The Minimum Rage

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I find it incredibly interesting that the President of the United States is railing against 'Inequality' in a Nation, especially knowing the he has set the tone in America for the past five years.  
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It begs that several questions be asked:  
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• Does Barack Obama KNOW he's President?
• Does Barack Obama KNOW that during his tenure as President the 'wealth gap' has grown significantly?
• Does Barack Obama understand that HIS policies have widened the chasm between rich and poor? 

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Listening to the President speak during the State of the Union, and again over many intervening tax-payer funded campaign stops (raising money for the DNC), I wonder if he awoke one day from an alternative Universe, amazed to find that he is, in THIS Universe...
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President of the United states 
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Resident Obama, compared to President Harry S. Truman, finds that (not only) does the Buck NOT 'stop here', but he does not even know that the 'Buck is coming' until someone within his Administration tells him that Fox News has discovered that he has an issue within his Administration.  This guy doesn't need more staff members, we need to buy him BASIC CABLE so he can keep abreast of what's happening during his Residency.
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I'm cutting the man a bit of slack because it's not like he ever had a private-sector job in which he had to produce (anything), make a profit (or drive down expenses to, at best, 'break-even'), or cover a payroll using his own funds (vs. taking money from everyone, and passing it along (by 'spreading the wealth around') to - others more 'deserving' of it due to the Inequality which pervades HIS Residency)...
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But I am intrigued by a couple of things:
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1. In the most recent State of the Union Address, President Obama called for raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.  In the prior year's State of the Union, he committed that the minimum wage be increased to $9.50 per hour.  In case you missed it, the minimum wage in 2013 was NOT increased, just as the 2014 'wish' list item will not be.  So, what happened during the past year which requires an increase in the minimum wage of $.60 per hour?  Surely, the 'pent up demand' of high paying jobs would make this unnecessary...  Why?  (See 2)
2. During the State of the Union, the President dared Congress to extend Unemployment Benefits all the while, telling us (yes, in the same speech) how his job-creation policies have created (or saved?) Million upon Millions of new jobs.  It appears counter-intuitive that in a land of such great opportunity under the Resident of the United States that a further extension of benefits would need be considered.  Based upon his speech, he should be announcing a reduction in Unemployment benefit terms vs. a request to extend them yet again.  
3. Last week the CBO announced that ObamaCare will reduce the number of full-time workers in the US by 2.5 million by 2024.  The White House's official storyline on this:  Press Secretary Jay Carney claimed that 2.5 million Americans leaving the workforce was a good thing, because they would no longer be “trapped in a job.”

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Odd, but when I got my first job washing dishes in the local diner two months' shy of my thirteenth birthday, I, apparently, was mistaken in knowing that having a job would 'set me free' to buy things I wanted, to pay my own way to the local movie theater, and would allow me to save money for the car I might one day own.  
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I was so stupid back then.  Yup, I worked for $1.75 per hour and I was, for the most part, insanely happy.  Had I known that someone is Washington, DC was going to give me everything I wanted, I may not have worked so hard all those years ago.  
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But here's the thing...
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Don't get me wrong, I didn't want to be a dishwasher for the rest of my life.  
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And, as luck would have it (the harder I / you work, turns out, the 'luckier' I / you get), I became the short-order cook, made more money, worked the counter, earned tips from customers, and then found a second job at a steak and seafood restaurant where I [gasp!] made a much higher hourly wage, ate like a king, and met some really excellent people.  I guess I should feel guilty about working two jobs during the summer and over weekends during college, knowing that I was taking a second job out of the Economy for someone 'more deserving' of it, but in reality, I didn't then, and I don't now.  I worked 50 to 75 hours per week and I was saving money so if I wanted something - I could buy it myself, without asking anyone else for their permission, or their funding of it.
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I didn't want to have my future dependent upon someone else.  I wanted a job.  I wanted what used to pass for as 'The American Dream'...
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In 2014, being able to NOT work full-time, this, according to paid professionals within the Obama Administration, IS the American Dream.  This explains volumes about their policies, doesn't it?  They look at full-time employment as a necessary evil, whereas I look at it as a privilege.  
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Where did these people come from?  One possible answer, of course, is 'Kenya', but that would be a cheap joke.  Between you and me?  We have enough cheap jokes in office today, we don't need any more here.    


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Instead, I wanted to take a moment to remind you folks about something we learned about in History / Social Studies / Government classes in school.  What is it?  Namely that the first three words of the United States Constitution, "We the people".  
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Newsflash - the Founders were talking about US.
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We are the People.  
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And most of US continue to be sleeping at the wheel.  
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The next time you hear Mr. Obama utter the word 'Inequality' (although, over the past week, the 'Inequality' word has magically morphed into 'Opportunity', so feel free to add this to your Obama Speech drinking game), run to your nearest phone and call each of the following numbers:
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House Switchboard:  (202) 224-3121
. Senate Switchboard:  (866) 220-0044
. White House Switchboard:  (202) 456-1111

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Tell whomever answers that the phone you want government out of the Minimum Wage business and that you would prefer that businesses decide what work is worth.  
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It's time to push back with a bit of 'Minimum Rage' of our own.  
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Hey, our Nation was BORN screaming and kicking.  Time for us to get back to our roots... 
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Kicking, screaming, and in general, making a nuisance of ourselves.
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