Consumer Fraud: Because those lazy f*ckers aren't happy making $18,000 year at the factory. So ungrateful.

I didn't take Spanish in highschool, but I know enough to know that this headline, "Chili-finger scam duo sentenced to prison", must be some kind of bad attempt at racial humor. I can only imagine how the headline would have read had the *duo* not had Spanish surnames. The AP reports, [1]

A California court sentenced a couple to nine years in prison for planting a fingertip in a bowl of chili to swindle a Wendy's fast-food restaurant. Anna Ayala and her husband, Jaime Plascencia, were sentenced today in San Jose, California, for their role in a plot to extort money from the fast-food chain. Both received near the maximum possible punishment in their cases. The couple must pay about $170,000 in restitution for workers' lost wages. A judge also ordered them to pay nearly $21.8 million to Wendy's International and JEM Management, which owns the restaurant. Both corporations agreed not to collect from the couple, provided they never benefit from the ruse. Denny Lynch, Wendy's senior vice president, asked the judge to send a message that "consumer fraud is a serious crime that demands a severe penalty."

Totally! Get those bastards. While we common folk toil away at our high paying jobs for benevolent American business making upwards of $28,000, a few bad apples refuse to keep their greed in check. In addition to the above *duo*, there are Welfare Queens driving Cadillacs, and Katrina victims were unaware of their good luck landing their new residences in the gleaming Superdome. No wonder the rich wealthy poor in this country have caught the eye of the IRS. It seems these people are constantly on the look-out for ways to improve their lot. So ungrateful.

As Denny Lynch, Wendy's senior vice president, so perceptively pointed out, "consumer fraud is a serious crime that demands a severe penalty."

Thanks Denny, we need more watch dogs like you making sure this issue gets the attention it deserves. Send them all to jail! For eva.

For journalistic balance, I would like to quote a lefty here. You know, like they do on Crossfire. Kevin Danaher of Global Exchange says, [2]

"the FBI reports that in 1995 all burglary and robbery cost the United States about $4 billion. Professor W. Steve Albrecht of Brigham Young University estimates that white-collar fraud (usually committed by lawyers, doctors, accountants and businessmen) costs 50 times as much - about $200 billion per year. And this is just dollar cost; it says nothing about consumers hurt by faulty products, cancer caused by illegal environmental pollution, and the corrupting influence on our society when members of the professional elite make cheating a way of life.

If the three-strikes principle is good for street criminals, shouldn't it also apply to a form of crime that is far more damaging to our society?"

Whatever Kevin, you pinko-commie.

[1]The Bismark Tribune
[2]Corporate Crime: Three Strikes, You're Out