The Real Minimum Wage Is Always Zero No Matter What Politicians Say

Money Metals News Service
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The Real Minimum Wage Is Always Zero No Matter What Politicians Say

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) Economics once again defied the will of politicians — this time in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Minneapolis City Council wanted to help out Uber and Lyft drivers, so it recently passed an ordinance setting a minimum wage for drive-share drivers. Under the law, companies such as Uber and Lyft must now pay their drivers a minimum of $1.40 per mile and at least 51 cents per minute while carrying a passenger. 

In effect, the new law will ensure Uber and Lyft drivers operating in Minneapolis will get paid the equivalent to the city’s $15.57 an hour minimum wage.

Council Member Robin Wonsley sponsored the ordinance. She called the victory “a David Goliath story.”

“Regular working-class people took on two corporate giants and their political allies and won. Uber and Lyft want us to believe they are untouchable, and the status quo of exploiting workers cannot be fixed.”

This is indeed a great victory for all of the Uber and Lyft drivers operating in Minneapolis!

Except now there are none.

Proving once again that the real minimum wage is always zero, Uber and Lyft both announced they will simply cease operations in Minneapolis. In fact, Uber said it would pull out of the entire Twin Cities metro beginning May 1. 

If the companies follow through, it will leave 10s of thousands of drivers out of work with a wage of zero.

James Harrigan at the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) summed it up this way:

“So by decreeing what workers ‘should’ make in their city, the Minneapolis City Council has guaranteed that Uber and Lyft drivers will now earn nothing, instead of making a wage they were all clearly comfortable making. How do we know that? They all kept their driving gigs at what they were being paid. It was, in their estimation, the best option they had. Now they no longer have that option.”

A similar drama played out in California last year after the state assembly passed a law setting a $20 per hour minimum wage for workers at fast-food chains with 60 or more locations nationwide. To cope with the increased cost of labor, two Pizza Hut operators announced plans to eliminate delivery service. That means some 1,200 delivery drivers went from making whatever wage they used to make to earning zero.

Meanwhile, UPS announced a wave of layoffs months after agreeing to a new contract with drivers that the company said would raise full-time delivery driver earnings to an average of $170,000 in wages and benefits.

Minimum wage laws and union pay scales are politically popular. According to the narrative, benevolent politicians and union bosses drive pay higher to force greedy businesses like Uber and Lyft to pay their workers a decent wage. It sounds great, doesn’t it? It seems like a victory for the little guy – a David and Goliath story, as Wonsley put it.

But minimum wage policies rely on an enduring economic myth — the notion that these laws and union deals only help workers and have no real negative effects. The fallacy inherent in this line of thinking becomes immediately clear if we simply propose a $1,000-per-hour minimum wage. It’s obvious this would be unsustainable and would create all kinds of problems. Nobody could pay that ridiculous wage.

This teaches an important economic lesson that politicians like Wonsley need to learn. You can’t suspend economic laws by government or union edict.

There are always tradeoffs when it comes to economic calculations. That’s because we operate in a world with scarce resources. When you have winners, there are almost always losers.

Harrigan summed it up like this:

“Councilwoman Wonsley is right. This is a David and Goliath story. But the government is always Goliath, and Goliath almost always wins. And when Goliath wins, labor often loses.

“More importantly, customers and business owners lose, too.

“And what’s going to happen to taxi fares in the Twin Cities when Uber and Lyft exit the market?

“When supply decreases, demand increases, as does the price.”

It remains unclear how this will play out. Uber and Lyft say they are working on a compromise. State officials are now apparently getting into the fray. And they will almost certainly muck things up even worse.

The real solution is to let the market determine the pay rates for ride-share drivers. But politicians can never leave well-enough alone. 

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for MoneyMetals.com with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

Nightmare: Cars Plunge into Chesapeake as Span of Major Bridge Collapses in Baltimore

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Nightmare: Cars Plunge into Chesapeake as Span of Major Bridge Collapses in Baltimore

(Headline USA) A container ship rammed into a major bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, causing it to snap and plunge into the river below. Several vehicles fell into the chilly waters, and rescuers were searching for survivors.

Two people were rescued from the waters under the Francis Scott Key Bridge, one in serious condition, according to Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace. He said authorities “may be looking for upwards of seven people” but said that number could change. It was not clear if the two rescued were included in the seven.

It was not immediately clear what caused the cargo ship to crash into the bridge long before the busy morning commute in what one official called a “developing mass casualty event” in a major American city just outside of Washington.

The ship crashed into one of the bridge’s supports, causing the structure to snap and buckle at several points and tumble into the water in a matter of seconds — a shocking spectacle that was captured on video and posted on social media. The vessel caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.

“Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, calling it “an unthinkable tragedy.”

Sonar has indicated that there are vehicles in the water, where the temperature was about 47 degrees Fahrenheit in the early hours of Tuesday, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Earlier, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told the Associated Press that several vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, including one the size of a tractor-trailer truck.

The bridge came down in the middle of night when traffic would be lighter than during the day when thousands of cars traverse the span.

Cartwright called the collapse a “developing mass casualty event,” though he didn’t know at the time how many people were affected.

He added that some cargo appeared to be dangling from the bridge, which spans the Patapsco River at the entrance to a busy harbor. The river leads to the Port of Baltimore, a major hub for shipping on the East Coast. Opened in 1977, the bridge is named for the writer of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and said he was working to get federal resources deployed. The FBI was also on the scene.

Synergy Marine Group—which owns and manages the ship called the Dali—confirmed the vessel hit a pillar of the bridge at about 1:30 a.m. while two pilots were in control. It said all crew members, including the pilots, were accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries.

The Dali was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and flying under a Singapore flag, according to data from Marine Traffic. The container ship is about 985 feet long and about 157 feet wide, according to the website.

In 2001, a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in a tunnel in downtown Baltimore and caught fire, spewing black smoke into surrounding neighborhoods and forcing officials to temporarily close all major roads into the city.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Infamous GOP Sen. Threatens to Switch Parties if Trump Wins 2024

Luis Cornelio
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Infamous GOP Sen. Threatens to Switch Parties if Trump Wins 2024

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is considering leaving the Republican Party amid the resurgence of former President Donald Trump as the presumptive GOP nominee for president. 

In an interview with CNN on Monday, Murkowski expressed disappointment that Republican voters had chosen Trump as their nominee for the 2024 election.

“I wish that as Republicans, we had … a nominee that I could get behind,” Murkowski said, declining to endorse Trump. “I certainly can’t get behind Donald Trump.” 

When asked if she would switch to becoming independent, she responded, “Oh, I think I’m very independent minded.” She further added: “I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump.” 

When pressed further by CNN, she retorted: “I am navigating my way through some very interesting political times. Let’s just leave it at that.” 

During the primary election, Murkowski and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, endorsed the campaign of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Their endorsement proved unsuccessful as Haley dropped out just days later. 

If Murkowski were to depart from the Republican Party, it would deal a severe blow to conservatives, especially if the majority is held by a slim margin. Three Democrat senators are facing re-election in Republican states. 

However, such a move would likely not come as a surprise. Murkowski has earned a reputation as an infamous RINO (“Republican in Name Only”) after voting to convict Trump in the Jan. 6 impeachment trial in 2021, opposing the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018 and backing Ketanji Brown Jackson in 2022. 

Murkowski entered the Senate following a controversial appointment by her father, Frank Murkowski, in 2002. 

At the time, her father served as the senator for Alaska but successfully campaigned for governor. After his win, he appointed Murkowski to succeed him, a move that critics viewed as a blatant example of nepotism.

That term concluded in 2005, with Murkowski winning a full term the same year. She was re-elected in 2010, 2016 and 2022, the latter being a narrow victory in a primary challenge against Kelly Tshibaka.

Her current terms end in 2029. 

AOC Encourages Letitia James to Seize Trump’s New York Property

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AOC Encourages Letitia James to Seize Trump’s New York Property

(Headline USA) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., defended New York Attorney General Letitia James’s plan this week to seize former President Donald Trump’s properties in the state if he was unable to pay the fine levied against him, The Hill reported.

The comments came prior to a New York appeals court’s decision on Monday to reduce the $454 million judgement to a more manageable $175 million.

James had threatened to begin seizing Trump’s real estate if he was unable to come up with the sum before Monday’s deadline.

Ocasio–Cortez encouraged James to do so as soon as possible, warning there would be a “risk” that Trump could come up with the funds some other way unless James was able to run out the clock.

“I actually think that there is risk in not seizing these assets and the open window that exists in him trying to secure these funds through other means,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “We’ve seen a lot of interesting transactions happening with Truth Social and other means. And there’s a very real risk of political corruption.”

Ocasio-Cortez did not elaborate on how Trump selling his shares in Truth Social or taking the company public would amount to “political corruption.”

However, her hopes of seeing Trump lose his property were likely dashed on Monday by the New York appeals court panel, which gave Trump and his top executives 10 days to post the reduced sum.

The valuation on Digital World Acquisition Corp. shot up by roughly 25% on Monday in response as investors realized that Trump would not need to access the funds for his legal costs ahead of its anticipated merger with Truth Social to take the company public.

Trump made it clear he will not have any difficulty complying with the order.

“We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash,” he posted on Truth Social. “This also shows how ridiculous and outrageous Engoron’s original decision was at $450 Million.”

Just Like Magic? $300M in Ukrainian Aid Mysteriously Missing

Luis Cornelio
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Just Like Magic? $300M in Ukrainian Aid Mysteriously Missing

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A staggering $300 million funding package designated for military aid to Ukraine was spent just four months after its allocation by Congress.

Congress approved the $300 million funding for Ukraine last week. However, the money was allocated for Ukraine last November when Congress funded the federal government through a continuing resolution. 

As reported by Politico, a Pentagon official, speaking anonymously, claimed the $300 million earmarked for Ukraine “is not available for us to use now.” Unsurprisingly, the Department of Defense’s proposed solution is to allocate more money to Ukraine. 

“DOD has repeatedly urged Congress to pass a supplemental to support Ukraine in its time of need and to replenish our stocks,” Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Charlie Dietz said, according to Politico.  

He further elaborated, “For Ukraine, this supplemental is vital — there’s no other way to meet Ukraine’s needs at scale.” 

The funding was intended for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) and was included in the $1.2 trillion funding package that passed last week. The USAI is responsible for funding contracts for the delivery of munitions and other weapons to Ukraine. 

However, it turns out the money was spent months ago. The anonymous source told Politico that the November allocation “exhausts the remaining USAI funds currently available to support Ukraine.” 

Politico reported that the USAI funding for Ukraine is distinct from direct weapon deliveries by the U.S. government. 

While $300 million might seem substantial, it pales in comparison to the $60 billion currently under debate in Congress. 

Some American First lawmakers are actively opposing further funding for Ukraine, citing concerns about corruption, lack of accountability and unlikeness of a Ukrainian victory in its conflict with Russia. 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a prominent voice against additional Ukrainian funding, criticized the $300 million in a Twitter post. 

“Rather than calling for peace, Mike Johnson sided with Chuck Schumer and the Democrats to push us further toward the brink of World War 3!” she wrote on Monday. “The uniparty minibus provides $300 million in funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. We should be demanding peace, not funding foreign wars!”

Fetterman Breaks w/Biden Admin on Israel

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Fetterman Breaks w/Biden Admin on Israel

(Headline USA) Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., blasted Vice President Kamala Harris this week for suggesting the U.S. could impose “consequences” on Israel if it moves forward with an invasion of Rafah.

The Biden administration came out against Israel’s planned escalation last week and once again demanded a temporary ceasefire in the region.

Harris echoed this position during an interview with ABC News on Sunday, warning that it would be a “huge mistake” for Israel to carry out another ground offensive without U.S. approval.

“Hard disagree,” Fetterman tweeted in response. “Israel has the right to prosecute Hamas to surrender or to be eliminated. Hamas owns every innocent death for their cowardice hiding behind Palestinian lives.”

Fetterman has been an outspoken advocate for Israel in recent months even as other leftist members of his party have grown increasingly critical of the Jewish state’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Even Harris and President Joe Biden have begun to distance themselves from Israel, likely following primary election results that saw Biden lose tens of thousands of Democratic votes as a result of a leftist protest movement.

“We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake,” Harris said on Sunday. “Let me tell you something: I have studied the maps. There’s nowhere for those folks to go.”

When pressed on whether the U.S. would respond with its own action if Israel moves forward with its planned invasion anyway, Harris said, “I am ruling out nothing.”

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, made it clear last week that his forces would continue to fight Hamas with or without the permission of the U.S.

“I also said that we have no way to defeat Hamas without entering Rafah and eliminating the remnant of the battalions there,” Netanyahu said after meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week. “I told him that I hope we would do this with U.S. support, but if necessary—we will do it alone.”

Calif. First Grader Punished by School, Court for Questioning ‘Black Lives Matter’

Jacob Bruns
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Calif. First Grader Punished by School, Court for Questioning ‘Black Lives Matter’

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) A California family is suing over a violation of free-speech rights after a first-grade child was punished by her public school system for appearing to second-guess the Black Lives Matter movement, the Daily Wire reported.

The child, referred to as “B.B.” in legal documents from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California’s Southern Division, completed a drawing for a friend at school that said, “Black Lives Mater [sic],” but included the addendum, “any life” following the main message.

She drew the sketch and gave it to another child, referred to as M.C., a black girl, who gave it to her mother. Her mother then instigated the investigation into a first grade girl’s alleged racism.

Finding the addendum to her message particularly offensive, the school, a part of Capistrano Unified School District, banished B.B. from playing during recess for two weeks.

The child’s mother, in turn, sued the school, arguing that her First Amendment rights were violated. The district court ruled, however, that educators had a right to restrict that freedom, particularly among minors.

The judge said that schools must be granted a “substantial deference” in their determinations as to “what speech is appropriate.”

According to the court, the First Amendment’s protections must always be “applied in light of the special characteristics of the school environment.”

But, moving out of abstract reasoning, the court also commented on the content of the drawing, suggesting that, because “younger students may be more sensitive than older students,” their “educational experience may be more affected when they receive messages based on a protected characteristic.”

The court assumed, despite B.B.’s testimony that she wanted to help M.C., that she meant to create “insults” that could lead to a “racially insensitive” bullying scenario among the entire class.

Some in the legal profession questioned the court’s ruling.

According to Eugene Volokh, a law professor at the University of California Los Angeles, the court treated BLM as a sort of national religion in its ruling.

“The ‘Black Lives Matter’ slogan is accepted as the one orthodoxy, and any perceived dissent from the view that black lives should be specially stressed in this context can be forbidden,” he wrote.

Plane Passenger Faces Charges for Anti-Jewish, Anti-White Remarks

Jacob Bruns
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Plane Passenger Faces Charges for Anti-Jewish, Anti-White Remarks
Editor’s note: Videos contain derogatory language.

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) On a recent American Airlines flight departing out of Tampa International Airport, a passenger refused to comply with instructions, leading to a belligerent string of anti-Semitic and other racist insults, and ultimately to a physical altercation, the Blaze reported.

In video footage of the incident, a flight attendant can be seen asking the passenger to follow instructions before the apparently drunken passenger flies off-the-handle, beginning his string of insults with Jewish slurs.

The passenger’s belligerence caught the attention of another passenger, an off-duty police officer, who, showing little patience for the misbehavior, tried to talk him down.

“You want to be a tough guy, bro?” the crazed passenger told his interlocutor. “You’re all teaming up. See how most of the people are white here?”

The unruly man appeared to be a foreigner since he told the flight attendant, “I’m trying to get to my home country, and you all people made it harder for me to get to my home country. I’m telling you, I’m telling you.”

Ultimately, the crazed passenger instigated a fight with another passenger, who also appeared to be an off-duty cop or air marshal.

After some scuffling, the offender was put into a headlock and rendered harmless. “Put your hands down and don’t touch anybody,” said the man who claimed to be a police officer.

Many of the other passengers on the plane applauded the undercover cop’s effort

American Airlines issued a statement apologizing to their customers for the “disturbance in the cabin involving a disruptive customer,” thanking “our team for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”

As a result of the incident, the flight was delayed 30 minutes. No other passengers were harmed.

According to a Philadelphia Inquirer report, the belligerent customer was arrested when he was moved off the plane and charged with disorderly intoxication and two counts of battery.

WH Implies NBC’s Hiring of Ronna McDaniel Marks ‘Attack on Our Democracy’

Luis Cornelio
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WH Implies NBC’s Hiring of Ronna McDaniel Marks ‘Attack on Our Democracy’

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The White House has responded to NBC News’s appointment of former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel as an on-air contributor. 

Speaking from the White House press briefing podium, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggested that McDaniel’s joining NBC News and MSNBC constitutes an “attack on our democracy” — as reported by the Daily Caller.

Jean-Pierre’s remarks followed CNN White House correspondent MJ Lee’s inquiry into McDaniel’s hiring despite the White House’s condemnation of what they deemed to be falsehoods about Jan. 6.

McDaniel made her debut on the Sunday edition of NBC News’s Meet the Press, where she denounced Jan. 6 as an act not representative of the Republican Party.

In a lengthy and incoherent commentary on Jan. 6, Jean-Pierre emphasized the media’s “burden” to inform Americans about “the facts” and “the truth,” directing her remarks specifically towards McDaniel and Jan. 6. 

“We’re always very mindful about personnel decisions and this instance, made by a media organization,” Jean-Pierre claimed, according to the Daily Caller. Later in her response, she referenced President Joe Biden’s highlighting of the Jan. 6 events, which have become a central, if not the sole, focus of his weak reelection campaign. 

She further elaborated, quoting Biden: “‘We need you. Democracy is at risk. And the American people need to know, in fractured times — they need a context and a perspective. They need substance to match the enormity of the task.’ It is a big task that journalists have, and we understand that.” 

When Lee persisted with her question about whether there was “room” for McDaniel in the “national political discourse,” Jean-Pierre regurgitated her Jan. 6 remarks. 

“Look, I’ll answer it this way: We saw what happened on January 6. We saw what happened when 2,000 people, a mob, went to the Capitol and undermined our democracy, attacked our democracy, because they didn’t believe in free and fair elections,” Jean-Pierre asserted. 

“It is important that we are very clear to the public about the facts, that we are very clear to the public about the truth and we understand the burden that you all have. And so, I just want to be super mindful —not commenting on a personnel decision — but more broadly speaking, that is where we are. That is where we are as a country,” she later added. 

Woke ‘Church’ Leaders Demand ‘White Churches’ Give Millions in Reparations

Dmytro "Henry" Aleksandrov
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Woke ‘Church’ Leaders Demand ‘White Churches’ Give Millions in Reparations

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) Woke religious leaders from Boston have called on “white churches” to give millions of dollars in reparations to black people throughout the city.

The proposition also included “white churches” providing $15 billion in reparations for their historical role in the slave trade, according to the Daily Mail.

It was reported by the news source that the event took place at Resurrection Lutheran Church and was put together by the Boston Peoples Reparations Commission, the group responsible that was responsible for demanding $15 billion.

Rev. Kevin Peterson was one of the speakers who appeared at the event. During his speech, he allegedly expressed his desire to rename the Faneuil Hall marketplace which was named after wealthy merchant Peter Faneuil, a prominent slave trafficker in the 18th century.

“We call sincerely and with a heart filled with faith and Christian love for our white churches to join us and not be silent around this issue of racism and slavery and commit to reparations. We point to them in Christian love to publicly atone for the sins of slavery and we ask them to publicly commit to a process of reparations,” he said.

According to Peterson, “[atoning] for the sins” would mean “[extending] their great wealth – tens of millions of dollars among some of those churches – into the black community.”

The letter that was signed by 16 clergymen was sent to churches that the group wanted to participate in giving reparations, the news source wrote. The letter went into detail about how the churches could pay the money by cash, by creating affordable housing or “financial and economic institutions in black Boston,” the Mail wrote.

“Obviously, it’s incalculable. It is impossible to put any dollar number on what African Americans have gone through in this country,” Edwin Sumpter, who is involved with the Boston Peoples Reparations Commission, said.

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