Sunday, October 03, 2010

 

Debates, Jobs, Lies

I rarely listen to or pay attention to debates between opposing candidates for office.  There was a time when I eagerly watched the television set to see and hear debates among such pairs as Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale, George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis, and, most famously, John Kennedy and Richard Nixon.  I don't know whether those debates influenced the outcome of any elections but they were fun to watch and listen to.  I'll never forget Lloyd Bentsen telling Dan Quayle that "you're no Jack Kennedy" or Michael Dukakis wavering before George Bush the Elder accusing him of membership in the ACLU.

These days are memory.  I have learned that one can't learn what a candidate will or won't do in office from what he or she says in a debate.  The aim of the debater is to persuade voters who haven't made up their minds and who have not concerned themselves with some of the more intricate problems in the success or failure of government to provide needed services.  Quite often debaters spend a lot of time on an issue that they will have no control over if they are elected.  A good example is the claim to create jobs for Californians.  Neither Jerry Brown nor Meg Whitman want to be tarred with the accusation that his or her election would cause Californians to lose jobs, particularly because businesses decide to move out of California because of high taxes or excessive regulations.  They both favor more jobs.  That's commendible of them, but neither one will have the power as Governor to create a single private sector job.  The best either can do is to start work on some infrastructure project that will require lots of workers and lots of money.  And, where is the money to come from?

Many people in politics who favor the interests of businesses claim that California loses jobs to neighboring States because of (a) high business taxes and (b) excessive regulation, especially regulations relating to creating a clean environment.  Environmental laws are said to be bad for business.

I assert that the claim that taxes and regulations drive businesses out of the State is a lie.  Regulations and taxes are a problem for a person running a business, especially a small business.  However, they are a minor irritant compared with the major cost to any business: the high cost of labor.  One can cite many cases of businesses that have left the State because of labor costs.  They have gone mostly not to other States but to foreign countries that have really low labor costs.  Jolly Green Giant used to can peas in California.  A number of years ago it moved its operation to Mexico to take advantage of lower costs for labor and for raw peas.  Although it made a profit in California, it made MORE profit by moving to Mexico.

There is nothing that Governor Whitman or Governor Brown could do about high labor costs.  I suppose she or he might propose lowering the minimum wage to 25 cents an hour.  Her or his term of office would end soon after that suggestion.  Remember how the voters got rid of Gray Davis after he raised the auto license fee?

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Comments:
Griff Harsh, the husband of California gubernatorial candidate Nutneg Whitman, acknowledged in a statement on Thursday that "it is possible" he received and wrote notes on a letter from the Social Security Administration back in 2003, regarding the former housekeeper. The Whitman/ Harsh household then fired their housekeeper in June 2009 (after nine years of service), when Nutmeg handlers decided that she was an election liability.

Meg, Meg, Meg, where do I start, you have reportedly spent $119 million of your own money to get elected Governor but you couldn’t use some of it to get your housekeeper (after nine years of service) some legal help to get her papers, and worse you lied about it. Wow, what a WITCH, of course I meant it with a “B”.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#39450925

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGRrNs8-s5w

But your comments on holding employers accountable for hiring undocumented workers real takes the cake, I assume you exempt yourself and your husband, or will you be turning yourself in.

Meg on holding employers accountable:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4fWLHiw8zA

Meg you think you can buy the election, but what puzzles many is if you real cared and loved California then why not do your civic duty and vote, seems more rhetoric than anything else.

In good times we might give you a try but not in our disaster mode that we find ourselves in after that so-called outsider Independent Republican, named Arnold Schwarzenegger (sold to us by radio personalities John and Ken), ruined our state, yah we will trust another one of you liars, think not. And another thing nine years this maid was in your house, in your house and you failed to learned this major thing about her, come on this sounds like a huge lie that no one can believe in.

Ebay paid out $200,000 because Nutmeg assaulted an employee, so it’s not the first time she has mistreated an employee. Good luck winning Nutmeg, money will buy you admiration from the majority just from the Gay Old Party (GOP), but not from all of California.
 
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