I understand that people have problems with the concept of a minimum wage as a rock-bottom safety net that adds cost to the employer, but I really find it denigrating that people use buzz-terms like "government meddling" and undersell the issue.

Here's a basic explanation - minimum wage is needed because it provides a safety net for the value of labor. It's basically there to make sure that spending power of the lower classes doesn't completely collapse during times of economic hardship. This is essentially a smaller version of the $700 billion dollar bailout plan - a plan aimed at establishing bottom markets for mortgages in order to help the Housing market recover. How any can stare a economic crisis caused by lack of price safety net in the face and still act as if safety nets are a bad thing is beyond me.

To me, it seems obvious that the market is indeed fallible, as even the most conservative economic thinkers tend to agree on. If the government establishes safety nets to curtail the excesses of market, this is not meddling, but responsible governance.

As far as hyperion goes, I don't believe I have ever seen so much debate given something that is so outside of our control. If the Hyperion pipeline's aim is truly to cross both North and South Dakota from Canada, building the refinery would require an ruling by the powers that be in Washington D.C.

Despite our state-level restrictions, the federal government is in control here as interstate commerce is involved.