President Obama calls for the minimum wage to be set at $9 dollars an hour. What moron beside this president thinks you can raise a family on $9 an hour?

The "Ayn Rand Institute" is a 501(C)3 organization dedicated to teaching impressionable young persons the so-called "tenets" of "Objectivism", the philosophy contained in Rand's works of fiction like "Atlas Shrugged" and her "non-fiction" (actually fiction) magnum opus, "The Virtue of Selfishness" which teaches that "greed is god ..." I mean "good", and that ALL poor people - as well as nearly ALL people who don't own businesses or land - are "takers", and folks who are skilled at making $$$ are godlike "makers" ... Of course, Rand and her wingnut followers (from Mitt Romney, Donald Trump, Eric cantor, Paul Ryan and Ted Cruze at the top of the food chain to the silly Randians who post here at the bottom) are all CRAZY!

What is “The Ayn Rand Institute”?

Correction: oneill regresses back to playing baby games again!

Correction: Munster regresses back to playing baby games again!

R1KRA8 = ARE-ONE-CRAB! THAT'S for all the "One-ill" snarkicisms!

And if whack-job novelist and polemicist Ayn Rand isn't completely demised (like the "Monty Python" parrot), the antics of Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Ted Cruze, Jim DeMint, and Sarah Palin are killing her with their "unrequited love"!

Possibly the most significant difference between the "haves" and the "have-nots" in today's society (oooo, oneill said "society"!) is that the "haves" can live wherever they like, and the "have nots" must live wherever they can make a living. It's bad enough that immigrants (legal or not) from Mexico must live apart from their families (and, from my observations in that nation, Mexican people are VERY family-oriented), but you want AMERICANS to move around like the "Okies" did in the 1930s? ... Here's a novel idea - why not scrap some of the local nepotism and petty-greed and create some REAL living-wage jobs HERE? ... Danm! Just when I was about to compliment R1KRA8 on his ability to read a book about Marie Antionette, he regresses back to playing baby games again!

BeRight - When you talk about "feeling sorry for the people who are unwilling to make changes in their lives", are you talking about them thar folks who live in trailers in W.Va. or S.E. Ohio? Or are you talking about those who live in the lap-of-luxury in gated-communities in the Hamptons and are unwilling to change their self-absorbed ways and pay their share to support the nation that made their cushy-lifestyles possible? ... Seriously BeRight, Ayn Rand IS dead & her notions about "makers" and "takers" died long before she did!

But I had an asset, what is the answer for those who have nothing to sell, or any type of equity. also what would be a skill in one part of this nation, may not be a skill in another part. Such is life. To me a consumer and service economy has proven to be the downgrading of the American Dream.

Be Right: Dont feel sorry for those that wont help themselves. But how about those that get up in rural Morgan and drive two hours to Columbus, work 8 to 10 hours and drive back, most of these people would NEVER live or move close to Columbus. If they are making 15-20 bucks and hour, figure in the cost of gas, wear and tear on vehicles and themselves, not to mention strain on trying to hold family together. I mean price of gas went up .80 cents a gallon for what? Why I even did as you suggest sold my piece of Creation moved to better pay, and a higher cost of living.

sorry for the typo the first time. and second time. figure out the keyboard is bad.

scrappile: how can you feel sorry for people who are unwilling to make changes in their lives or are unwilling to move to better the outcomes of their families?

If your only improvement strategy is to wake up and complain everyday it won’t get you very far.

When I was much younger my father packed us up and moved from out of state to Ohio because certain industries were said to be hiring. My father got a job in one of those industries and made a better life for his family.

You hit the nail on the head when you said “in this area of depressed wages”. What do they say about people who do the same thing every day and expect a different out come?

In this day of the over connected world, moving from family is not a life sentence to being disconnected from family. Can’t use that excuse anymore.

sorry for the typo the first time.

scrappile: how can you feell sorry for people who are unwilling to make changes in their lives or are unwilling to move to better the outcomes of their families?

If your only improvement strategy is to wake up and complain everyday it won’t get you very far.

When I was much younger my father packed us up and moved from out of state to Ohio because certain industries were said to be hiring. My father got a job in one of those industries and made a better life for his family.

You hit the nail on the head when you said “in this area of depressed wages”. What do they say about people who do the same thing every day and expect a different out come?

In this day of the over connected world, moving from family is not a life sentence to being disconnected from family. Can’t use that excuse anymore.

Whoa . . . Isn’t Munster an über-leftist nitpicker who just wants to distract from reality?

scrappile: how can you fill sorry for people who are unwilling to make changes in their lives or are unwilling to move to better the outcomes of their families?

If your only improvement strategy is to wake up and complain everyday it won’t get you very far.

When I was much younger my father packed us up and moved from out of state to Ohio because certain industries were said to be hiring. My father got a job in one of those industries and made a better life for his family.

You hit the nail on the head when you said “in this area of depressed wages”. What do they say about people who do the same thing every day and expect a different out come?

In this day of the over connected world, moving from family is not a life sentence to being disconnected from family. Can’t use that excuse anymore.

Note that it took me two posts (okay three) to correct two pages of silliness posted by uber-rightnik nitpickers who just want to distract from reality!

The main comparison to today is that wingnuts like Paul Ryan, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and Eric Cantor want to "punish" American middle-class and working-poor folks to recoup the $3 Trillion they wasted on their wars-of-choice in Iraq & Afghanistan that were NOT included in the 2001-2008 budgets ... Like the elites in 18th century France and England, they don't believe that wasteful spending on their favorite war-policies should in any way hamper the lifestyles of the "rich & famous"! So, in essence, what they are suggesting for folks who depend on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, HUD, WIC, Head Start, etc. is "let them eat cake!" ... Poor Marie got the blame for the policies of her husband, father-in-law (Louis XV who said "Apries moi le deluge!") and Finance Minister Necker ... Oh well, at least they named an Ohio town after poor Marie! OopS!

No Marie didn't say "Let them eat cake." It was most likely Jacques Necker (1732-1804) Louis XVI's Minister of Finance. "Cake" was a disgusting, corn-bread-like concoction that was eaten by poor Parisians as a replacement for real bread made with flour. Necker and his associates placed heavy taxes on flour and other necessities of life to recoup some of the revenue losses incurred via France's disastrous series of wars with England leading up to the 1763 loss of their empire in America ... The Brits racked up a heavy debt also & laid taxes on their American colonists ... The result of that you (might) know ... Tea Party whackos like to compare stif 'er stuff like inheritance taxes and corporate income taxes to the taxes on tea, paper, food, etc. in the 18th century. This is more proof that folks like Norquist and some locals that spout here have never read a history book in their lives!

munster, today is quite a bit different wouldn't you say? there is relatively free education as well as resonably priced higher education for the american citizen should they so choose. many of todays working and non-working poor are there by choice whether through lack of motivation or personal life-choices. those that are mentally challenged to the point of not being able to function in society need to be taken care of as well as our senior citizens. the subsidy baby-makers of society belong to a whole different class of citizen. (i'll play nice on that one) does it not concern you that our politicians with voter support have encouraged so many to be non-contributors to society? i believe that encouragement goes a long way in motivating those to realize their capabilities. so teaching the victim mentality is counter-productive when trying to motivate people toward their own success.

Sorry, you can't put that together . . .

> Marie Antoinette never said 'Let them eat cake' <

Let Them Eat Cake; er, Brioche. Oh, Nevermind...

Despite what you've heard, Marie Antoinette never said 'Let them eat cake'

By David Emery