We need to ABOLISH tipping altogether, by law, and build a reasonable service fee into the bill, as ALL CIVILIZED countries do. Tipping is petty BRIBERY that is unfair to everyone. It extorts money from people who receive bad service [but] are intimidated away from giving less than the going rate -- which has in recent years been inflated from 10% to 15% for no reason. And it leaves servers at the mercy of cheapskates like "Mr 1%". To enforce the prohibition on tipping, we need merely provide that all tips left at the table are GOVERNMENT PROPERTY, and pocketing that money for private purposes is a FEDERAL CRIME, punishable by a fine of 10X the amount stolen, and by imprisonment for egregious violations. Then use the tip money, sent to the Government via business-tax returns or quarterly tip checks, for anti-poverty programs. We can also abolish the exemption from the minimum wage for servers, and establish a reasonable minimum wage that takes into account the 10% or 15% service fee. Any raiding of the service fee by the owners of the establishment would be punished, again, by a fine 10X the amount misappropriated, plus imprisonment for egregious violations.
*
If you don't know the sleazy things that SOUTHERN states are doing to suppress the Democratic vote, educate yourself. In many rural areas of the South, a significant portion of the black population was born at home, thru midwives, so did not have birth certificates, so requirements that they present a government-issued birth certificate, with no substitute documentation, such as affidavits, school records, etc., are NOT good-faith attempts to prevent voter fraud, which is in any case rare. Most REGISTERED voters don't even vote.
*
Churches are NOT businesses. They do not make profits. Only PROFITS are taxed. The U.S. IS a democracy, but not a theocracy. No church can be attacked for expressing moral views or favoring one candidate or party. Cannot be done under the Constitution: First Amendment -- "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press". What part of that don't you understand? Government may not restrict freedom of speech, be it by an individual, a pastor, or a church as an official statement of policy. Opposing a political STANCE is NOT running a campaign, and in fact NO CHURCH has ever been taxed for speaking out on political issues. Nor could it be, because that would constitute "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion. You may not like freedom of religion, but it is an indispensable part of American civilization, without which we would have endless, bloody, civil war after war after war.

- posted by L. Craig Schoonmaker @ 11:59 PM