Comments on: Obama’s Schechter Poultry?

By: JP

JP — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:56:18 +0000

When I said supremecourtjester was right, I didn’t mean to imply that you were wrong, Paul. I agree with both of you, and disagree with Lawrence and Michael Corkery. I just had the same initial reaction that scj did: federal minimum wage and overtime laws have long been accepted as valid regulation of interstate commerce. How could a federal limit on executive compensation possibly be different?

By: JP

JP — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:51:24 +0000

Paul, I absolutely do think bankers do those things. That is why “I doubt it could be seriously argued that the firms affected don’t meet these requirements.”

[If the (sort of) double negative is confusing, let me rephrase: I think it is clearly the case that the firms (and individuals) affected by the law meet the interstate commerce jurisdictional requirement (as used by the FLSA and, I would think, under almost any reasonable constitutional analysis).]

By: Paul Gowder

Paul Gowder — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:27:52 +0000

JP, you don’t think bankers handle, sell, or work on goods or materials that have been moved in or produced for interstate commerce?

By: JP

JP — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:20:57 +0000

supremecourtjester is right. The interstate commerce argument is not remotely credible. The law should include a jurisdictional requirement that the affected firms/employees are engaged in interstate commerce, produce goods for interstate commerce, or handle, sell, or work on goods or materials that have been moved in or produced for interstate commerce, or have at least $500,000 in annual revenue. (These are the FLSA’s jurisdictional limits).

Even if this limitation isn’t expressly in the law, I doubt it could be seriously argued that the firms affected don’t meet these requirements (and weren’t selected at least in part because they have a much, much larger impact on interstate [or international] commerce).

By: supremecourtjester

supremecourtjester — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:25:36 +0000

When they are ultimately paid with my tax dollars the bonuses and salaries certainly have an impact on interstate commerce.
How is maximum wage any different from minimum wage legislation ?

By: Paul Gowder

Paul Gowder — Thu, 14 May 2009 02:34:16 +0000

No way. Regulation of pay, especially bonus practices, affects the incentives of executives in trades on not only national, but global, markets. Suppose, for example, the feds regulated bonuses s.t. the incentives to make speculative trades went away. Seems pretty clearly a direct regulation of interstate commerce.