Anderson: Are you paying attention?

By Ric Anderson
Topeka Capital Journal blog, 2/23/08

Time to test your knowledge of current events.

Question No. 1 — This week, Kansas lawmakers discussed a proposal to raise the state's minimum wage.

Of the following items listed in advertisements in this past Sunday's editions of The Topeka Capital-Journal, which could be purchased with an hour's pay at the current Kansas minimum wage?

A. An 8-ounce jar of Folgers instant coffee

B. A 19.2-ounce bag of Blue Diamond almonds

C. A two-pack of Duracell 9-volt Coppertop batteries

D. An eight-pack of Brawny regular paper towels

E. An 8.2-ounce tube of Colgate Cavity Protection toothpaste

F. None of the above

Correct answer: E. The minimum wage is $2.65. The price of the toothpaste was $1.99. The prices of the other products were: coffee $4.49, almonds $4.99, batteries $5.29, paper towels $5.99. The prices were listed in ads for Walgreens, Kmart and Target.

Question No. 2 — Which of the following had happened before the state last raised its minimum wage?

A. "Seinfeld" premiered.

B. Kansas State University basketball standout Michael Beasley was born.

C. Bill Clinton announced he would seek the 1992 Democrat presidential nomination.

D. None of the above

Correct answer: D. The minimum wage last was increased in Kansas in 1988. Seinfeld premiered in 1989, Beasley was born in January 1989 and Clinton announced in 1991 he would seek the nomination in '92.

Question No. 3 — True or false: An employee earning the Kansas minimum wage would have to work approximately 4,250 years of 40-hour work weeks to earn the salary of New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi.

Correct answer: True. Giambi's salary was $23.4 million in 2007, according to USA Today.

Question No. 3 — Six isn't good enough. That's what Braxton Copley, interim city attorney, announced this week. So what was the point of his statement?

A. He was issuing an opinion that overriding a mayoral veto takes seven votes in Topeka, not six as previously believed.

B. He was predicting lines Kansans would hear from the next Republican candidate for state attorney general.

Correct answer: A. But don't be surprised if you do hear B, assuming Stephen Six follows through on his hints that he'll seek to retain the office after being appointed to fill the unexpired term of former Attorney General Paul Morrison.

Ric Anderson can be reached at (785) 295-1282 or ric.anderson@cjonline.com.