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If you have stumbled across this website, you may be wondering what it is all about. It is the beginning of Daryl Densford’s campaign for the state House of Representatives when he retires from the active duty Army. He is still a few years away from formally launching his campaign but wants to begin forming his platform and getting the word out about who he is and what he stands for in preparation for serving his community and district at the Statehouse.

You are invited to “follow” this site if you would like to receive updates on Daryl’s campaign and how you can help.

Minimum Wage

The ordering kiosks at a McDonald’s in Alabama

I recently posted a picture of the ordering kiosks at a McDonald’s with the comment, “I bet these guys aren’t making $15 an hour!” A friend responded to my post explaining the difficulty for low-income workers to provide for their families, saying that my post was “clueless and tone deaf.”

It is interesting that he would suggest my post, and by connection me, is “clueless and tone deaf” since it was not that long ago when I was trying to survive on unskilled, entry-level jobs while depending on public assistance so my family of seven could have enough food to eat and healthcare. But I was not offended by my friend’s comments, I can understand where he is coming from. Neither do I question his concern for people, in this case those struggling to make enough money to take care of their families with a low-income job. However, as we care about -and for- the struggling among us, we still need to be practical about how we care for them.

This isn’t about the Church or Christian compassion by the way; the Scripture is clear about how Christians are to care for those in need. This about the government and commerce. Yes, the government has some responsibility to care for its citizens who cannot care for themselves (which it does through public assistance programs), but it also has a responsibility to be a good steward of the taxes you and I pay (so shouldn’t go overboard with public assistance) and should not be overly intrusive into regulating the marketplace. One of the appealing features of a Democratic Republic with Free-Market Capitalism is the ability for individuals and businesses to make their own life and business decisions, attempting to make as much profit as the free market will allow. Grant it, this freedom should not come with the ability to discriminate against legitimate classes or groups of people, but that is not what we are talking about when it comes to a government-mandated minimum wage for unskilled labor (like fast food).

Let me be clear, I care about people. I care about families who struggle to make ends meet. I care about our communities and want them to be a place where people can find jobs and where businesses can thrive (thus providing jobs). But how we care for people and our community must be done wisely and provide the most benefit to everyone involved.

The problem with my friends comment about my post is that he appears to be looking at just one possible solution to the plight of the poor: unskilled jobs like McDonald’s. I contend that this is not the answer or even much help. Fast food jobs are not intended to provide a high enough wage to support a family, they are unskilled, entry-level, jobs designed for teenagers’ first employment or others who just want a little extra cash. “Unskilled” is the key word here. Flipping burgers and taking orders is not skilled labor, it’s barely worth the $3.10 I made when I worked at McDonald’s 40 years ago much less the $15-20 being proposed as a minimum wage today. To enforce a minimum wage for unskilled entry-level jobs is little more than creating another avenue to dispense welfare, but making businesses foot the bill.

Some fast food restaurants have already shown how they can more cheaply take orders, with fewer personnel problems and no training: the ordering kiosks and apps. While there is an initial investment in the technology, it will not take long to recoup with the savings from not having to pay employees, even at the current minimum wage. Should the minimum wage go up, fast food restaurants will likely more widely employ technology to eliminate personnel costs, with more ordering kiosks as well as automating the cooking and packaging of orders. Having worked the grill at McDonald’s I can assure you it would not be very hard to do.

While many business owners and employers are very compassionate and go to extremes to care for their employees, businesses are in business to make money, not provide for the needs of their workers (not getting into the benefit to the employer of the high morale of employees). If they can provide the product or service they are in business for without the expense of employees, thus creating more profit, they will more than likely do it, which will reduce the number of unskilled, entry-level jobs teenagers can enter the workforce through while preserving the businesses’ bottom line…and not giving new workers (teenagers) any work experience (with all that comes with that).

The government really has no business involving itself so deeply into the operation of private businesses, with few exceptions (like safety and discrimination). But the wage a business pays all of its employees (without discriminating) does not fall under what should be required federal regulation, at least for restaurants. As much as I enjoy eating out sometimes, food service is not an essential industry like healthcare, utilities or the military, so the government has even less reason to get involved. They should allow the market to drive the wage like it is now during COVID. There are so few workers willing or able to work that fast food restaurants are competing for such a small pool of workers that they are raising their starting pay and providing additional benefits, without government insistence. This is how it should work.

If the government really wants to help low-income wage earners, they should assist low-end skilled labor employers to provide training for people to enter the skilled workforce where the market already determines a higher wage than unskilled entry-level jobs. In the meantime, wage earners forced into unskilled low income jobs who have a family to support can receive government assistance for healthcare, food and other essential expenses as an “underemployed” worker, which will help them get through what should be a short period in a low wage job, working toward a higher paying job that requires a skill, intended for wage earners supporting a family.

Obviously there are bigger problems to deal with than the minimum wage in order take care of people, and this problem can’t be fixed overnight or by legislators just looking to push their own agenda. But the answer is not to try to fix something that isn’t broken to make it do something it’s not intended to do or able to sustain.

Here’s the bottom line: unskilled entry-level jobs (like fast food) are not intended to provide a family-care wage and to artificially inflate the value of unskilled labor with a high minimum wage would ultimately hurt the ones a higher minimum wage was intended help.

4 July 2021

I am an American. I am a Patriot. I celebrate Independence Day on the 4th of July.

By far, the majority of Americans will be celebrating the independence of the United States as well. Even with our many differences on political, social and religious issues, most people living in America are here because they want to be and are grateful for the freedoms that America provides not only for those living within her borders but for many people in other countries who the Untied States has liberated or protected.

There is a minority of Americans, however, who won’t be celebrating today. These are people who seem to take offense at what America is and stands for on behalf of other people who apparently are too ignorant to be offended on their own. They insist that to be proud of being American, to celebrate our country’s independence and birth is a slap in the face of people living in the U.S. from other countries. They suggest that being proud of our country and its ideals, to proclaim the United States as one of the greatest countries on earth demeans non-Americans and rejects the goodness of other countries.

I’m not suggesting that the United States is perfect and can’t be improved upon but there is much appeal in the rights and freedoms that it provides those living within its borders or else why do so many want to immigrate here? Why don’t more people leave (even when they promise they will if certain candidates are elected President)? With all its faults, America is a great country, a great place to live, and a favorite destination of many people who live in oppressive, dictatorial or non-democratic countries. We celebrate the goodness of the United States when we celebrate our independence.

There are other reasons that small groups of Americans refuse to celebrate on this day, or downplay its importance. Some of the reasons they give have some validity but none are sufficient to support a rejection of a celebration over 240 years a tradition, in a country that has overcome so much in its history and provides so much for people around the world. Space and time prevent me from expounding on each of them here, so let me simply provide a list (in no particular order) of what I, and the majority of Americans, are not declaring as we celebrate the 4th of July:

1. In my celebrating, I am not affirming my allegiance to my country as being above my allegiance to God and His Kingdom. I am first a citizen of the Kingdom of God and committed to Him above all else.

2. As I celebrate, I am not demeaning people from other countries who now live in the United States. Our “melting pot” is what has made America what it is and invite people from all nations who now live in the U.S. to celebrate our freedoms with us.

3. I am not celebrating what is wrong with the United States. As already stated, the U.S. isn’t perfect but we can still celebrate what is good about her.

4. As I celebrate our independence from Great Britain, I am not celebrating rebellion, revolution or violent uprising. It’s easy to criticize our Founding Fathers by looking at their situation through our pious 21st century glasses but they saw winning independence from GB as a moral imperative worthy of putting at risk their reputations, fortunes and lives so I celebrate their willingness and sacrifice.

5. As I celebrate this 4th of July, I am not ignoring the plight of the poor or marginalized who live here. We should continue to provide justice for all and seek to ensure that all our inhabitants experience the rights and freedoms we celebrate on this day.

6. Celebrating our independence is not telling the other nations of the world that they don’t matter. Travel to other countries and you’ll see that most (if not all-I haven’t been to all) celebrate their independence and existence in similar ways. Celebrating the United States does not take away from the greatness of other countries where it exists.

7. Celebrating on the 4th of July is not an affirmation of our current Administration and all of its policies, it is simply a celebration of our independence as a country.

8. Celebrating Independence Day is not a celebration of militarism and warfare, it’s a celebration of freedom and independence.

9. My celebration of our independence as a country originally guided by Judeo-Christian principles is not a denial of the existence or rights of other faith groups. One of the freedoms we celebrate is the freedom to live and worship according to the dictates of our conscience. This is one of the things that makes the U.S. such an appealing country to come to, one of the things we celebrate.

10. As I celebrate on this day, I’m not suggesting that God blesses the United States to the exclusion of other countries. I believe that God has had a role in the development and growth of the U.S. to enable us to bless others (as He also did in biblical history) but we are certainly not the only country that God blesses and uses.

11. Finally, as I celebrate the 4th of July, Independence Day, I am not declaring that your opinion, values and priorities don’t matter. They matter as much as mine and everyone else’s living in these United States. Our freedom to have -and voice- our opinions is one of the things that makes our country great and one of the reasons we celebrate today.

I doubt that this post has changed everybody’s (or anybody’s) mind on celebrating this 4th of July, but hopefully it will enable most of us set aside our differences, to celebrate together the independence of the United States which has enabled us to grow into a country that cares for its citizens and aids citizens of other countries who need her. Hopefully, at least this one day, we can come together around what is good about our country and rejoice in what we have in common.

Happy 4th of July!

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Photo credits:

Flag with fireworks: https://www.techavy.com/4th-of-july-quotes-images-fireworks/

Signing of Declaration of Independence: Public Domain

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6 January 2021

Many supporters of the Trump Administration put their last hopes for a second Trump term on what Congress could do on 6 January by rejecting the Electoral College results or at least attached its acceptance to a mandate to audit or investigate the allegations of widespread voter fraud.

As it turned out, the overwhelmingly peaceful rally in support of President Trump turned into a lawless rampage by a few -likely planted- participants which resulted in the storming of the Capitol and delay of the Congressional session. Without a doubt, those who violated the law and broke into the Capitol, causing damage to the symbol of our Democracy should be punished to the fullest extent allowed by federal law. Their illegal activity did nothing to help the cause they claimed to be fighting for but rather likely turned more moderate or independent Americans against Trump and his supporters and the cause of Conservatism including commitment to the Constitution as the founders intended.

If democracy is to prevail over the Democratic-Socialist agenda sought by liberals in the Democratic Party, those who stand for the Constitution and the ideals of our founding fathers must be examples of law-abiding citizens, seeking to build a stronger country and better government through legal means rather than violent ones.

Several miles from D.C. in the battleground state of Georgia, this day revealed the loss of Republican control of the Senate giving the Democrats complete control of our government, though with the narrowest of margins. A highlight of the Georgia runoff elections, however, was the election of the first black Senator from Georgia, for which the voters should be commended, though his affiliation with the Democratic Party sullies the celebration for many Americans, while many ministers questioned how this minister-turned-Senator could be part of the Democratic party and support abortion.

As January 6th goes down as a low point in American history, patriots across our country must not hunker down in dread of four years of a Democratic president and two years of a Democratic controlled House and Senate, but should begin now the work to get Conservative Republicans elected to every seat up for election in the mid-terms. We must not become disenchanted with our democratic system of government because of the very likely possibility of voter fraud in the 2020 election, or at least a mishandling of the process, but should work to see that our state legislatures ensure the election process in every state is transparent, fair and executed according to state and federal laws.

Election Day 2020

Today is going to be an interesting day in the United States. By the end of it, there may be riots or celebrations (or both) in the streets as well as cases filed in the courts.

There will likely be accusations thrown from both sides and condemnations for either not being Christian enough or not loving others enough, to vote the “right” way.

Some may end the day dreading the next four years while others will be excited at the changes the next four years will bring.

At the end of the day, we will have continued the democratic experiment that our American forefathers began over 245 years ago. An experiment that dared to dream of a place where people from all over the world could live in peace & safety, practice their religion freely, pursue their dreams, and be Americans- together.

Over those 245 years, when our peace, our freedoms or our dreams were threatened as Americans, we came together to defend each other either by taking up arms or linking arms. We remained Americans and together withstood whatever difficulties came our way-military, economic, biological, environmental or philosophical.

Being an American is more important than being a Republican or a Democratic (or whatever party you align with). At the end of the day (literally this day) Americans need to remember our history and again come together, not to challenge the legitimate outcome of an election but to celebrate that we have the freedom to choose our government officials and representatives and continue to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And if you happen to be Christian as well as American, all the more should we come together and thank God for a country that allows us the freedom to live as God intends while evangelizing the world, caring for the poor, welcoming the foreigner and working toward peace.

All the more should Christians demonstrate to the rest of the country (and world, really) how to live at peace with each other and come together not only if we agree ideologically but because we serve a God who works in us and through us regardless of the political situation around us.

I hope and pray that this day, in the end, will be a day when the best of America is displayed by all Americans and the hope of America (and the world) is displayed by all Christians.