“Probably because she is one of the few people that gets up in front of congress and uses facts in her arguments. Is she always right? Of course not, but how many Repubs have you seen get up and say "Obamacare will bankrupt out nation" without the slightest hint of evidence?”
Roger Womack on Oct 10, 2013 at 12:24:17
“Evidence is all over the place and thats why the right is fighting so hard against the ACA.”
“I love the guy who claims that minimum wage jobs are the bottom rung of the ladder and are meant to be a stepping stone, but what does a job at a fast food restaurant qualify you for? In our society, a 4-yr degree that can be easily afforded by the middle class looks better on paper than 4 years trying to survive while working at a minimum wage job.
Even if the argument is that you should move up within the company, there are not enough management positions to provide everyone with that opportunity.”
“Not the point at all. The ad is claiming that $34,000 is a great income (top 1% of the world!), but it's not. Not to mention that if you move from one state to another and get the same job, your pay will likely be adjusted to match the cost of living in that area. ”
“The context is that I never said what university or if anyone else was on campus. Similarly, $34,000 may be a lot of money in India, but the cost of living is also about 70% less than in the US.
The other problem is that "economic freedom" is not a commonly used term. The implication is that economic freedom means freedom from government (I'm also implying this based on previous comments by the Kochs). However, 6 of the 9 countries that rank higher than the US in economic freedom also have higher government spending.”
“The problem is a lack of context - facts hold no weight without it. For example, I can walk at 60 mph. Pretty amazing until you realize that I did so on a bus. Similarly, $34,000 may be a lot of money in India, but the cost of living is also about 70% less than in the US.
I would have no problem with the statement if the purpose was to make Americans aware of how well off we are relative to other countries. However, given previous statements by the Kochs, I can't possibly believe that.
From the Heritage Foundation: "Economic freedom is the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property." To me, this means that everyone has the right to clean air/water and guess what... organized labor! The Koch brothers, on the other hand, want us to think it means that the countries without minimum wage and with minimum government intervention are the most prosperous.
Another little tidbit that they would hate for you to know - 6 of the 9 countries ahead of the US in the economic freedom ranking have higher government spending. Of course given their targeted release of this commercial, I can only assume they do not expect viewers to check up on their own data.”
“Because based on previous statements by the Kochs, economic freedom means removing minimum wage and environmental regulations - the exact things that give our lower class higher wages and clean air/water.
From the Heritage Foundation: "Economic freedom is the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property." To me, this means someone else shouldn't be able to pollute my air or water, but the the Kochs, they should have the freedom to pollute as they see fit.”
“Because facts need context to be relevant. The other day I walked 50mph (I just happened to be on a bus). Sure, $34,000 is a lot of money in India, but their cost of living is also roughly 70% lower than in the US.”
“There is a difference between general freedom and "economic freedom", which for the Koch's means being able to pay your employees as little as you want. Another way they word this is that our government is "too big", however the majority of the nations that rank higher than the US in economic freedom also rank higher in government spending.”
“Wrong. The problem is that the ad compares incomes without comparing local cost of living. Sure, $34,000 might be a lot of money to someone in Mumbai, but their cost of living is also about 25% the cost of living in New York. Nobody is denying that the average person in the US is better off than many other countries. What I take issue with is one of the wealthiest people in the world claiming that "economic freedom" (i.e. less regulation) is what makes us better off. It's people like him that cause our cost of living to be so high.”