We’ve Been Stimulated
Monday, June 30th, 2008and it feels so satisfying. 
Finally, our check arrived.
Davis-Bacon
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008Davis-Bacon is costing us big time! Forget minimum wage. The US Congress is slipping in language to every bill of late that requires inflated wages for the projects taxpayers fund.
The Wall Street Journal yesterday explained what’s been going on.
What do the farm bill, the cap-and-trade global warming bill, the clean water bill, the housing bailout bill, and the school construction bill all have in common? Not much, except that in each one and countless others the Democratic majority in Congress has inserted “prevailing-wage” requirements that amount to a super-minimum wage.
We’re speaking of Davis-Bacon, the 1931 law that originally applied to road building and other federal construction projects and set a floor on wages in part to price black and Mexican workers out of the work. Today, its main impact is to require de facto union wages. Many reputable studies have estimated that Davis-Bacon inflates federal construction costs by anywhere from 5% to 39%. A Heritage Foundation analysis of wage data reports that in many cities the mandated Davis-Bacon wage is twice as high as the market wage.
I am all for paying fair wages and the government should not be paying folks under the table. Yet, it should be bidding out the work and accepting the lowest cost for the spec, just like all government agencies do. Taxpayers should not pay escalated wages.
Congress should not be dictating wages, it should be negotiating fair wages on behalf of its stockholders constituents.
Great Adventure
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008Great Adventure is a Six Flags amusement park in Jackson, NJ. I recall the first time I went there. I was about 10 and my friend David and I went up. Yum Yum Palace (an ice cream joint) captured my attention much like the chocolate river in Willy Wonka and the artificial turf at Veterans Stadium the first time I walked in it.
Over the years I have visited this park many times. A few of my buddies and I were so good at pitching dimes, we would win the giant stuffed animals. I have vivid memories of when the Free Fall ride was brand-spanking new sitting on a bench babysitting four or five of these massive creatures while the others took their turn on the ride. Folks stopped and took photographs of me with all these stuffed animals. Getting them home was difficult as they did not fit well in the Cream Machine.
It had been some time since I visited, but Gert and I went about seven years ago. It was dreadful. While Yum Yum Palace was still there, it is just an overpriced ripoff. I suspect it had always been. On our way in there was a sign listing a few rides that were inoperable that day. During the day, several others went down. The Batman coaster went down with us in line . . . twice! Free Fall went down when we were two away.
The park was packed and it looked like instead of the families I recall from my youth, it was a bunch of gangbangers. It was not an enjoyable experience.
Tonight as I reviewed the news from the day, I stumbled across this little article. It seems that Great Adventure has decreased admission this year 16%. Wow! I am impressed. In a day and age when everything is skyrocketing (it seems), it is refreshing to see a business scale back. The reason given is that with gasoline prices escalating, this is their way of making the trip more affordable. I am sure it is. Whatever the reason, a 16% decrease is significant and one that I applaud.
I suspect Great Adventure will reap benefits from this move. The eCache household will not participate. The little ones are too small to appreciate that park right now. Perhaps by the time they are old enough, management will address the clientele.
Trade Shows
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008The Philadelphia Auto Show begins today. Tickets to enter are $10 online and $12 at the door. Philadelphia area McDonald’s have been issuing $2 off coupons.
A few years ago Gert, Beetle, and I attended a food show outside Philadelphia. We paid to enter this show. It is the only trade show I have attended. I suspect it will be the only one I ever do.
The premise of these shows is flawed for me. Why should I pay admission in order to purchase things? That seems wrong to me.
I am not a car guy so my interest in attending an auto show is nil. One would get to see new models of cars and some concept cars. How many regular folks purchase a car at a car show? Why pay $10 to see these cars? I just do not understand.
Atlantic City hosts a boat show. Again, entry fees to see boats for sale?
I guess I am old and a curmudgeon. I just don’t get it.
Does a Public Defense Have Limits?
Wednesday, October 10th, 2007The American legal system is based on the presumption of innocence. Coupled with that is that the indicted are entitled to representation. Does that representation have limits?
Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James has been indicted on multiple charges of corruption. This double-dipping pension hog certainly appears to be the poster boy for New Jersey corruption. Yet, I support the system and a trial should be held, the evidence presented, James should counter, and a jury will render a verdict. No problem.
Indicted along with James is his supposed girlfriend, Tamika Riley. It is alleged that Riley purchased lots of land that the Newark government sold cheap. She gobbled up all this land for $46,000 and flipped it immediately for more than $700,000. In addition, it is alleged that James escorted Riley around on the public tab.
So, Riley is mixed up in all this. She hires a lawyer. Apparently, the lawyer is a high-priced lawyer. And he wants to be paid. Riley claims she cannot afford to pay the tab so she petitioned the judge to get financial help from court. Note, that means that she is looking for public assistance. If this had been an automobile purchase, one would easily tell her to buy a less expensive model.
Yet, it is a long-standing custom for our legal system to provide representation for the poor. Personally, I think that is a good thing. Yet, that representation has to have limits. If I am poor, do I rate the public to foot the tab for Mark Geragos, Thomas Mesereau, or Robert Shapiro? I think not. Frankly, I would not expect a great legal mind to be provided free. And I’m okay with that.
Ms. Riley wants the public to pick up the tab for her lawyer. The judge denied the request. But lawyers being lawyers (sorry for the gratuitous swipe), an appeal will be made at the federal level. That request should be denied as well. The public does not need to foot Riley’s defense at the level she wants it. The Garden State is broke. We’re trying to lock her and the former mayor up in jail. We don’t want to pay a high price lawyer to muddle that. I think that is reasonable.