McDonalds Math, Or, Latest Lib Talking Points Fail

[UPDATE: The Huffington Post has now withdrawn their original story, with an admission of the error described below]

The Huffington Post popularizes some McDonalds level math:

Doubling McDonald's Salaries Would Cause Your Big Mac To Cost Just 68¢ More: Study

McDonald's can afford to pay its workers a living wage without sacrificing any of its low menu prices, according to a new study provided to The Huffington Post by a University of Kansas researcher.

Doubling the salaries and benefits of all McDonald's employees -- from workers earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour to CEO Donald Thompson, whose 2012 compensation totaled $8.75 million -- would cause the price of a Big Mac to increase just 68 cents, from $3.99 to $4.67, University of Kansas research assistant Arnobio Morelix told HuffPost. In addition, every item on the Dollar Menu would go up by 17 cents.

And how did he come to this conclusion?

Morelix looked at McDonald's 2012 annual report and discovered that only 17.1 percent of the fast-food giant's revenue goes toward salaries and benefits. In other words, for every dollar McDonald's earns, a little more than 17 cents goes toward the income and benefits of its more than 500,000 U.S. employees.

Thus, if McDonald's executives wanted to double the salaries of all of its employees and keep profits and other expenses the same, it would need to increase prices by just 17 cents per dollar, according to Morelix.

I don't suppose we can expect Huffers to actually read the annual report in question, but here it is. And what do we glean?

From the Consolidated Statement of Income (p. 30) we see that "Payroll and Employee Benefits" came to $4,710.3 (in millions, or $4,710,300,000, which is even past A-Rod territory.) Total Revenue was $27,567 (in millions). Dividing 4,710 by 27,567 yields 17.1%, which we take to be the 17% used by Morelix.

However! McDonalds reports a net revenue from both the stores it operates and its franchise fees. The McDonalds franchisors are separate businesses which pay a fee to McDonalds Corp and are responsible for their own payroll, as is discussed in the annual report (p. 13).

So Morelix has not included the payroll figure for the franchisees in this calculation. Is that a big problem? Huge, actually. From page 11 we see that their are 6,598 outlets run directly by McDonalds Corp and 27,882 franchised outlets. Sales from franchised outlets totalled $69,687 (in million) in 2012, which far exceeds the $18,602 (mm) revenue figure for company-operated stores. That $69 billion figure is condensed down to $8.9 billion of franchise revenue on the Consolidated Statement of Income (The rest of the $27,567 MM in total revenue comes from sales at McDonalds run stores).

Which leaves us where? Doubling all the salaries at McDonalds headquarters and in their 6,598 stores would be offset by a total revenue increase of 17%, but the franchisees won't be agreeing to pay more in franchise fees and won't be raising their payroll (the size of which we haven't found in this report) in the 27,882 stores they operate. And yes, that slides right past the question of how to deal with their international operations.

If I were inclined to press down this road I would compare the $18 billion of revenue from McDonalds run stores with the payroll figure of $4.7 billion; that ratio is 26%. By that calculation, McDonalds would need to raise all its prices by 26% at its own stores in order to double all of its direct payroll expenses, which presumably includes a lot of non-hamburger flippers at headquarters. Hey, 17%, 26%, de nada - that is only a 50% error and it's not my money anyway!

Or from a different tack - the McDonalds-operated stores average $2.8 million in sales per store. The franchisees average $2.5 million per store, so they are on average a bit smaller but close enough that maybe we can wave our hands and pretend they are the same. That suggests that if the franchisees cost structure looks like the parent company then they can double their payroll and recoup the additional expense by raising prices by 26%.

Of course, that is a big if. And it assumes that there are no elasticities - consumers don't switch to Wendy's, franchisees don't finally buy that expensive whiz-bang machine that eliminates two jobs, and so on. One might argue that if minimum wage legislation obliged Wendy's and other fast food chains to also raise payroll costs that all of them would be obliged to raise prices and some of the consumer substitution would be mitigated. One might also wonder why McDonalds and their franchisees have been so beneficient as to forebear a 26% price increase, taking all that new revenue straight to the bottom line. Have they forgotten to be greedy, or are they already charging as much as they think consumers will pay?

Moreever, there is yet another problem. The fundamental premise is that McDonalds customers will pay more, thereby raising the living standard of the McDonalds employees. That would be fine if Mitt Romney and his sons were over-represented in the McDonalds demographic, but I bet they aren't. My guess is that working- and middle-class families make up the bulk of McDonalds customers, which means the working class and middle class will be reaching into their non-capacious pockets to elevate the lifestyle of McDonalds workers, not all of whom are themselves in the working class. I don't want to say "Voodoo economics", but a regressive 'tax' to help those with jobs may not be the path to prosperity.

Get back to me when the workers are striking at Le Bernardin. And bring the real math.

DIFFERING INTUITIONS:

I adore this from Think Progress:

Currently, a minimum wage McDonalds employee makes $7.25 per hour. The CEO makes $8.75 million. But if the former were raised to $15 and the latter to $17.5 million, the dollar menu would only have to become the $1.17 menu and the Big Mac would go from $3.99 to $4.67, Morelix found.

If the CEO’s pay remained the same but low-wage workers earned more, the price difference for customers would be negligible.

We are talking about doubling a $4.7 billion payroll but in their estimation, saving $8.75 million by not raising the CEO pay would make room for negligible price hikes. Ok.

Back in reality, if we double the CEO pay then the reported "Payroll and Employee Benefits" as shown in the annual report would rise from $4,710.3 MM to $4,719.0 MM. Not quite a rounding error.

COLOR ME SHOCKED: A HuffPo correction:

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misrepresented Arnobio Morelix as a researcher for the University of Kansas. Morelix is registered as a undergraduate student at the university, according to University of Kansas School of Business Communications Director Austin Falley.

Yup, that is what they say at the Daily Kansan. Would it be fair to say that libs will believe anything and print anything that fits The Narrative?

MORE ILLUMINATING MOMENTS IN NUMERACY: House Representative Keith Ellison (D, MN) loves the idea of McDonalds charging more to pay more:

Advertising executive Donny Deutsch pointed to a new study by Arnobio Morelix, a research assistant at the University of Kansas, who found that McDonald’s could pay its workers $15 an hour if it increased the price of its Big Mac by 68 cents ($3.99 to $4.67) and increased its Dollar Menu items by 17 cents.

“I would pay $0.17 for somebody to be able to feed their family,” Ellison stated.

Seventeen cents?!? Big spending from a Congressman making well over $100K. But here in reality, we are asking Joe Walmart to pay an extra dollar on a four dollar tab to boost the fortunes of Jane McDonald. Since a Big Mac meal already runs more than that, well, mangia!

OVER AT CJR: Ryan Chittum gets a link from Matt Drudge for this well-researched debunking at CJR:

A Big Mac miss by The Huffington Post

This affirms my faith in the power of positive hand-waving:

Worldwide, those franchisees took in $70 billion in revenue last year, and US stores took in $31 billion of that. McDonald’s Corporation doesn’t break out similar expense numbers for its franchisees, so the best I can do is research from Janney Capital Markets. It puts labor costs for US franchises at 24 percent of sales, which gibes with McDonald’s company-owned stores. Janney estimates franchisee operating income at just 5 percent.

If Janney is right (and I’m a bit skeptical. Five percent margins seem awfully low), McDonald’s franchisees in the US pay out, very roughly, $7.4 billion in labor costs a year and make about $1.6 billion in operating profit. Doubling pay without dipping into profit would mean menu prices would have to rise 24 percent—and that’s assuming such price increases wouldn’t hurt sales, which they would.

24%, versus my estimate of 26%. Confidence-enhancing.

Comments

[Nick N. Y.]

First! Yay!

Meow! Pft! Pft!

[Ignatz]

What's the matter with Kansas?

[jimmyk]

And apart from all those problems, the assumption is that a 17% price increase results in a 17% revenue increase? Gosh, why didn't McDonald's think of that!? That UK researcher should run to McD's and let them know immediately!

[Some Guy]

Arnobio Morelix?

Yeah, right.

[Porchlight]

HEY. The people in China who make Apple devices don't get paid enough! Let's force Apple to raise the price of an iPhone by $100. Problem solved.

[Dave (in MA)]

The Huffers fail to comprehend that McConsumers could just switch to a menu item offering more value for their money.

[polly]

I saw the striking McDonald's workers in New York on the television yesterday, and it made me very angry. One reason given by one girl wanting an increase in pay was that she had to pay $2,000 a month for rent! Where on earth does she live? When my youngest daughter moved to NY seven years ago and shared an apt., her rent was much, much less. Albeit, the apt. was over a tattoo parlor near 3rd and 4th street, but she was very happy there.

[Dave (in MA)]

Why not just make it $22?

[Nick N. Y.]

As recently as only three years, Obama's State Department was projecting that the Keystone Pipeline would bring 50,000 new jobs to the middle of our country, alone. For strictly self-serving reasons, Obama said yesterday that it will bring "50 new jobs". From which you can draw your own conclusions, although it might be interesting to learn the differences between what Democrats an Republicans consider an evaluation of our POTUs' motives on just that issue.

[Some Guy]

"Math is hard"

[Danube on iPad]

"the assumption is that a 17% price increase results in a 17% revenue increase"

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that if that were so, unless McDonald's were badly mismanaged the prices would already be 17% higher.

[Ignatz]

I've never understood by what reason lefties always seem to believe there is a practical limit to this "logic".
Why not raise the minimum wage by a factor of ten?

Surely if $15 an hour is good and without serious consequence then $75 an hour is five times better.

A guy making $75 an hour can afford a $7.50 Big Mac better than a guy making $14.50 can afford a $4.67 one.

If we just raised it to $750 an hour we could eliminate not only poverty but the middle class as well and with an unlimited Big Mac budget we could become a nation of Michael Moores over night.

Could someone check my math? I'm eating.

[NK]

I was told there was no math on this BLOG!

polly-- hope your daughter enjoyed living in my hometown... tattoo parlor and all.

[Some Guy]

I've never understood by what reason lefties always seem to believe there is a practical limit to this "logic".

In economics, this is referred to as ‘the elasticity of stupidity’; there is no upper limit.

[polly]

NK, yes, and she is still enjoying it. She is married now and has two children and lives in Grammercy Park in a wonderful apartment. I do believe she likes the change.

[MarkO]

Join with me: I demand elasticity.

[Eric in Boise]

the assumption is that a 17% price increase results in a 17% revenue increase

You can't expect these experts on "profit and earnings ratios" to understand static vs. dynamic analysis, I suppose. In their world of unicorns, I'm sure many are convinced a tax of $100 or so on each burger sold worldwide would be a sensible way to balance the budget.

[Tom Maguire]

Join with me: I demand elasticity.

They are assuming no elasticity but that's a stretch.

[lyle]

In economics, this is referred to as ‘the elasticity of stupidity’; there is no upper limit.

Ding!

[Danube on iPad]

Iggy meant "no" practical limit.

[Danube on iPad]

Klansman Harry Byrd has assumed reoom temperature.

[Captain Hate]

So it wasn't Zsa Zsa who made HuffingChoads so stupid?

[NK]

Lies, Damnable Lies and Statistics.

15 or so years ago the WSJ Editorial page famously did a cash-flow analysis of Harvard U (it's a nonprofit, so it files annual reports with the Commonwealth of Mass.) Using Harvard's own endowment numbers, they proved that Harvard could grant an undergraduate degree to EVERY student, TUITION FREE in perpetuity. So why don't they? MONEY. Every asset owner has the property right to handle their asset using their own business judgment-- even Bay State nonprofits like Harvard. If McDs employees don't like the deal, they can move on to another job(or at least try to in the Obummer job market), if McDs customers don't like the deal they can go elsewhere. it's called freedom of choice-- Progs don't like free choice, 'cept when it comes to slaughtering the unborn.

[NK]

How is Tom M firing off these posts ON FAMILY VACATION?

[Skoot]

I thought it was the elasticity of the BVD's minus the calories of a double cheeseburger... hmm ..carry the 2...

Oh, sorry. It is not.

[Jim Miller]

In Washington state, McDonald's workers have been getting $9.19 an hour since 1 January.

(The state raised the minimum wage, and indexed it yearly for inflation in an initiative, so it went up in January.)

Many other states also have higher minimum wages.

(It would be fascinating to know whether there are edge effects because of Washington state's higher minimum. For instance, is there a cluster of fast food outlets just across the Idaho border from Spokane? I know that there is a significant amount of big-ticket shopping in Oregon because they don't have a general sales tax.

And BC shoppers often come down into northern Washington for similar reasons. Several years ago, one shopping center actually put in more trash bins because so many BC shoppers were coming down in old coats, buying new ones, and discarding the old in the parking lot. The customs people were supposed to charge them, I think, but you can't check every coat across that border.)

[Extraneus]

If only GM and Chrysler had raised their prices by 43%, they wouldn't have needed bailouts and Detroit would be booming!

[NK]

Ext@5:44-- HEH!!

[NK]

OT-- the trail grows warmer to the IRS Chief Counsel and the WH and ChiTown (Axel-Plouffe). Give Lerner immunity, an nail the bastards:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-30/republican-leaning-groups-had-more-irs-scrutiny-analysis.html

[MarkO]

Words fail:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/07/29/mann-steyn-lawsuit-judge-inverts-the-defendants-botches-ruling/

Look her up.

[Ignatz]

--Iggy meant "no" practical limit.--

No, I meant they apparently do think there is a practical limit, because they, at least the sane ones, never propose the minimum wage be $100 or $150 an hour.

If we can separate wages from market forces and value of the labor performed to raise the standard of living without harm, why not go for a full divorce and raise everyone to the upper class by the same mechanism?

If their theory as it is advanced is correct then what logical or economic mechanism would prevent it from working at any level?

[rich@gmu]

They are assuming no elasticity but that's a stretch.

Posted by: Tom Maguire | July 30, 2013 at 05:23 PM

Very clever. gave me a chuckle even though I did crappy in my micro class.

[Extraneus]

Careful Rand, Christie can still land a punch.

“I find it interesting that Sen. Paul is accusing us of having a ‘gimme, gimme, gimme’ attitude towards federal spending when in fact New Jersey is a donor state and we get 61 cents back on every dollar we send to Washington,” Christie said. “And interestingly, Kentucky gets $1.51 on every dollar they send to Washington. So if Sen. Paul wants to start looking at where he’s going to cut spending to afford defense, maybe he should start cutting the pork barrel spending that he brings home to Kentucky…”

[rich@gmu]

Krispy Kream and Kook Jr.

Would it be unseemly of me to want both to lose?

[NK]

The numbers are the numbers, NY, NJ and Ct are massive LOSERS in the Fed tax cash flow, and many red states are net winners. So? who does that make fools of?-- why we idiots in the NY Metro states.

[rich@gmu]

***is there a cluster of fast food outlets just across the Idaho border from Spokane?***

In Coeur d'Alene?

[NK]

"Krispy Kream and Kook Jr.
Would it be unseemly of me to want both to lose?"

ah? I got nothin.

[Danube on iPad]

My bad, Iggy.

[rich@gmu]

NK-

isn't that the argument the Dems make anyway? needless to say I'm not surprised that Fat Christy and Paul would be getting into a dick measuring contest. Maybe Weiner can judge.

[pagar]

Why do we have this "Send to Washington" craziness? It simply produces more bureaucrats and more control at the federal level. End the Madness, IMO.

[Ignatz]

--My bad, Iggy.--

Wasn't that bad, DoT. I thought you were right and I had to go back and reread it a couple of times before I figured out what I meant myself. :(

[Red Slime Rules]

A Big Mac, yeah. But what about those other burgers?

I want a Quarter-Pounder like those misers who have the last nickel they ever earned. Imagine expecting single-moms to give up the 3rd job because they are forced into a living wage.

Keep pounding those quarters folks. It takes 4 of 'em to make a dollar. Let's keep the freedom of corporate work houses. If people don't wanna work for bananas and peanuts, screw 'em.

[Ignatz]

I love it when a big government, welfare state supporter from a rich urban state like Christie whines about all his rich constituent's tax money going to poor rural states without massive urban centers of wealth.

Why, it's almost like they don't believe a damned word they say.

[Danube on iPad]

But you are indeed right - they implicitly acknowledge that there must be some sort of limit, while never for a moment considering that market forces detemine that limit. The limit appears to be what seems about right to them.

[Scott]

There's a correction at the HuffPo post. Turns out the "researcher" is actually an undergrad student.

Wonder if he's had Accounting 101 yet?

[Marlene]

Jim Miller @ 5:43...the BC shoppers must be as clever as the Maritime provinces shoppers. They do the same thing in Maine. It is easy to layer newly purchased clothing in the winter. Coats,sweaters,shoes,a whole new wardrobe going thru customs!
Of course,certain Mainers *ahem* going to NH tend to do quite a bit of sales tax free shopping.

[NK]

Not accurate to call Christie a 'welfare state supporter'-- he went after teachers' unions -- and other Dem sacred budget cows-- even before Walker.

[Account Deleted]

"Wonder if he's had Accounting 101 yet?"

Four times, so far. He's hoping for an easier prof this fall.

He knows all the verses to the Pitzer Droolin' Cretins coexist chant though.

[narciso]

That struck me as a nonsequitor, best taken up with former Senator Bunning or McConnell, Rand wants to cut back spending, including military spending right, Christie was so willing to accept federal education funding, that he scapegoated Schundler, for the fraud some state ed bureaucrats committed.

[rich@gmu]

Some undergraduate is yammering about raising the min wage for McDonald's workers, but a new wave of workers will be in line for those jobs:

MAG: Boehner's Strategy To Slow-Walk Immigration Bill To Finish Line...
McCain: We can get rid of those extra border agents in conference committee...
Top GOP donors tell party to legalize illegals...

So when we leaglize them would we then need to bring in a new wave for the jobs Americans won't do?

[narciso]

You know there's probably a case Christie could make, but as the comments show, today is not that day;

http://minx.cc/?post=342095

[hard tac leeward]

MIckeyD's joins the ranks of responsible employers who provide freeeeeee counseling on how to get food stamps and welfare (Walmart) or how to live on a dollar-a-day. Free maps to 99 cent stores as well as economic advice and gift cards for Salvation Army so their kids can have shoes. It's the least they can do.

They really want to help their minimum wagers learn to stop eating and paying rent and ENJOY their lives. Life is more than money, after all.

[Marlene]

Jack,if you check in on this thread,yes we've been to Stonewall Kitchen Cafe a few times. It is a little bistro in the Stonewall Kitchen Company
store.This time of year,it is a tourist destination (think L.L.Bean). We've learned the best time to shop at those places is the dead of winter. :)

[Ignatz]

--Not accurate to call Christie a 'welfare state supporter'-- he went after teachers' unions -- and other Dem sacred budget cows-- even before Walker.--

Christie is a liberal who can do basic math and when he gets an answer he doesn't like faces the facts.

What part, even a tiny one, of the welfare state has he ever proposed eliminating?

[rich@gmu]

Life is more than money, after all.

****

Life is money. Greed is Good.

[Account Deleted]

Rich,

I'd like to see the Club of Rome study the Connecticut Hedgehog Bathhouse Billionaires are using to justify their approach to immigration. I know Rove will perform as long as the money keeps coming but it's been nine years since he was hands on with a campaign and he sounds more like Schrum ever time he cashes another check.

[Captain Hate]

Rove has been delivering Shrum quality performances starting in 2006.

[Extraneus]

Paul: Christie is the 'king of bacon' on government spending

"What does he want to do, shut down military bases in Kentucky?" he said.

Fort Campbell and Fort Knox, both Army bases, are located in Kentucky. New Jersey itself is home to a large joint military base that houses the McGuire Air Force base; Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst; and Fort Dix, an Army base.

"In order to have enough money for national defense, which I think is a priority for the government, you have to be willing to cut spending in other places," Paul continued. "And Governor Christie and others have been part of this 'gimme gimme gimme','give me all this money.'"

He was referring to Christie's requests for federal relief aid after Superstorm Sandy slammed into the Northeast last fall. Congress ultimately passed more than $50 billion in aid to the states affected by the storm.

But Paul said the aid should have been appropriated "in a responsible way." The senator blasted Christie for the same reason on Sunday, saying Christie and others were "bankrupting" the government.

Throwing more fuel on the fire, Paul said Tuesday that Christie should be careful about choosing his battles.

"It's not helping the party for him to pick a war with me. It's a big mistake. It's not very smart. And it's not a good way to grow the party," Paul said, adding that the Republican Party is "shrinking" in the Northeast. "Why would he want to pick a fight with the one guy who has a chance to grow the party by appealing to the youth and appealing to people who would like to see a more moderate and less aggressive foreign policy?"

Seems like Christie left a mark.

[narciso]

I know consider the source, but I was struck by how little other candidates have done, since she raised the trial balloon,

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/07/30/ppp-poll-palin-leads-alaska-republican-senate-primary-by-10-points/

[hard tac leeward]

Christie might be the King of Bacon, but he''ll always be Christie Creme to me. Apologies to the Dunkin donut fans.

[narciso]

Actually, he's probably at the Mark Shields level of success at this point.

[matt]

New York has become the poster child for the new Byzantium along with its twin city, DC. Crony capitalism and the oligarchy.

NYC has driven the middle class, and now the poor out. I have no sympathy whatsoever. The wounds are all self inflicted.

One product of the strike, I will guess is that we will see more and more Somali and Mexican McDonald's workers. They are willing to live 15 to a room in shifts in order to send money home.

NYC continues to price itself upwards, but at some point the system hollows out and the rich will also be forced to abandon Park Avenue and the Village and Chelsea for more reasonable pastures. Manhattan will become the Ile de la Cite' with Mammon replacing religion.

[suburban gal]

AI really don't know why (actually yes it is the law of economic ignorance which seems required of reporters) they keep pulling up this old chestnut about return of tax dollars sent. If everyone were to get back the exact amount, proportionately, then why pay the taxes to a central processing agent? That requires only a little thought. Then there is the difference of business tax paid, population size, and overall state wealth. And federal installations, and, and.....The whole notion is silly.

[hard tac leeward]

"One product of the strike, I will guess is that we will see more and more Somali and Mexican McDonald's workers. They are willing to live 15 to a room in shifts in order to send money home."

It's a Win/Win.

[narciso]

Well the link was to the Economist, to which Bagehot would weep, at it's poor analytical
capacity, in the gotcha graph,

[rse]

Matt-

this video was mentioned in today's post. http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resources/park-avenue-how-much-inequality-too-much

Watch it when you get the chance. It is a dangerous video to leave out and not respond to because it turns into a Koch bashing and Walker bashing screed and at the end of the day the 1% of the 1% actually largely profit from the crony/ oligarchy/govt emphasis that comes out of this inequality hype.

And the way that game of monopoly is portrayed. This becomes the image of capitalism. Also the presentation of Atlas Shrugged. A debater could cut their chops responding to this.

[rse]

narciso-why would Walter Bagehot weep?

[narciso]

the problem, rse, is that they are operating in the shadow of corrosive paradigms, like the Medici's adoption of Ignite, and the OCS drilling ban;

http://spectator.org/archives/2013/07/30/the-gop-rabbits-or-tigers

[narciso]

At how they have been handmaids to statism.

[Jim Miller]

"In Coeur d'Alene?"

rich@gmu - I was thinking more of the commercial strip that -- as I recall -- stretches between the two cities. But it's been many years since I visited that area.

FWIW, the Wikipedia article on Coeur d'Alene says that "retail has expanded greatly in recent years with the opening of new stores and entertainment venues".

In some products, Idaho farmers compete very directly with farmers in eastern Washington, and I would expect the minimum wage difference to give a little edge to the Idaho farmers, especially if they raise labor-intensive crops.

[daddy]

Good Morning!

Can the Horses@#t can any deeper over at SLATE?

Before You Have Kids Don’t get a dog.

A very nonscientific survey of almost everyone I know who had a dog and then had kids now wishes they had never got the dog. This is a near universal truth, even for parents with just one child, though I have more.

[Danube of Thought]

It is nonsense to pretend, for instance, that at this date there is something daring and original about proclaiming yourself an anarchist....The daring thing, or at any rate the unfashionable thing, is to believe in God or to approve of the capitalist system.

--George Orwell (1950)

[Danube on iPad]

Dunno, daddy. A stepdaughter had a young yellow lab they just loved, but when the first baby arrived they finally had to put him (the dog) up for adoption. That's a sample of one....

[narciso]

Wait but isn't like those one armed ATMs;

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/07/30/obama-visits-big-biz-to-say-hes-helping-small-biz-by-pushing-policies-that-help-big-biz/

[narciso]

the proper description of a weasel:

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/07/30/Fast-Terry-Film-Rocks-VA-Governor-Race

[Jim Miller]

Most dogs I've seen seem to like having a baby around because (1) the baby has an interesting new smell, (2) the baby will often let the dog lick its hands and face, and (3) the baby often drops edibles on the floor.

But dogs can differ greatly, just like people.

[maryrose]

Jim Miller:
There is actually a blog post with a little boy and his airedale growing up together. The dog is very gentle with the boy from very early on when he is just an infant. They even take naps together. They seem to be best friends and do everything together.

[Ignatz]

I know this may come as a shock, but lots of people who have dogs keep them outside and even if they do let them inside they do archaic things like train them to behave and stay where they should.

The problem isn't the dog, it's the idiot parents who fashionably coddle their pets like they're particularly spoiled children.
Then, when the spoiled pets interact with the spoiled kids of the clueless, idiot parents who should not have had either pets or kids, pandemonium ensues.

Puts the parents in a kennel and solve the problem.

[daddy]

And here I thought that just yesterday we learned Is McDonald's double cheeseburger the cheapest most nutritious food ever? Apparently so...

[maryrose]

Iggy-LOL!
I am not a dog person. When the rottweiler from next door wandered into our yard by mistake, I immediately called his master to retreive him.

[hard tac leeward]

Dogs WANT to know what YOU want. Could training and communication be a mystery and unrelated to any owner's personal responsibility?

[Danube on iPad]

I love Fredo, our golden retriever, very deeply. I would never dream of making him stay outside; he sleeps every night on the floor along my side of the bed. He has never met a living soul, including cats, with whom he doesn't try to make friends (the cats tend not to understand).

As Mark Twain said, when I die if there are no dogs in heaven then I want to go where the dogs are.

[daddy]

Well this instant I am back once again at the Guangzhou Hotel having breakfast with dozens of Western parents, each proudly sitting with their brand new adopted Chinese baby girls. Always heartwarming and always a bit of tear jerker, especially seeing the occasional cleft lip youngster being toted around by their new Momma. ( 2 gorgeous little gals within 3 feet of me as I type this:)

Very much smiling by all the parents, and some glee but much mystification on the faces of the new kids, but also great to see that many of these families already have an older Chinese or Western brother or sister excitedly helping welcome their new siblings.

Looks to me like they have everything they need
---loving committed parents
---decent prospects for good health and a decent life
---and brand new brothers and sisters

All it looks like they're lacking to me, is a dog:

I rest my case!

[narciso]

It is striking how little this is remarked upon;

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-07-30/myth-busting-lakshman-achuthan-us-worse-japan-90s

[Gus]

I have a great idea and it will solve the McDonalds dilemna!! LETS' CREATE OBAMACARE, pass it on Christmas Eve, by one party rule, and then let people READ IT!!!! Those working at McDonalds can NOW GET 29 hours!!!! Yes, that's right, they'll get 29 hours @ week. The LIBTARDS will see to it that these low skills laborers NEVER have enough money to live on...THEN....THIS IS THE GOOD PART!!!!! The GOVERNMENT forces them to BUY (HEHEHEHEHEHHE yes they must buy)healthcare policies on 27% less INCOME!!!
IT'S GENIUS!!! PURE GENIUS. LIBTARDS are for the LITTLE GUY!!!!!
Then we blame the GOP.

[jimmyk]

Seems like Christie left a mark.

Nah, Christie's a blowhard. As suburban gal @7:29 said, these net flow calculations are stupid. They have little to do with pork, and mostly to do with the progressive income tax, which I don't hear Christie proposing to eliminate.

[Some Guy]

Puts the parents in a kennel and solve the problem.

A dog trainer once remarked to me, “I don’t train dogs, they already know what to do, I train people. Unfortunately, I have to train a lot of stupid people with very smart dogs, it’s a dangerous combo.”

[Gus]

Christie is an idiot. Rand Paul does not run Kentucky, nor does he beg for Federal aid.
Christie does run N.J. and he begs for federal aid.

[daddy]

I've never understood by what reason lefties always seem to believe there is a practical limit to this "logic".
Why not raise the minimum wage by a factor of ten?

And if you can raise the price of your product without any consequence from the purchasing public who can swap to your competitors, who produce a similar product at much less cost, then it necessarily follows that Solyndra must be doing wonderful now, reaping huge profits and creating an enormous amount ofUS jobs, regardless that their competitors underprice them by 4 dollars a unit.

How'd that work out again?

[daddy]

And of course if like they do in Germany, they added a few different beverages to the Menu, I might consider forking over an extra 17%

[Danube on iPad]

"Looks to me like they have everything they need"

Except white privilege, daddy. Somehow I think they'll do fine without it. How many of them do you think will be quaffing Purple Drank at age 17? See any Budding No Limit Niggas in the group?

[Skoot]

There are recent studies that suggest a pet in the house with an infant reduces childhood allergies significantly. Two pets and all these crazy allergies are almost nonexistent.

I've a cat and a dog. My kids have no allergies. Works for me:)

[daddy]

I recall when the IPCC's "settled science" Climate Report was discovered to have been based on some College students interviews with mountaineers.

Now another College Student is authoritatively quoted to instruct McDonalds, the most amazing Free Market success story in America, and IIRC the worlds largest Toy Distributor, how to profitably run it's business.

Yet somehow it's the Right, that when it's not waging it's War Against Women" is waging a War Against Science.

[Steve]

Mark Levin on the Neil Cavuto Show - 2nd week of "Phony Scandals" and more:

http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2013/07/mark-levin-on-neil-cavuto-show-phony.html

[Skoot]

"Mississippi used to have free universal cotton care." - Iowahawk hits the shovel on the head.

[narciso]

How does the saying the fish rots from the head first;

[jimmyk]

Hey, Taranto just tweeted a link to this thread:

James Taranto ‏@jamestaranto

Looks as if @julietlapidos http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/30/how-much-would-you-pay-for-a-big-mac/ … needs another correction. [link to JOM]

[Porchlight]

Gus, I love your 8:57. But remember, it's entirely the greedy corporations' fault for cutting the workers' hours down below 30.

[Gus]

Narciso, I know a VERY wise 12 year old. When asked why the Country was so f@3ked up under Obama....he replied. "We are under new management".

[the wolf]

The fundamental premise is that McDonalds customers will pay more, thereby raising the living standard of the McDonalds employees.

And that's just McDonald's. What happens when John Q. Public also has to foot the bill for this increase at the drug store, movie theater, etc etc? They forgot the "think" part at Think Progress.