By Richard Berman  

I just came back from California, where starter wage mandates are wreaking havoc on the entry-level job market. I took a video of five kiosk ordering screens in a Taco Bell. You order, pay, pick up your food and a self-pour soda cup without ever having to talk to anyone. These are jobs that used […]

  A minimum wage hike resistance is growing. Last month, business and government leaders in Elk Grove Village, Ill., met to decide whether to join the growing number of cities opting out of dramatic minimum wage increases at the county level. Barrington, Oak Forest, Rosemont and Tinley Park have all opted out of Cook County’s […]

Donald Trump is president, and one of his first priorities is getting his Cabinet picks confirmed. Standing in his way are labor unions and their allies, who are particularly hysterical about one pick: Andy Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, who has been nominated for labor secretary. Mr. Puzder’s opposition to counterproductive regulations that reduce entry-level […]

Mesothelioma For most of us, the name of this asbestos-caused lung cancer is synonymous with bad late-night TV commercials imploring those afflicted to sue for contracting the disease. And with good cause. For roughly 3,000 Americans each year, it is a death sentence. Sadly, mesothelioma’s victims extend beyond cancer patients to the U.S. justice system […]

It’s an unhappy New Year for many entry level employees in nearly half the country. On New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, 19 states and 23 localities are raising their starter wages and thus reducing their job opportunities for those with few marketable skills. In New York State and California especially, a mind-boggling patchwork […]

According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, labor unions spent more than $142 million on federal candidates, parties and outside spending trying to influence the 2016 election – more than double what they spent in 2008. Even this eye-popping figure is conservative, as it doesn’t include big spending on ballot measures and other tactics […]

Just when you thought their tax burdens couldn’t get any bigger, three Bay Area cities, Chicago and Boulder, Colo., passed soft drink taxes last week. Soda taxes were sold as anti-obesity measures, but this lightweight argument fails at several levels. Soft drinks account for 7 percent of calories consumed. If they are so toxic, why […]

Minimum wage activists and the legislators who do their bidding are contributing to the start of a restaurant recession. Last week Don Pablo’s, the nation’s second-largest Mexican restaurant chain, filed for bankruptcy. Also last week, Garden Fresh Restaurants, which runs Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes, filed for protection. And the week before that, Restaurants Acquisitions, Logan’s […]

Labor Day is dedicated to honor the “social and economic achievements of American workers” – according to the Department of Labor, anyway. For everyone else, it’s an opportunity to celebrate the end of summer. However, American workers have made major achievements that shouldn’t be forgotten despite the focus on backyard barbecues. Most of these came […]

Last week, Britain voted to leave the European Union, freeing itself from international governance. Just as the United States would recoil at the thought of Canadians making laws that trump US governance were that a provision of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Britain is evidently fed up with ceding its sovereignty to unelected bureaucrats […]