Was It Satire? Maybe. But He Concludes People With Heart Disease, Diabetes, or HIV ‘Should Not Look to the Public Dole for Relief’
After totally ignoring the plight of lower wage workers over the past eight years House Republicans finally decided to discuss the minimum wage – days before their ability to do anything about it will end. Instead of supporting the national movement to a $15 minimum wage, however, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by North Carolina’s Virginia Foxx (photo), was to hold a hearing Wednesday.
The hearing’s title? “Mandating a $15 Minimum Wage: Consequences for Workers and Small Businesses.”
That hearing has now been canceled.
Why?
House Republicans’ key witness, San Diego State University economist Joseph Sabia, suggested gay sex should be taxed.
In a 2002 blog post (archived here), as Politico reports, Sabia called on conservatives to “tax and regulate homosexual acts.”
“In gay sex,” Sabia continued, “we have an activity that is clearly leading to disastrous health consequences. What rational person would engage in this sort of activity? There is only one solution – let’s tax it.”
Sabia, who apparently was a Ph.D. candidate in Economics at Cornell University at the time he penned the post, continued his homophobic assault, writing, “we have to mount the assault on Big Gay (no, I am not talking about Rosie O’Donnell).”
“We can tax gay nightclubs, websites, personal ads, sexual paraphernalia, and so forth. Talk about a sin tax!!! We can cripple gay-related industries and get them right where we want them. All gay clubs will have to feature huge, flashing warning signs like ‘CAUTION: Entering this nightclub may increase your chance of contracting STDs and dying,'” he advocated.
Big Gay clearly lures people into trying their ‘product’ without discussing the risks to mind, body, and soul. The average Joe on the street does not understand all of the possible bad outcomes. I can almost hear him now:
“They said ‘100 percent hotties.’ I thought that meant it was fun. I thought gay sex was OK…Now I have all these diseases. Big Gay has wrecked my life.”
Sabia’s bio at San Diego State University boasts that he is a Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Health Economics & Policy Studies.
“Dr. Sabia is a labor and health economist whose research examines the economics of risky health behaviors, minimum wage policy, labor market discrimination against sexual minorities, and the effects of war on military families.”
His blog post may have been partially satirical, but he ends with a stunning conclusion, saying, “the bottom line is this — the government has no business interfering in the lives of smokers, fatties, or gays. In America, each citizen ought to be free to choose the risks he is willing to take and the potential rewards (or costs) he may receive. He should be free to make choices that could lead to heart disease, diabetes, or HIV. And if these bad outcomes materialize, he should not look to the public dole for relief.”
Politico adds that was not the only troubling blog post Sabia wrote.
“In another 2002 blog post titled ‘College Girls: Unpaid Whores,’ Sabia argued that feminism ‘taught young women that equality is achieved by acting like promiscuous sluts.’ Kelley McNabb, communications director for the committee’s majority confirmed to POLITICO that ‘members were uncomfortable moving forward on the hearing’ upon discovering the posts.”