Doubling Down On The Wages Of Ignorance

Ryan Chittum, the new McTerminator of faux journalism, takes on everyone who swooned for the now-withdrawn Huffington Post article about Big Macs and doubled wages. And that is a long list - he has the links to ABC, MSNBC, Fox News, the NY Times, Forbes, the Business Insider, Think Progress and many more.

Yours truly gets a very nice mention for providing early pushback and I would like to thank Glenn Reynolds and James Taranto for sounding the trumpet. Jonathan Adler of the Volokh Conspiracy and the PowerGuys joined in, Ryan Chittum delivered a well-researched piece to which Matt Drudge linked, and away the story went. Literally.

Comments

[centralcal]

Way to go, Tom!

[Stee]

Dr Ben Carson Reacts to Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo on Race...

http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2013/08/talking-points-memo-update.html

Rush Limbaugh celebrates 25 years on the Air!
http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2013/08/video-rush-limbaugh-celebrates-25th.html

[rse]

And HuffPo published originally because it said what it wanted to be a new cultural meme. That paying everyone living wages is no big deal.

[Danube of Thought]

Congrats, Tom. Very nice work.

[Danube of Thought]

In what sense is Chittum using the word "aggregate?"

[sbwaters]

Regarding the Congressional Obummacare exemption referenced in the last thread:

Federalist #57 by James Madison, [emphasis added]

I will add, as a fifth circumstance in the situation of the House of Representatives, restraining them from oppressive measures, that they can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of the society. This has always been deemed one of the strongest bonds by which human policy can connect the rulers and the people together. It creates between them that communion of interests and sympathy of sentiments, of which few governments have furnished examples; but without which every government degenerates into tyranny. If it be asked, what is to restrain the House of Representatives from making legal discriminations in favor of themselves and a particular class of the society? I answer: the genius of the whole system; the nature of just and constitutional laws; and above all, the vigilant and manly spirit which actuates the people of America -- a spirit which nourishes freedom, and in return is nourished by it.

If this spirit shall ever be so far debased as to tolerate a law not obligatory on the legislature, as well as on the people, the people will be prepared to tolerate any thing but liberty.

Okay, Tapper, ask Carney to respond.

[JIB]

sbw,

I suspect Carney would refer you to the people of New York since that paper was addressed to them:)

Tapper would note that it was annunciated 225 years ago and that we have moved beyond all that kind of prudence.

[NK]

TomM-- take a Big Mac bow. Well done! (Bravo Zulu as DoT and Daddy might say)

[Rob Crawford]

From the linked piece:

That’s far more than you would ever get from, say, the serially wrong Matt Drudge.

Drudge links to other people's reporting, right? Why does this sentence feel like it was included primarily as a way of saying "hey, see, I'm still a lefty!"?

[Rob Crawford]

Answering my own question -- because that's precisely that sentence's purpose. Didn't realize the linked site was the Columbia Journalism Review -- the house organ for the most corrupt and corrupting profession in the country.

[Danube of Thought]

Good catch, sbw.

[NK]

Damning the 'Undergrad' nothing intrinsically wrong with using research by an undergrad for the purposes of a 'socio-economic' study. Course, the Huffington liars chose to use an ignorant half-witted undergrad's research.

[NK]

RobC-- one thing --'Journalism' isn't a profession, it's a low skill trade-- at best-- probably better to call it a vocation. Whoring is a profession... well I guess in that sense, today's LeftJournos are in a 'profession.'

[Jeff Dobbs]

mrs hit and run has been at the beach all week (and the kids are in Texas).

I'm lonely.

Got an email from her this morning. It had an attachment. The attachment was a pic. After reading the email and opening the pic, I sent this reply.

--------------------------

From: [hit and run]
Date: 08/02/2013 10:50 AM (GMT-05:00)
To: [mrs hit and run]
Subject: Re: Hi

Oh boy! [mrs hit and run] sent me a pic!

I hope it's got boobs! Oh please let it be boobs! OMG, please, a shirtless pic oh please oh please oh please!!!!

::click::

WHAT THE....AAHAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT!!!!

---------------------------

The pic was of some dude sans shirt and his daughter on the beach that one of the ladies mrs hit and run is with said she thought looked like me.

Sunuva....

Mars and Venus, man. Mars and flippin' Venus.

[stonefish]

Good job. Now that we see the majority of McD's are franchises, the cost spread across the large numbers of outlets means the BigMac wouldn't increase at all.

Now what was the original point about raising minimum wage?

[Danube of Thought]

National Review piece on the congressional insurance thing.

[Rob Crawford]

Stonedead -- you work at being that ignorant, don't you?

[Janet]

Hahahaaa..too funny, hit!

[stonefish]

Don't tread on me, Crawdad.

[anonamom]

OT---if The Atlantic has finally realized there is something behind Ben Ghazi, does that mean it's now acceptable to speak of it without putting on the tin foil hat?
(Only eleven months too late. Or is this better late than never?)

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/08/the-attack-in-benghazi-worth-investigating-after-all/278299/

[Rob Crawford]

You get a new job yet, Dana?

[DrJ]

From Instapundit:

WAS THERE EVER ANY DOUBT? Tom Maguire 1, Huffington Post 0.

[glasater]

Rick Santelli is so terrific.

He said on his morning segment that 'we have a real problem' in this country if flipping burgers is supposed to be a lifetime career.

[Ignatz]

--Now that we see the majority of McD's are franchises, the cost spread across the large numbers of outlets means the BigMac wouldn't increase at all.--

Who knew MickeyD franchises aren't subject to minimum wage laws?
I gotta get me one of them so I can employ some brown people for 5 pesos an hour and lock them in the basement at night.

[GMax]

HuffPuff loses but the guy who may be oh for life is Butt Buster. I seem to remember him showing up all indignant and throwing around insults. Since HuffPuff has posted their mea culpa retraction, how long before BB does the same? What, has it ever frozen over before?

[Janet]

This is something (via matt on FB) - IRS Scandal - President Obama loses Chris Matthews

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_XCZqDOgd4

[GMax]

Retired is such a euphemism. They retire racehorses to the glue factory. Its the same with idiot professors of little talent...

[Danube of Thought]

the cost spread across the large numbers of outlets means the BigMac wouldn't increase at all

How does one become this stupid?

[jimmyk]

The thing about these living wage proposals is that even if established businesses like McD's could make it with higher wages (as long as the competition had them too), it screws smaller businesses, new entrants, innovators, and, in general, job creators. IOW, the prototype Dem econic plan.

[Danube of Thought]

Janet, that Matthews clip is from May. I would imagine he's calling it a "phony scandal" by now.

[bgates]

President Obama loses Chris Matthews

Tell him to drink a glass of water. Then a bit later when he needs to pee he'll unzip his pants and find Matthews right where he left him.

[jimmyk]

economic.

[Account Deleted]

Constant exposure to undergrads at Pitzer College has allowed Dana Gilbert Ward to maintain the same level of intelligence for decades. It's not a matter of becoming stupid.

It's good to see him lobby for a higher wage for the only jobs a graduate of Pitzer College is capable of performing. He's obviously a very caring individual.

It's that or he's tired of all the Pitzer College graduates he sees panhandling or wearing 'will work for food' signs.

[Porchlight]

Now that we see the majority of McD's are franchises, the cost spread across the large numbers of outlets means the BigMac wouldn't increase at all.

Do you understand the concept of franchises? They are owned and operated by individuals; thus, labor costs cannot be spread across them.

[NK]

jimmyk@12:47-- that is--part of-- the Dems hideous and sinister plan for this country.

[Rob Crawford]

Rick -- you can understand his concern for fast food workers; he sees so many of his students doing that work.

[Danube of Thought]

Via Insty:

[NK]

Here's the text odf an email from a law partner who was a liberal (Scoop Jackson lib) for the fist 50 years of his life, but was mugged by reality into being a conservative:

"I thought the candidates for POTUS last year were good representatives of their respective cultures.

Romney—a longstanding record of impressive accomplishments in private business, the Olympics and government, an extraordinary history of good deeds and charitable work, religious, not prone to bragging (Anne had to talk him into letting people speak at the RNC about what Mitt had done to help their families), better at governing than campaigning, hands on leader, essentially non-ideological, a product of growing up in the 1950s and an outstanding family.

Obama— virtually no significant accomplishments before running for POTUS, campaigner par excellence but incompetent POTUS, lazy hands-off executive (prefers to read from teleprompters) AWOL during Benghazi attacks, arrogant, self-absorbed, hard left ideologue, unwilling to compromise or accept responsibilities for his failures (blames Bush and GOP for everything), disciple of Wright’s bigoted church, product of multi-cultural focus and virtual communist absentee parents."

[sbwaters]

wearing 'will work for food' signs

Work? Oh, come now! These grads are entitled.

[Porchlight]

Rob, please. They're at home living with their parents, reading Think Progress. They wouldn't stoop to work at fast food places.

[Porchlight]

Good summary, NK.

[Captain Hate]

Is this the correct thread for me to point out how shocked I am that embassy personnel would cut and run under Jawn Kerry?

[boatbuilder]

Forbes--FORBES MAGAZINE--found that self-evident piece of nonsense too good to check? Sad.

[Ignatz]

--essentially non-ideological--

That is the crux of the problem, IMO.
Can a non-ideology such as conservatism compete in the long run with leftist ideology? I doubt it.
That's why I believe the only party that could stop or hope to reverse the leftist project is one dominated by the ideology of libertarianism.

As a self described libertarian I'm uncomfortable myself with a quite a few libertarian positions, but recognize that in the give and take of our political system nobody gets everything they want. Given that I think most conservatives would be much happier with the result of the tug of war between libertarians and leftists than with the glacial movement leftward we've experienced the last 80 or so years in the contest between conservatives and liberals.

[JIB]

NK,

I would amend his opening sentence on Zero to "Obama— virtually no significant accomplishments before running for POTUS and/or afterwards for that matter.

[NK]

Sound ObummerCare attack IMO: http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/soft-underbelly-obama-care_742475.html?page=2

[Account Deleted]

boatbuilder,

Chittum is a former WSJ reporter and didn't bring up elasticity in his piece. TM's piece is much stronger, IMO. MCD is already suffering a bit from competition, that's made clear in the financials. A 25% price bump would result in much, much shorter lines - until the store closed for good.

I don't expect much from bizjournos so I'm rarely disappointed. I would not be at all surprised to find reading, understanding and reporting on a 10K to be a bit beyond a Forbes reporters ken. It may be simple arithmetic to you but you probably had old school indoctrination which focused on correct rather than consensus answers.

[Ignatz]

Forbes has brought on a good many morons in the last few years; definitely hit or miss these days.

[JIB]

What is missing in all the analysis of Mickey D's and raising the wages is its market clientele. A lot of the people who eat a McDonalds are themselves either on minimum wage or somewhere above it but not by much. You start raising the prices of fast food/quick service outlets and you will drive away the people who least afford to not have availability.

But that is not how the left looks at any economic but rather at provider's profits and not the receiver's ability to pay. Thus Obamacare is raising premiums on everyone but the sympathy is not with the insured but rather the rage is against the machine! The same with energy - Big Oil bad but who cares about the little guy making a minimum wage paying $3.50/gal for regular?

[NK]

Question: does McDs take Food Stamps?

[maryrose]

NK;
Yes ,I believe they do take EBT cards.I know the local Shell station does.
All great comments. The latest Congress subsidies story doesn't surprise me. These dems with Bammy are desperate. I hope they get an earful from constituents over the congressional recess.
H&R: You owe me a new keyboard. I love Mrs. H&r's sense of humor!

[Some Guy]

Forbes has brought on a good many morons in the last few years; definitely hit or miss these days.

How can you say that? Have you seen her latest pulitizer worthy item:

'Like Santa For Your Vagina': Tampon Startup Hello Flo Takes On That Time Of The Month

[jimmyk]

"Is this the correct thread for me to point out how shocked I am that embassy personnel would cut and run under Jawn Kerry?"

Yeah, I mentioned that on the other thread. From Muzzie countries, which seems discriminatory.

[boatbuilder]

What if McDonald's just cut the quality of its food by 17% and paid the difference to its employees?
Wouldn't that make the lefties ecstatic?

[Captain Hate]

But that is not how the left looks at any economic but rather at provider's profits and not the receiver's ability to pay.

The NPR types who are forever complaining about Walmart have a very patriarchal attitude toward the people who shop there about whom they otherwise pretend to be concerned.

[GMax]

The NPR types

i.e. crunchy granola eaters more worried about bike paths and urban sprawl...

[Janet]

Janet, that Matthews clip is from May.

Thanks, DoT. It makes it even worse that nobody's been fired.

[Account Deleted]

Here's Legal Insurrection with the first piece I've seen describing the initial steps towards kinetic detweeting in Mahometan lands. I believe Assad and the Egyptian military are quite a bit farther down the trail wrt using socialist media snares to clip the bad bunnies.

[NK]

Steven T. Miller begs to differ.

[Danube of Thought]

As a self described libertarian I'm uncomfortable myself with a quite a few libertarian positions

Perfect ditto.

[Janet]

wonderful post at 1:54, JiB.

[Thomas Collins]

How about prog tenured professors at "elite" schools taking a pay cut and increasing the salaries of the janitors at the schools? Or diverting some of the money spent to renovate the student center and use the savings to build homeless shelters on campus? Who needs a state of the art student center when there are homeless needing services? Better yet, put units for the homeless in the student center and encourage students and faculty to discuss social justice with the new arrivals over coffee served from the on-site Starbucks (I'm sure the students and faculty will gladly but the homeless individuals coffee (free trade, of course)).

[Walter]

Dorian is a bunch of fun to watch from the deck*. See LUN.

On another note, it's now crawfish season!

Huzzah!

___________________
* Of the house. Hope JiB's friend has a cozy spot.

[Janet]

thinking about JiB's post -
I commented on a FB post...maybe yesterday. It was about a McD franchise & debit cards.
What I noticed was that the actual story referenced wasn't understood by most of the people posting. They just vented about minimum wage, unhealthy fast food, hating Walmart, needing to eat locally grown foods,...
It was weird. I don't think libs much care about facts or understanding a topic in much depth. They hear McDonalds & they hate it. They hear Walmart...& they hate it.
They just hate & I don't know why. They are well off & yet they hate the country, they hate businesses,...
They don't even bother to find out if their hate makes any sense. Details & the facts don't make any difference.

[centralcal]

Don't be fooled Janet - they say they hate it - but in my neck of the woods, I see plenty of liberals in the McD's drive thru. I am not a Walmart shopper, because locally it is like visiting a Mexican mercado (more Dem voters there too).

[GMax]

prog tenured professors at "elite" schools

That would leave out Dana on two fronts. "Retired" and very much not elite.

[Janet]

Exactly, TC. How bout illegal immigrant housing on the private property of every Congressman & advocacy organization official that wants amnesty? Put FEMA trailers on Schumer's lawn....& on the property of the President of la Raza.

For that matter, bring 'em into my neighborhood & put them in the front yards of all the people that vote for this madness.
Hell, they can't stand a little plop of dog poop...can you see them if THEY PERSONALLY had to take care of illegals.

[Rob Crawford]

I don't think libs much care about facts or understanding a topic in much depth. They hear McDonalds & they hate it. They hear Walmart...& they hate it.

They hear "Zimmerman" & they hate it.

They hear "Bush" & they hate it.

They hear "NRA" & they hate it.

Theirs is a movement animated primarily by hatred of the Other, though the definition of "Other" depends more on degree of maleducation and melanin than anything else.

[Old Lurker]

Forbes...I have mentioned before that I cancelled them after 30-40 years because they now look more like People Mag than a serious business publication. Shame on them. Too bad for me since I used to read it cover to cover.

[Janet]

Libs only like the poor at arms length. Or they like talking about how much they care about the poor.
I went to a Holly Near concert many years ago in Austin. It was to benefit kids in some South American country. Well there was a baby at the concert that was crying & I thought those concert goers were gonna kill that kid. Angry yellin' & restless milling about...'shut that kid up!'.

The weirdness of it really stuck with me. They only "liked" kids far away...where they didn't have to see or hear them.

[narciso]

Ah Conor F, well give him props for being 'welcome to the pattern,' which I subtract from his unwillingless to deign to investigate the claims, therein,

[narciso]

Ah TPM does remove their reservations about their targets doesn't it;

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/08/02/charlie-rangel-these-tea-partiers-are-the-same-terrorist-white-crackers-we-fought-during-desegregation/

[narciso]

McGurn has a good piece on the 'shirley you can't be serious' attitude of the Clintons re the Weiners.

[Ignatz]

--Yeah, I mentioned that on the other thread. From Muzzie countries, which seems discriminatory.--

Didn't the most diverse and tolerant administration ever and the most horse faced Sec of State ever just profile, like a billion people?

How soon they forget that the future must not belong to those who slander a bunch of wild eyed, bomb throwing, rag headed buggerers and pedophiles.

[Thomas Collins]

http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2013/08/02/death-whitey-bulger-foe-stephen-rakes-discussed-middlesex/3UDr0JNloV22gQEU8GSKJI/story.html

Looks as if Whitey Bulger's pals didn't kill Rakes after all. See above. Looks as if Rakes needed to be more attentive to who was "flavoring" his iced coffee at McD's.

[Janet]

locally it is like visiting a Mexican mercado

Hah, centralcal! Some are like that. The Walmart in my hometown Kingsville, which is in South Texas, is really nice.
We used to have to drive to Corpus to get a lot of items. Or the small local store was so expensive with like 2 choices.
'Do you want this bike or that bike?'

[narciso]

Does that include coddling Hamas and the GZ Mosque;

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/08/02/republican-and-democratic-insiders-agree-gop-will-follow-christie-on-national-security-not-paul/

[driftglass]

With every cell-phone and other video capabilities there is a potential newsmaker/journalist. Trying to narrow the definition is ridiculous.
EVERYONE should have the Shield Law, not just mainstreamers.
That would be a worst-case.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/08/senators-debate-definition-of-journalist-169824.html

[Frau Nie wieder]

How does one become this stupid?

DoT - rse is writing a book about the process.

[Janet]

How soon they forget that the future must not belong to those who slander a bunch of wild eyed, bomb throwing, rag headed buggerers and pedophiles.

Hahahaaa...looks like that whole 'COEXIST' movement was a big failure.
The wrong country has the bumper stickers...we need to air drop them over in the ME.

[Janet]

I need to settle down....

[Neo]

al Qaeda is on the run ... in the direction of US embassies.

[Janet]

This is hilarious (at WZ) -

[Frau Kralle]

Is this the correct thread for me to point out how shocked I am that embassy personnel would cut and run under Jawn Kerry?

CH - It's part of the "Get Smart Diplomacy." On Sunday the Dome of Silence will descend on our embassies and consulates in the ME. Shoe phones will be used to fool the Craw.

...not the Craw, the CRAW!

[narciso]

Did they note that it was Ramadan, once it's over, everything will be fine, sarc.

[narciso]

Taranto highlights another case of a 'chilling wind,' well it would if this was in the Bush era, the editor of the Chattanooga Times.

[Rob Crawford]

narciso, I think you'll find that wind is now described as "bracing", not "chilling".

[matt]

test

[narciso]

I think they would call it 'crimethink' if they think of it, at all.

[pagar]

"Does that include coddling Hamas and the GZ Mosque;"

You know it does.
-----------------------------------------------
"Is this the correct thread for me to point out how shocked I am that embassy personnel would cut and run under Jawn Kerry?"

Have we ever done that to this extent before?

[narciso]

True, there has never been a circumstance when there is an actual denial of the terrorist threat.

[narciso]

I know you're shocked as well, as I:

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/08/irans-new-president-calls-for-elimination-of-israel/

[Ignatz]

I bow to no man regarding my disdain for this president, but is it a fair argument to blast the WH for not beefing up security at Benghazi and elsewhere on 9/11 last year and blasting them now for taking precautions at embassies?

Maybe it is and I don't get the difference.
If so please explain to me what I'm missing.

[matt]

wow. The link has killed at least half a dozen of my posts over the past couple of days.

1 - Jailbreaks in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Libya have released at least 1,00-1,500 prisoners. That's a lot of pissed off AQ bees in a jar.

2 - We now know that the unit commander for the response teams did in fact issue a stand down order that wasn't really a stand down order and then disappeared down a rathole. So that makes Hillary Clinton, Leon Panetta, David Petraeus, General Ham, and COL George Bristol, who immediately thereafter retired, and the President of the United States all out of the loop as our people were screaming for help as they were being worn down by a force of hundreds of jihadis. This is worse than any French Foreign legion movie.

3 - We now know there were dozens of CIA operatives on the ground in Benghazi, many of whom were wounded, and that they are still being hidden better than Granny's jewels.

4 - Now we have a warning to close our Mideast embassies on Sunday.

Oh, by the way, did you know the GWOT is over?

[matt]

I believe the Benghazi Incident has all of the makings of dereliction of duty all the way to the White House.

[Rob Crawford]

I bow to no man regarding my disdain for this president, but is it a fair argument to blast the WH for not beefing up security at Benghazi and elsewhere on 9/11 last year and blasting them now for taking precautions at embassies?

This isn't 9/11.

[narciso]

I noticed how a number of sources, have focused on Effendi Asiri, who seems to have advanced since Al Shihri's 'unfriending' last year to the top of the organization,

[rich@gmu]

It makes it even worse that nobody's been fired.

Posted by: Janet | August 02, 2013 at 02:18 PM

and to depress you further (as if you needed it), AmSpec had an article which laid out a case that no one will be prosecuted over the matter.

[rich@gmu]

humm...all quiet...too quiet. did everyone jump to another thread.

[narciso]

As I pointed out in another thread, it would have been good to have someone around Mr. Asiri, but they had to 'spike the football'