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By Holding Minimum Wage Hostage, Senate Republicans Cost Workers $750 |
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On Jan. 10, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to raise the federal minimum from $5.15 an hour, where it had been stuck since 1997, to $7.25 an hour. But Senate Republicans killed the bill Jan. 24 and set off a 134-day minimum wage hostage crisis.
Finally yesterday, Senate Republicans released their hostage when they approved a supplemental Iraq war spending bill that included the wage hike. It’s estimated the increase will raise the pay of some 13 million workers who earn less than $7.25 an hour and another 7.4 million who earn a bit more but are likely to see their pay increase.
In a nutshell, here’s what happened since the House passed the bill more than three months ago. With Bush’s blessing, Senate Republicans engaged in filibuster, insisted on massive tax breaks for businesses, refused a House compromise on the tax breaks and even balked at going to a conference with the House to hash out a deal.
A bit of simple math shows the following: The delay tactics cost minimum wage workers $750. (The raise comes in three steps—the first is a 70-cent-an-hour increase, or $5.60 a day, for an eight-hour day, comes to $750.40 for 134 days.)
The final wage package trimmed the Senate Republicans’ tax breaks for businesses from $8.3 billion to $4.8 billion, but even that multibillion-dollar giveaway doesn’t satisfy the Bush administration.
Although a White House spokesman said Bush would sign the spending bill with the attached wage increase, he said the tax breaks were “not sufficiently focused on the economic concerns” of business. But on the other hand, since when has the Bush administration been sufficiently focused on the economic concerns of working families?
6 Comments
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I find The timing of this vote striking. As a veteran, on Memorial Day weekend, I’m mindful of the sacrifice of those who we memorialize, and those who may be memorialized this time NEXT year.
I enlisted in 1965 and was discharged in 1969, and then as now, many young people enlisted because they thought they would get training for a good job when they get out. Too many didn’t get out, and if current administration policies continue to hold sway, too many who are in the service now won’t live to see this new minimum wage. I even have a friend who has been a marine since the early 70’s, who has been a marine reservist since the later 70’s, who had been to Iraq three times. He couldn’t get a decent job, so even though he didn’t want to go back there again, he went again, now for the FOURTH time. It’s outrageous.
Democrats must take the high road when it comes to this damned war. It’s not a so-called “single issue.” Everything we try to do on the domestic scene will be held hostage. A Living Wage is what workers deserve — period. Save the troops. A ticket to ride is what they deserve. Purchase plane tickets for them…
Haywood
It’s time to also start blaming the Democrats. They’ve negotiated a secret trade deal with Bush that will not protect American or foriegn workers, it will just export more jobs. They are pushing for a Guest Worker program which will further flood the labor pool here and drive down wages and they have done nothing to push the minimum wage increase.
Sometimes I think that outsourcing all the good jobs was a way to find recruits for the military! Look at all the young men and women enlisting because they can’t afford college, and there aren’t many good jobs left where a person can make a decent living and build a future for themselves without that education.
Military service can hold a lot of promise after you do your tour, but I know people who haven’t been able to transition out—or really leaned on to re-up—because the financial reality is so dim. I have plenty of uncles, great-uncles, one grandfather and some cousins who have served honorably in the military and come home decorated. But some don’t come home, and some come home damaged—and some have had to fight hard to get the medical care they deserved from the military.
Still, tying the minimum wage hike to the war funding is unreal. The war on working families here at home is as important as the illegal war in Iraq—too many Americans are still going to be below the poverty level; our military families are not exempt!
With this wage hike, it’s getting to be to where us ordinary working people without skills will be able to have food at least once a day.
It is a sad day in this country when the people who fight so hard to keep it free have to fight for minimum wage also. Our military are people we are proud of and we should take care of them all. Some of the money going to the so called ‘elite’ should be re-routed to the literal working class. If not for them the ‘elite’ would not exist. They should be thankful and show their gratitude- not continue to keep them at or below poverty level. Maybe if minimum wage were increased to a decent level they wouldn’t have so many problems with the Welfare system. I would like to see some of these ‘elite’ have to try to live on what they consider minimum wage.