Ukraine/Crimea: Obama Resorts to His 'Pen' Again

It's been more than a week since Putin moved against Crimea.  Yet, there still is no international coalition willing to take Russia to task.  Not the U.N.  Not NATO.  Not even a smattering of European allies. Instead, Obama has resorted to going it alone by inking an executive order that might restrict the approval of certain Russian visas into the U.S; and, too, he may also use his 'pen' to draft executive orders which would tie up Russian assets.

If this sounds all too familiar, it is.  Instead of a Congress that won't work with him, he now has an international community that won't work with him either.  In both cases, our President is being publicly exposed as a feckless leader who lacks the negotiation skills necessary to take on any real challenges and make things happen.

So, he must, once again, resort to his only avenues of leadership: His "pen and a phone".  En garde!

Oh, yes, I forgot one other thing he uses to bring his foes to their knees: Speeches!  And, lot's of 'em!


Back Story: Obama’s 7 State of the Union talking points. No. 6: ‘The Pen and Phone’ strategy: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/01/27/obamas-7-state-of-the-union-talking-points-no-6-the-pen-and-phone-strategy/

Did You Get Your 40% Increase In Pay When Obama Pen-Legislated A $10.10 Minimum Wage?

With a stroke of the pen, Obama gave any minimum wage worker involved with new government contracts a 40% increase.  Did your wages go up 40%?  Probably not, but one thing is true, that 40% increase "will" ultimately be passed on to everyone in the form of either higher costs or higher taxes.  While the President seems to think he made a few thousand minimum wage earners less poor, he sure as hell made millions of other Americans poorer.

Especially hurt are all those on fixed incomes.  Right now more than 38% of the 57 million people receiving Social Security checks are living solely off of that income; and, they are struggling. Obama didn't give them a 40% increase.  They only saw a 1.5% increase this year.  Since the President has been in office, social security checks have only risen an average of a little more than 1.1 % per year, while inflation was 50% higher than that.  In his first two years, he actually gave no increases to social security recipients.

Lastly, there are 2 million workers in this country who don't even make minimum wage. That's a higher number than the 1.6 million who do.  Where's their 40% increase?  How does Obama propose they deal with any rising costs resulting from the minimum wage increase?

References:

New York Times: February 13, 2014: Obama Raises Minimum Wage for Contract Workers: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/us/politics/obama-raises-minimum-wage-for-contract-workers.html?_r=0

USA Today:  Rising prices hammer seniors on fixed incomes: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/perfi/retirement/2008-07-01-retiree-fixed-income_N.htm

U.S. News and World Report: Retirees Increasingly Depending on Social Security: http://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/articles/2011/08/30/retirees-increasingly-depending-on-social-security

Social Security Administration: Month Statistical Snapshot: http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/quickfacts/stat_snapshot/

Social Security Administration: Cost-Of-Living Adjustments: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/cola/colaseries.html

Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2012.htm