOk we don’t have to agree with Buckshot/Paul or whoever he is but we can at least be civil. Calling him names like wiener and Nazi (which is offensive in an entirely different way, not only to the people who had to suffer through the holocaust but it also cheapens the true horror of it all) is not productive. If we give in to childish antics instead of steadfastly and directly destroying his arguments then we are exactly the same as the people we are fighting against.
June 11th, 2005 at 2:44 pmNo. I will call them as I see them. You call them as you see them. Where is Tony, pretzel boy? He will back me up. FREEEDOM!
June 11th, 2005 at 3:23 pmBuckshot? Paul? How about… Sybil?
June 11th, 2005 at 3:43 pmhttp://www.petitiononline.com/Dean/petition.html
June 11th, 2005 at 4:24 pmHe also goes by Ted, among others. He writes in a splatter fart style and can not be mistaken for anyone else.
June 11th, 2005 at 9:17 pmYou only have to get about two sentences in before you say, STUPID! You know who it is, and need not bother to read the name nor the rest of the comment.
He has got to be either a shut-in, or a pin head. (maybe a plant).
A plant? Like a ficus? A philodendron? Fern? Stinkweed!
June 12th, 2005 at 12:08 amGet me that weedkiller and a weed whacker!
June 12th, 2005 at 12:09 amI’m sure the article also conviently left out the differences of the cost of living in Caliornia compared to Podunk, Ohio.
As far as Morgan Spurlock, the proof is in the pudding, or in this case Big Macs. For all of the backlash Spurlock took from the Conservative Media who wanted to discount his engaging expose’ of the fast food giant, wht does it say when MacDonald’s instantly changed their meals into more consumer (as in digestive consumer) friendly meals.
Way to go Morgan! (I myself will never walk into a MacDonald’s again. I don’t care if it’s even for a coke!)
August 11th, 2005 at 3:48 pm