The Vampire

Nancy Pelosi .... May she get caught time and again.

So liberals and Dems across the country applauded when Vampirella succeeded in getting the minimum wage boosted to $7.25. And high time too. But business leaders complained that this only served to force them search abroad for more hospitable places (cheaper) to make widgets. Probably true, but legislation could prevent that --- oooohh dear, I am sounding anti-trade, and anti-competitive!!!!

Vampirella knows this and that is why she worked her magic to suck blood out of everyone else ... except two businesses headquartered in her home district in California. Yes, dear readers, there is an exemption to the minimum wage laws just passed and the beneficiaries are Vampirella's constituents. How? The bill expressly exempts American Samoa from the laws -- all other US territories and states are whacked, but not American Samoa.

You see, American Samoa is where Starkist and Chicken of the Sea have their major tuna canning operations: some 40% of the island is in one way or the other beholden to those jobs. And if the wage rate went through the roof, then the companies that control the canneries -- and which are headquartered in Vampirella's district -- would be forced to look elsewhere for cheaper labor. Just like the business leaders against the minimum wage hike claimed for all the other menial labor in the US.

It pays to pay off Vampirella. And this is the quality and cut of our new Speaker of the House. This is what we should expect from the party that invented the pork barrel.