Investor Peter Schiff digs himself in deeper after ‘Daily Show’ remarks about the ‘retarded’

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/30/investor-peter-schiff-digs-himself-in-deeper-after-daily-show-remarks-about-the-retarded/



Investor Peter Schiff digs himself in deeper after ‘Daily Show’ remarks about the ‘retarded’
By Tom Boggioni
Thursday, January 30, 2014 18:43 EST

Radio commentator and investment adviser Peter Schiff , who was recently interviewed by The Daily Show’s Samantha Bee for a segment on the minimum wage, is very upset that he has been pilloried for using the not very politically-correct expression “mentally retarded” on air. During the episode, when prodded by Bee to explain who might be willing to work for $2 an hour, Schiff responded, “You know someone that might be? Maybe someone who is – what’s the politically correct word, you know, for mentally retarded. I believe in the principles this country was founded on.”

Responding to public criticism about his star turn, Schiff has taken to his blog to express his displeasure with The Daily Show by pointing out that that Samantha Bee didn’t assist him with his answer and that he had delivered a four hour long disquisition on the free market and pay rates that somehow didn’t make it onto the half-hour long satirical news program.

Mr. Schiff pointed out that “Of the more than four hours of taped discussion I conducted, the producers chose to only use about 75 seconds of my comments. Of those, my use of the words ‘mentally retarded’ (when Samantha Bee asked me who might be willing to work for $2 per hour – a figure she suggested) has come to define the entire interview.” He then added, “I just couldn’t remember the politically correct term currently in use (it is “intellectually disabled”). Assuming she knew it, Bee could have prompted me with the correct term, but she chose not to.”

~snip~

Turning back to the “intellectually disabled”, Mr. Schiff added that if they “…can’t perform work that produces a minimum wage level of output, then no employer seeking to make a profit could afford to pay that person the official minimum wage. ” and that “Many of the jobs they perform may seem mundane to those of normal intelligence, but they are often the most enjoyable and rewarding aspects of the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. I pointed out that if the federal minimum wages were to apply to them, a great many of those opportunities would vanish. Others may disagree, but I believe a job for such a person at $2 per hour is better than no job at all.”

[exboyfil]

1. We used to have intellectually disabled

individuals kit our o-rings (put different sizes of o-rings in package to be sold with our filters). This was done off sight by a contractor (actually I think it was the facility at which they lived). We paid the facility at least what we would pay to have this done by our employees or another contractor if I remember. This worked out to be much lower per hour for the individuals doing the work. In general they were supported by Medicaid Title 19. They received a great deal of satisfaction for doing work for pay.

Was my company exploiting the situation?

[liberal N proud]

2. Samantha Bee didn’t assist him with his answer?

[Downwinder]

3. There is no politically correct for $2 per hour.

That is exploitation.

[Scuba]

4. Mr. Schiff is clearly intellectually disabled. His pay should be cut to $7.25 / hour ...

... until such time as the minimum wage is raised.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

5. What a dumbass. You can hire prisoners for like half that.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. He had enough time to talk to put both feet in his mouth.

Came across as an entitled asshole with zero empathy for anyone not in his exalted class.
He kept voicing variations of "I'm rich, therefore anyone could get rich if they would just "TRY"
Textbook case of financial Darwinism.