DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING "Cost of Freedom Recap" CONTAINS STRONG OPINIONS WHICH ARE NOT A REFLECTION OF THE OPINIONS OF FOX NEWS AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON AS INVESTMENT ADVICE WHEN MAKING PERSONAL INVESTMENT DECISIONS. IT IS FOX NEWS' POLICY THAT CONTRIBUTORS DISCLOSE POSITIONS THEY HOLD IN STOCKS THEY DISCUSS, THOUGH POSITIONS MAY CHANGE. READERS OF "Cost of Freedom Recap" MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN INVESTMENT DECISIONS.
PRESIDENT SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO EXPAND OVERTIME PAY RULES
JOHN LAYFIELD: You are not getting anything done in Washington, D.C. right now. They don't have a jobs plan. We've lost the middle class. The jobs we've added have been lower paying jobs. The only jobs plan they have is to tell companies that cash on the ballot sheet. We want you to use that cash to hire workers you don't need or they're telling people that are paying minimum wage, we want to pay a little more. We want these people to move up to the middle class, but there is no middle class. This should be left to individual states. You should not compare New York to Mississippi. We have a national agenda. This agenda is not about workers, it's about all politics pure and simple.
SASCHA BURNS: It's counterintuitive to think it would send more people to the unemployment lines, because what it would do is have an employer hire somebody else that could avoid extra overtime. Overtime is not a new idea. The threshold is not a new idea. What the president wants to do is raise the threshold by adjusting it to inflation.
GARY B SMITH: It doesn't work; you can't force the market to do what it won't do. I guess Obama's thinks that "These fat cats in these companies are sitting there hoarding all these billions of dollars to themselves." That's not how it works. When a company pays more wages in overtime, they have less profit. Those profits are used by the company in the form of retainers and they're giving the money back to shareholders with dividends. They grow the company further down the line. It shows a basic misunderstanding of how businesses work.
JONAS MAX FERRIS: Decreeing overtime by executive order doesn't make any sense. It's hard for the government to move the profits from the company to the laborer, whether it's minimum wages or time-and-a-half or whatever. It doesn't work.
TRACY BYRNES: People are barely working 40 hours. So why are we begging for overtime? If that was the case, it would mean the economy was booming. We are not even close. They are living in la-la land down in D.C.
REPORT: MORE STATES MAY HIKE GAS TAX TO PAY FOR REPAIRING POTHOLES, BRIDGES
GARY B SMITH: The problem is when the federal government gets a hold of gas taxes; they divert it to silly things like magnetic levitation trains and bike paths. This money goes to every other government slush fund. When it does get spent, the government uses it inefficiently. If we want to fix this, there are two ways: you can private advertise it like they did the highways in northern Virginia, which I would be in favor for, or just use a user fee, used in the transponders.
SASCHA BURNS: You are still paying for it. If you have a toll road, you pay it. I don't see what the difference is. Do we all feel like we pay enough already? Yes, absolutely. Is there enough transportation and infrastructure funding? No. We know that because our bridges and roads are falling apart. So the reality is that you can't just sit on the sofa while your house falls down behind you.
TRACY BYRNES: If you live in a state like New York or California, you are already paying 70 cents a gallon in gas taxes. I can't believe it. There is a huge difference between a gas tax and the toll roads, because I often pay both and I run over nails and get flat tires because of roads in this area. I would pay gladly to fix the potholes if I knew they're going to get fixed, but they're not. They're going to some congressional slush fund. Who knows where it goes?
JONAS MAX FERRIS: The government will waste money and misappropriate it and do big things, regardless of where the tax money comes from. The gas tax costs less in collection. It will save the government that money. They haven't raised the federal gas tax forever. Obama doesn't have the nerve to do it. He should. That doesn't add costs the revenue.
JOHN LAYFIELD: The problem here is not how we get the money to the government. The problem is the government itself it is a net. I think if you drive, you should pay for it through a gas tax. The problem is not the government raising money; the problem is that the money is not being used on the roads.
FEMALE CELEBRITIES AND FACEBOOK COO PUSHING TO BAN THE WORD "BOSSY"
TRACY BYRNES: Look, if you are called "bossy" chances are good you could be called the other "b" word, because you can lead without being called bossy. You can lead without trying to tear people's heads off. You can still be a CEO without being called bossy.
JOHN LAYFIELD: I applaud them for doing this. I don't know why a company would not want its board of directors to look like its customers. In some retail places, 80 percent of the shoppers are women, yet 20 percent or less are CEOs. Too many times in our corporate worlds, we're hailing males as our corporate boards. I don't think that's an admirable quality to have in the year 2014.
SASCHA BURNS: I think any time you get a conversation going about encouraging girls to lead and encouraging girls to be more competitive or assertive is a great. That's the way they should be. I think it's a good thing.
JONAS MAX FERRIS: We should want our women bossy, not say don't call them bossy. I like the concept; I think phasing out the word is a bit much.
GARY B SMITH: I think that taking issue with this word makes women look weak. Could you imagine any man saying that? This is just silliness.
PREDICTIONS
GARY B. SMITH: Amazon Prime is still "prime"! (AMZN) delivers a 20 percent gain in 1 year
JOHN LAYFIELD: Forget GM! (F) drives up 20 percent in 1 year
TRACY BYRNES: Stop looking at your phone and pay attention to your kids!
JOHN MAX FERRIS: Pet spending hits record high! (COH) barks up 20 percent in 1 year
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