4A
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020
The Observer
OUR VIEW
Voters
deserve to
have final say
Politicians like to talk a lot.
Americans — voters — get that.
We all — perhaps subconsciously — take into
account the role politicians play in our great
experiment and understand that doing a lot of
talking for an elected leader is often just part of
the gig.
Yet voters need to listen when politicians start
to pontifi cate, and there is no better example of
that premise than the recent remarks by Oregon
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick
regarding the new cap-and-trade bill, Senate Bill
1530.
As many readers may know, a cabal of Democrats
decided to once again lead the carbon emission limit
one-trick pony out onto center stage during the cur-
rent 35-day legislative session.
A bill with similar goals was put on ice during
the last session and died an unceremonious death,
after a walkout by Republican lawmakers in June
2019.
Opponents to the bill cite a range of problems with
the proposed legislation and some Republican law-
makers, including Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, have
proposed the carbon emission proposal be placed
before voters for a fi nal say.
Burdick told a group of reporters the “new cap-
and-trade bill was too complicated for voters to
understand, and therefore the people shouldn’t be
allowed to decide this issue at the ballot.”
If you just had to reread that statement again —
to be absolutely sure your eyes were not deceiving
you — we understand.
Because such a statement is not only surprising
but amazing in its implications.
Essentially, the message sent is voters are stupid.
That’s Oregon voters.
Burdick’s argument — such as it is — remains
a prototype of electoral ignorance and is about as
condescending an argument as one can possibly
imagine.
Perhaps Burdick — and other lawmakers who
seem to be confused — should be required to attend
mandatory Civics 101 classes to understand how
democracy works.
Democracy isn’t a closed arena where elected
leaders are the fi nal arbitrators of what is right and
what isn’t or who deserves to be included and who
does not.
Politicians work for the voters. In the end it is the
people — not politicians — who have the fi nal say in
a democracy, and if we were on the sidelines regard-
ing voter participation in the carbon emission limit
plan we are not now.
Our lawmakers are going to waste a lot of time de-
bating about this newest carbon emission limit plan
so a specifi c political agenda can be shoved through
to law. We urge legislators to remove the bill’s emer-
gency clause, which would allow it to go into effect
immediately.
That’s just not wise.
Voters, indeed, should have the fi nal say on wheth-
er the state should adopt a carbon emission plan.
That’s because they’re not stupid.
OTHER VIEWS
Putting a price on moral exhibitionism
M
oral exhibitionists are people
who make a point out of taking a
very public “moral” stands on an issue.
This posturing costs them nothing and
imposes the burden of paying for their
sanctimony on others.
Examples include union organizers
who don’t even own a lemonade stand
demanding a $15 an hour ‘living wage,’
wealthy leftists demanding action to
fi ght global warming, and Members of
Congress who want “Medicare for All”
while knowing they will receive gold-
plated, no-waiting healthcare.
Those hypocrites are why a recent
WoePost (Washington Post) story was so
refreshing. Aaron Seyedian is refreshing
because although he believes in the liv-
ing wage, he isn’t expecting Uncle Sam
to force someone else to foot the bill.
Seyedian is the founder of Well-Paid
Maids.
(The name proves this is his fi rst
marketing effort. It’s an inward-
directed name and a bit off-putting for
customers. It’s like naming your invest-
ment fi rm “Fat Commissions Broker-
age” or your personal injury practice
“Filthy Rich Lawyers.”)
Well-Paid Maids is different because
the 31-year-old Seyedian’s fi rm is
“explicitly dedicated to paying a living
wage.” And the other benefi ts aren’t bad
either.
“(Aaron) the cleaning staff $17 to
$19 an hour, which is well above the
national median of $11.43 for house
cleaners and the D.C.-area median of
$13.12. Staffers also get 22 days a year
of paid vacation.
“In addition, Seyedian offers a
zero-deductible health plan, which
costs about $8,000 per worker, and an
employer-paid disability plan.”
Seyedian doesn’t Uberize his staff ei-
ther. Every employee is full-time. There
are no contractors paid by the weight
of the dirt in the vacuum cleaner bag.
Plus, it’s harder to join his staff than
it is to become a cop. Only one out of
every 15 applicants is hired.
Seyedian is new to business, and new
to tooting his own horn. He said his
staff makes about $35,000 a year, but
that number is way low.
When you add the monthly cost of a
bronze Obamacare plan and its punish-
ing $5,700 deductible, neither of which
employees pay, total compensation is
closer to $46,232.00.
Why that’s high enough to make an
American want the job!
Well-Paid Maids’ total compensation
MICHAEL
SHANNON
is almost double the $23,770.00 US
News calculates is the average salary
at Poorly-Paid Maids. According to Ca-
reer Builder that salary puts one in the
same neighborhood as biological techni-
cian, licensed practical nurse, mental
health counselor or surgical technolo-
gist. All occupations that require an
advanced degree or training.
Seyedian is one businessman Ber-
nie’s Angel-of-Death-for-Capitalism
should pass over.
Naturally the question becomes how
much does it cost to have your apart-
ment cleaned by someone that makes
more money than you do?
This is where we can fi nally calculate
the exact monetary cost of moral exhi-
bitionism for those few actually willing
to let their money back their mouth.
Homeguide calculates the average cost
for a maid service to clean a one-bedroom,
one-bathroom apartment is “$75 for stan-
dard cleaning.” The kind of money won’t
get Well-Paid Maids to answer the phone.
The price to have guilt-free cleaning -
without what Seyedian calls the “nanny
tax” — is $159. Which puts the Moral
Exhibitionism Markup at approxi-
mately 112 percent. It’s the difference
between paying $1.00 at the Dollar
Store and $2.12 at the Living Wage
Dollar Store.
It would be cheaper to hire a Griev-
ance Studies PhD., assuming they
could operate a Hoover.
With those unsustainable rates
starring me in the face, I assumed the
target market for Well-Paid Maids is
billionaires, cabinet secretaries and
Meghan Markle, but that’s not true.
Seyedian is looking for “mission-
minded customers.”
“Some customers feel uncomfort-
able that they employ people who don’t
make enough money to live on,” Seye-
dian said. “Since it is not in your power
to change the living wage overnight, by
us doing this is a way for people to do
something voluntarily that is at least in
line with their views.”
And it frees cheaper outfi ts to work
people like me into their busy schedule.
Aaron runs the business out of his
apartment. He billed $300,000 his
fi rst year, $600,000 last year and is
hoping to break a million in 2020. His
customer base is about 1,500 with 40%
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being repeat clients. After paying all
his expenses, Seyedian paid himself
$90,000 in 2019.
Aaron’s business might be viable in
recession-proof D.C., home of the never
laid-off government ‘worker’, but I have
my doubts about potential success in
other markets. Still, there is much to
admire about building a business model
that supports his beliefs without resort-
ing to government coercion.
My only suggestion as a retired mar-
keter, would be to do something about
that name.
How about “Guilt-Free Cleaning” or
“Ticket-to-the-Middle-Class Maids” or
even “No Tip Necessary Maids”?
Michael Shannon is a commentator and
public relations consultant and is the author
of “A Conservative Christian’s Guidebook for
Living in Secular Times.” He can be reached
at mandate.mmpr@gmail.com.
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