Jay Ambrose: To get Trump, anything goes

The story line is that President Donald Trump has no respect for the judiciary and the separation of powers, but lately the reverse has been more nearly the case. Some in the judiciary have seemed to think they can boss the executive and legislative branches around no matter what the law says.

Ah, but here comes a unanimous Supreme Court saying a bunch of lower courts went absolutely too far in their snarling pursuit of this president who has no end of antidemocratic forces on his trail. What we are talking about, of course, is Trump’s varied executive orders seeking a temporary ban on trips to the United States by citizens of terrorist- ridden countries with disorderly vetting processes.

These six Middle East countries had been identified by the Obama administration as especially troubling and, despite Trumpian fumbles of various sorts in the way this was handled, a case can be made for what he wants. While there have been stories to the contrary, some bad customers have made their way here from those shores, terrorism is hardly taking a nap right now and checking out visitors more thoroughly hardly seems stupid.

Some have argued the changes could surely be made while the hustle and bustle is going on, but there’s an old saying that would seem to apply: You can’t fix a train while it’s running. John Kelly, an experienced and honorable military man now serving as secretary of homeland security, has said that slowing things down is necessary in order to arrive at something that works better than what we now have.

But whether the revision succeeds or not, the executive order was crystal clear about objectives and methods, the president has indisputable powers within the Constitution to do this thing, and lower courts said nothing doing. A primary methodology was to read Trump’s mind and guess at real motives that would not matter legally even if the guesses were right.

Because Trump had talked about a Muslim ban during his campaign and these were Muslim- majority countries, the judges figured this was religious discrimination even though it applied to everyone in those countries and hundreds of millions of Muslims are not affected.

Imagine for a moment that courts generally behaved in this fashion, judging whether you broke the law or not based not on what the law says but on something you once said. Justice that is not. Of course, it is nothing new to see activist courts essentially writing new laws to fit their political druthers. Even the Supreme Court has done it, and it is a betrayal of our founding principles.

In this case, the Supreme Court did not deal with all aspects of the decisions of the past courts. Until it could hold a full hearing, it decided not to ban travelers who have connections in the United States and have already been going back and forth. What it said was those coming here for the first time were going to have to wait a bit in accordance with the order. Three of the judges wanted to act now on a temporary ban for everyone, saying America’s safety was more important than any of the other issues raised in the appellate courts.

The lower court judges meanwhile think they are more important than the law. Whatever Trump’s faults, the unending conspiracy theories about him, the slurs, the barbaric jokes about an assassination, the impeachment preachments and activist judges add up to a threat not only to him. But to all of us. It did not happen overnight, this incredible country we have, and these people would tear it apart.

Trump has already done one mighty thing to change all that. He got Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court. He was one of the three who voted to include all travelers in the temporary ban.

Celebrity businessman Jon Taffer saves hospitality jobs for a living on the hit TV show “Bar Rescue.” He helps small business owners reduce costs, increase revenues and obliterate obstacles.

Taffer can solve complex problems, but decries an inability to preserve jobs threatened by soaring minimum wage mandates.

“The employees lost on this,” Taffer said recently of New York’s new $15-an-hour minimum wage.

The economy is so hot the Fed is edging up interest rates. Overall unemployment is falling and the GDP is growing.

Just don’t celebrate with entry level and low-skilled workers, who live in fear of layoffs and reduced hours. With overall employment dropping to 4.3 percent in May, youth unemployment remains near 12 percent.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law a $ 15- an- hour minimum wage in 2016.

“So here’s the result, employment growth was at 6 percent to 7 percent in the restaurant sector for employees,” Taffer told Fox Business Network. “It’s now down to 1.2 percent. A lot of restaurateurs have cut back staffing by 10 percent, reduced employees to part time. the restaurant decline in employee growth is greater than during the recession as a result of this.”

Since Colorado voters imposed a wage hike last year, we have heard from small business employees, owners and managers about staffing reductions and hours cut to part time. A recent study by the University of Colorado-Boulder confirmed our concerns.

“The fact is, you know, machines can flip hamburgers too in fast food restaurants, you know, machines can package,” Taffer said.

Former McDonald’s CEO Ed Rensi warned of an entry level employment crisis after he witnessed entrepreneurs introduce inventions designed to circumvent higher wage mandates.

“I was at the National Restaurant Show yesterday and if you look at the robotic devices that are coming into the restaurant industry — it’s cheaper to buy a $ 35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who’s inefficient making $ 15 an hour bagging French fires,” Rensi said. “It’s nonsense and it’s very destructive and it’s inflationary and it’s going to cause a job loss across the country like you’re not going to believe.”

Negative consequences could be lasting, explains a report by The Employment Policies Institute.

“High minimum wage rates hurt teens’ chance at learning valuable life skills that cannot be taught in a classroom,” the institute explains.

“When entry- level job hunters are able to find work, they earn more than just a paycheck. They learn valuable life skills like the importance of meeting deadlines, how to report to a manager, and how to get along with co-workers.”

Oh well, it’s the thought that counts.

We share the sentiment of politicians and voters who want higher minimum wages. Just pass a law and improve conditions for people who often work hardest for the least. In a perfect world, it would be just that simple.

If those were the rules we would be cruel to set wages at $12 or $15. If mandates could improve incomes, without unintended consequences, we would be compassionate and wise to raise thresholds high enough to ensure big homes and high-end cars for all.

Aggressive minimum wage hikes feel good and look good for politicians who promote them. Meanwhile, mounting evidence proves they quietly price young people and lowskilled workers out of important jobs they want and need.