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Source: Richmond Register
April 13, 2010
Minimum wage cruelty
Walter Williams
Creators.com
BEREA - Which allows an American Samoan worker to have a higher standard of living: being employed at $3.26 per hour or unemployed at a wage scheduled to annually increase by 50 cents until it reaches federally mandated wages at $7.25? You say, "Williams, that's a stupid question. Who would support people being unemployed at $7.25 an hour over being employed at $3.26 an hour?" That's precisely the outcome of Congress' 2007 increases in the minimum wage. Chicken of the Sea International moved its operation from Samoa to a highly automated cannery plant in Lyon, Georgia. That resulted in roughly 2,000 jobs lost in Samoa and a gain of 200 jobs in Georgia.
Given Samoa's low cost of living, $3.26 provided Samoan workers a higher standard of living than some of their neighbors on other islands. Now these workers are unemployed. What's worse is that Starkist, Chicken of the Sea's competitor, might leave the island as well. If that happens, increases in the minimum wage will have cost more than 8,000 jobs in Samoa's canneries and related industries; that's nearly half of its labor force. Samoan standard of living will be further reduced by the increased cost of goods it imports. Ships delivering goods from the U.S. and elsewhere to Samoa will not have as much cargo on their return trips, making shipping a costlier proposition.
Cannery jobs flourished in Samoa because of its location and it was one of the few American territories exempted from the minimum wage. Even the proposed 2007 increases in the minimum wage exempted Samoa. Since Del Monte, Starkist's parent company, is headquartered in Speaker Pelosi's San Francisco district and Chicken of the Sea is based in Southern California, Republicans had a field day suggesting that Pelosi's calling for Samoa to be exempted from the increases in the minimum wage reflected political payoffs and a conflict of interest. I thought that as well, as suggested in my May 9, 2007 column, but exempting American Samoa from minimum wage increases would have been the most compassionate act, short of minimum wage repeal.
The unemployment effect of minimum wages isn't restricted to American Samoa but to the mainland U.S. as well. Overall teenage unemployment stands at a record 25 percent while adult unemployment hovers around 10 percent. Also at a record high is the 50 percent unemployment rate among black teenage males. One might ask why teen unemployment, particularly that among black teens, is so much higher than adult unemployment. The answer is simple. One effect of a minimum wage law is that of discrimination against the employment of less-preferred workers. Within the category of less-preferred workers are those with low skills. Teens are disproportionately represented among such workers and are therefore more adversely affected by minimum wages. Black teens are disproportionately represented among teens with low skills and therefore share a greater burden of minimum wages.
One of the more insidious effects of minimum wages is that it lowers the cost of racial discrimination; in fact, minimum wage laws are one of the most effective tools in the arsenals of racists everywhere, as demonstrated by just a couple of examples. During South Africa's apartheid era, its racist unions were the major supporters of minimum wages for blacks. South Africa's Wage Board said, "The method would be to fix a minimum rate for an occupation or craft so high that no Native would likely be employed." In the U.S., in the aftermath of a strike by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, when the arbitration board decreed that blacks and whites were to be paid equal wages, the white unionists expressed their delight saying, "If this course of action is followed by the company and the incentive for employing the Negro thus removed, the strike will not have been in vain."
Tragically, minimum wages have the unquestioned support of good-hearted, well-meaning people with little understanding who become the useful idiots of charlatans, quacks and racists.
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2010 CREATORS.COM
Source: TaipeiTimes.com
No change in policy on arms sales: US
NO PROMISES: Sources said that Chinese officials voiced concern over proposed arms sales to Taiwan, but a State Department official said Washington would stick to its guns
By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON
Taipei Times
Saturday, Mar 06, 2010
The US and China completed a series of top-level talks on arms sales to Taiwan, with Washington refusing to give Beijing any assurances that the sales would be stopped or curtailed, a US official said on Thursday.
"The US responded to PRC [People�s Republic of China] concerns over Taiwan by reiterating that it has followed a consistent approach," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.
Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg and Senior Director for Asian Affairs Jeff Bader conducted the talks this week in Beijing. They are now in Tokyo meeting senior Japanese government officials.
In Beijing they met Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Dai Bingguo, among others.
A source with close ties to the US State Department told the Taipei Times that while other issues were also discussed, Chinese officials appeared to place the most importance on arms sales to Taiwan.
They raised the possibility of US President Barack Obama selling F-16C/D fighters to Taiwan and indicated that if such a sale were to be approved their objections would be greater than those that followed the recent agreement to sell Taiwan a US$6.4 billion arms package including Black Hawk helicopters, communications equipment and 114 Patriot missiles.
"The US and PRC agreed on the high importance each attaches to the relationships and their commitment to building a positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship. The two sides engaged in an in-depth exchange of views on issues of mutual concern and they look forward to working together constructively to address these issues," Crowley said.
Steinberg and Bader said the Obama administration was continuing with a "one China" policy, adherence to the Three Joint Communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act, and "expectations of a peaceful resolution of the differences across the strait."
"Steinberg and Bader indicated the willingness to try to work together with China to bridge differences and deepen cooperation on areas of common interest," Crowley said.
The source with ties to the State Department told the Taipei Times that no commitment was given "not to sell the F-16s."
Shortly before the three-day Steinberg and Bader visit, the New York Times reported that Huang Xueping, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense in Beijing, had warned the US to "speak and act cautiously" if it wanted to avoid further damage to bilateral ties.
As a result of the US$6.4 billion arms sales package, China has canceled at least three high-level exchanges - a visit to the US by its chief of general staff, a visit to the US by one of its top regional commanders and a planned visit to China by the commander of the US Pacific Command.
The US hopes that Chinese President Hu Jintao will visit Washington next month to attend a global nuclear security summit.
Sources in Washington have said a Pentagon report on China's military power and strategy and a US Treasury report on exchange rate policies have been delayed until after the proposed visit to avoid upsetting Beijing.
Taipei's long-time request for 66 F-16C/Ds is still under consideration by the Obama administration, but there is unlikely to be any development for months despite efforts by Republicans in Congress and others to pressure the White House to go ahead with the sale.
Still, this pressure is gradually building - sometimes from unexpected corners.
Earlier this year, the Republican National Committee passed a resolution calling on Obama to "restore strict limits on the transfer of missile and space technology to China."
"The American people have good reason to be concerned about the demonstrated hostile actions and intentions of China directed toward the United States, Taiwan and the rest of the world," the resolution said.
This week Aumua Amata, a probable Republican candidate from American Samoa in this year's Congressional elections, said she hoped the resolution "will put further pressure on the Obama administration to expeditiously sell the F-16s to Taiwan."
"A strong, well-defended Taiwan is in America's and American Samoa's best interest," Amata said in the statement.
Copyright (c) 1999-2010 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved.
American Samoa GOP responds to Del. Faleomavaega's criticism of Pres. Obama and Hillary Clinton
REPUBLICAN PARTY OF AMERICAN SAMOA
Pago Pago, AS 96799
Statement
In the wake of the September 29 tsunami and the closing of the Chicken of the Sea cannery, American Samoa has never been in greater need of assistance from Washington. So it was sad and shocking to see headlines in media outlets from Washington to the far corners of the Pacific saying that our delegate to Congress, in the words of the headlines, has "attacked," "condemned" and "criticized" the President and Secretary of State, the top leaders of our government and his own political party. Strong language to be sure.
It is not the place of the Republican Party of American Samoa to take sides in a family feud between Faleomavaega and President Obama and Secretary Clinton, but on other accounts his press release needs clarification. In his release Faleomavaega states that "Secretary Clinton will be meeting with Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea while excluding some 15 Pacific Island leaders who could have gathered in one location to meet her. However, in fairness to Secretary Clinton, this is nothing new. The Bush and Clinton administrations also disregarded the needs and concerns of Pacific Island nations, as have most U.S. administrations."
In fairness to President Reagan and both Presidents Bush, it should be noted for the record that all three showed substantial interest in the Pacific Islands.
We do not view these gestures by these three presidents and Secretary Rice as being insignificant.
Meanwhile, in the past 21 years, particularly during the years of the Clinton administration, there has been a retrenchment of the U.S. presence in the region, with the closure of two USAID missions, elimination of all USIA centers and reduction of U.S. embassies in the islands. However, it also must be noted that the diminishment of U.S. visibility in the region has been directly proportional to the rise in our delegate�s prominence as a member of the House subcommittee that has jurisdiction over these matters.
Congressman Faleomavaega now is in his 11th term in office and is a very senior member of his party in the U.S. House of Representatives. His party controls the White House and, by overwhelming majorities, both Houses of Congress. He is the chairman of the House subcommittee that has authority over legislation that sets U.S. policy for the all of Asia and the Pacific Islands, the largest region on earth. Faleomavaega has developed expertise on Asia and Pacific issues as his specialty and he would be considered the most knowledgeable person in Congress on matters involving this region. The President is new in office and still enjoys widespread support. Therefore, it cannot be denied that Faleomavaega will never be more influential on U.S. policy in the South Pacific than he is right now.
If the President and Secretary Clinton choose not to consult with him on her itinerary in the region, invite him to accompany her on her trip, invite island leaders to attend her East West Center speech or address island issues in her speech, then it is up to Faleomavaega to help them see the error of their ways. We are not so sure that a press release is the best way to go about it.