State of the Union, Indeed!

Hello My Dear Friends! Don't worry. I'm not going to get all political on you. I'd just like to point out a few things. First, as the President of the United States give his annual State of the Union address, it's expected he will announce that he will use "Executive Order" to raise the "minimum wage" for Federal contract employees. The proposed raise, to $10.10 per hour, is an increase of nearly $3.00 per hour. The White House, by it's own admission, has no idea how many workers will be affected. That's really sound financial planning. Who cares what it costs! Just do it. The White House says that the theory that raising the minimum wage leads to job losses is a "myth". It probably is. What do economists know anyway. A $3.00 an hour increase is about $6200 a year. I didn't get a $6200 raise this year. Did you? Here's a fun fact. The latest job numbers show that the state that lost the most jobs in December was New Jersey. By coincidence, New Jersey announced in December that it would be raising it's minimum wage by a dollar an hour, effective January 1st. Again, coincidence. Another thing you'll hear the President address is "income inequality". That's the growing gap between the "rich" and "poor" in America. What you wont hear is that, since 2009, 95% of all income gains in this country have gone to the top 1% of earners. Coincidence, I'm sure. Regardless of what else the President has to say, I must admit, I'll probably hear "blah, blah, blah". What I'd like to hear is, "The state of the union is ugly. We're going in the wrong direction and here's what I'm going to do to fix it...." Not likely, but a cat can dream, can't she?
Po