Obama Campaign Workers Upset About Not Getting Paid All That They Earned

I guess that we can safely assume that most of these folks have never earned (or even seen) an actual paycheck:

"Still that's not right. I'm disappointed. I'm glad for the president, but I'm disappointed in this system," said Diane Jefferson, temporary campaign worker.

"It should have been $480. It's $230," said Imani Sankofa.

"They gave us $10 an hour. So we added it. I added up all the hours so it was supposed to be at least $120. All I get is $90," said Charles Martin.

"I worked nine hours a day for 4 days and got paid half of what I should have earned," said Randall Waldon.

But I thought that we were supposed to be getting over the simplistic notions about keeping money that we earn!

Welcome to the real-world kids, welcome to the real world.

Non-presidential things to watch today

1. What will California do with proposition 8 (state constitutional amendment on gay marriage)? They say that as California goes, so goes the nation. The few other states that have enacted gay marriage haven't seemed to have much of an effect on the nation as a whole, but I think that California will be different. (For the record, I support gay marriage, but I don't like the idea of it being imposed by the courts- though I haven't read the CA constitution or opinion, so I'm not sure whether it was a leap or not)

2. Will Massachusetts do away with its state income tax? The other states that have no income tax are all well known for having at least some conservative/libertarian streaks (Tennessee, Florida, Texas, Alaska, Nevada). Massachusetts, aka Tax-achusetts, would be the first solidly blue state to make such a move. Could this be a good sign for supporters of the Fair Tax?

3. What will happen to John Murtha? I'm all for a long time congress member getting kicked out, and that it is for showing his true colors in such an obnoxious fashion only makes it more delightful!

4. What will happen to Ted Stevens? See above, re: long time congress member getting kicked out. I hate to lose another Republican given what we're facing right now, but I'm really not a fan of Stevens and I'm pretty glad to see him get what he deserves.

Arbitrary Windfall Profits

Wall Street Journal looks at what is, and what isn’t, a windfall profit that democrats would like to tax. Of course, if you don’t want to think any deeper than “Oil companies are evil” and “corporate America is greedy,” this probably isn’t for you.

“The point is that what constitutes an abnormal profit is
entirely arbitrary. It is in the eye of the political beholder, who is usually
looking to soak some unpopular business. In other words, a windfall is nothing
more than a profit earned by a business that some politician dislikes. And a tax
on that profit is merely a form of politically motivated expropriation. . .

It's what politicians do in Venezuela, not in a free
country.”

Of course, if you don’t want to think any deeper than “Oil companies are evil” and “corporate America is greedy,” this probably isn’t for you.