3 Responses to “Hot Hot Hot News”

1. golfdoc50 Says:
   July 20th, 2010 at 2:36 pm

   The Emmergate affair has brought out the worst in Minnesota’s “progressive” community. I read the link to Charlie’s blog, then I read the op-ed piece in the Strib. Then I asked myself: what has the first got to do with the second? Saltsman’s piece was not a ringing endorsement of Emmer’s actions after he got Alinskied by the press and bloggers like Charlie. Saltsman tried to point out to the economically challenged the unintended consequences of laws like Minnesota’s that force upward wages of, among others, restaurant servers: because of the low profit margin of restaurants, fewer servers will be hired. Charlie’s response was to attempt to heap ridicule on Saltsman’s example as unrealistic (too many employees, according to Charlie, hence not authentic. Very Alinsky, but irrelevant. The principle is the same, no matter what the size of the restaurant in the sample)
   Point two was to “out” Saltsman as a hired flack for unnamed conservative interests at the Employment Policies Institute. Big surprise! We all know that the only really objective writers are people who work for non-profits like “Growth and Justice”, where Charlie contributes. No bias there, no siree!
   Emmer put his foot in his own mouth with the assertion of 100k/year servers. He’ll have to live with it, but like Saltsman, I’d feel better if he stuck to his original point and didn’t waste time answering critics like Charlie, who have no real interest in promoting dialogue across the Great Divide, only in telling the ignorant masses that what they believe isn’t in their best interest.

2. charlieq Says:
   July 21st, 2010 at 7:59 am

   My post did not mention Emmer.

   I spent a good four years trying to interest conservatives in dialogue and found a general lack of interest, so you may consider me jaded on the topic. But if you really want to discuss my shortcomings, you’re welcome to do it at my blog.

   One thing I do there is point out when writers use misleading arguments. It’s not simply about disputing their position but encouraging readers to read the news and commentary with an eye to those techniques. That may not be evident in one piece, but it has been basic feature of my writing.

   For example, my point two was that Saltsman’s screed was written as if lack of a tip credit created some special hardship to Minnesota restaurant owners and was squeezing them further. In fact, virtually every owner today started business under the minimum wage law as it exists.

3. Mitch Berg Says:
   July 21st, 2010 at 10:13 pm

   So Minnesota restauranteurs have adapted. People do that.

   It is still a fact that minimum wage is a job-killer.

   At any rate, yes, Charlie – sometimes hedlines out of context are funny on their own. Jay Leno’s gotten a decade and a half out of them.

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