Sep 12, 2006 | Dollars & Crosses
IRVINE, CA--There is an accelerating trend of big-city governments passing minimum wage laws that far exceed either the state or federal minimums. Yesterday, contrary to this trend, Mayor Richard Daley vetoed a measure that would have raised Chicago minimums to $10.00 an hour plus $3.00 in fringe benefits by mid-2010.
"Daley's veto was right--but he and other political leaders should go further and abolish the minimum wage altogether," said Dr. Yaron Brook, president of the Ayn Rand Institute and a former finance professor. "By mandating a certain level of wages, the government violates the rights of both employers and employees to reach a voluntary agreement based on their own judgment of what they can afford.
"Those who provide jobs are not the slaves of city hall, and have a right to set the wages they are willing to pay. And those who are willing and eager to work for relatively low wages--either because they are unskilled, inexperienced or would rather have a low-paying job than no job at all--have a right to do so.
"In a capitalist system, the price of labor (i.e., wages) is determined in the same way as all other prices: by the individual judgments and voluntary decisions of buyers and sellers."Sep 10, 2006 | Dollars & Crosses
Writes Warren Ross:
There is a lot of confusion about the nature of Islam, and the extent to which it is the religion itself, as opposed to an "extremist" wing of it, that breeds terrorism. President Bush believes that Islam has been "hijacked" by the terrorists for their own use, and that Islam itself is a peace-loving religion. Is that true? Or is there something about Islam that promotes, condones or ideologically endorses terrorism? Is it a fundamental aspect of Islam, or a perverted interpretation? [Is Islam at Fault?]
Read the rest in Is Islam at Fault?Sep 7, 2006 | Dollars & Crosses
Irvine, CA--This Sunday, on the eve of the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, Iran's former president, Mohammed Khatami, will speak before Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and give a talk titled "Ethics of Tolerance in the Age of Violence." This is outrageous.
Iran is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism. Khatami's government jailed Iranian students who spoke out against the theocratic regime, and his intelligence service murdered leaders of an Iranian opposition party. For him to lecture Americans on ethics and non-violence is as obscene as a child molester instructing his victims on the importance of respecting individual rights.
Harvard defended Khatami's visit, claiming we must have an "open dialogue" with Iran and allow for a "free exchange of ideas." But there can be no "free exchange of ideas" between a killer and those he seeks to kill--or between a brutal dictatorship and the free nation it seeks to annihilate.
Let's stop appeasing Iran and make it clear that those who threaten the United States will not receive an "open dialogue," but swift destruction.Aug 30, 2006 | Dollars & Crosses
Global Capitalism: The Solution to World Oppression and Poverty
Who: Andrew Bernstein, senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute and author of "The Capitalist Manifesto."
What: A talk and Q & A explaining the real nature of capitalism and why it is the ideal social system.
Where: 101 Thomas Building, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.
When: September 11, 2006, at 7:30 PM.
The public and media are invited. Admission is FREE.Aug 29, 2006 | Dollars & Crosses
Irvine, CA-- One year after Hurricane Katrina left the Gulf Coast in ruins, many residents have started to rebuild their homes and their lives, relying in many cases on payouts from their home-insurance policies.
Yet despite paying out an unprecedented $56 billion in claims to victims of Hurricane Katrina, U.S. insurance companies have been smeared as "greedy" and "cold-hearted" for not doing more. Some are even being sued by their customers for refusing to cover flood damage. This, even though the companies never sold flood insurance, which is only available through the federally funded National Flood Insurance Program.
"This is as absurd as hiring someone to mow your lawn and suing him because he did not also paint your house," said Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute. "Insurance companies are responsible for fulfilling the terms of their contracts--not for satisfying their customers' every financial need.
"Insurance companies should not be demonized for insisting on the terms of their contracts. The fact that some Gulf Coast residents did not have flood insurance means that they must bear the costs of the flood damage or else rely on private charity. Their misfortune does not give them the right to impose those costs on anyone else."Aug 28, 2006 | Dollars & Crosses
IRVINE, CA-- Iranian president Ahmadinejad's offer to President Bush for a debate "on how to end world predicaments" is a farce, said Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute. "The Iranian regime is the world's leading sponsor of the Islamic totalitarian movement that terrorizes us, and it is eagerly pursuing long-range missiles and nuclear warheads with which to terrorize us further. The only way to "end world predicaments" is for this regime to cease to exist. We must defeat Ahmadinejad and his regime--not debate them.