Minimum wage increase to get a vote

July 4, 2006

Yesterday, Bob Herbert noted that the federal minimum wage’s purchasing power has deteriorated by 20% over the last decade. After adjusting for inflation, the value of the minimum wage is at its lowest level since 1955.

House Republicans are apparently feeling the heat. They’ve repeatedly blocked consideration of an increase, but are now prepared to give the issue a floor vote.

With Democrats plotting to make the minimum wage a major issue in this fall’s congressional races, House Republican leaders are conceding that they may have to yield to pressure for an increase to the federal standard, which has been frozen for nearly a decade.

Faced with elections that could cost them control of Congress, John A. Boehner, the House majority leader, acknowledged Thursday that Republican leaders are likely to reverse course and hold a vote on a proposed minimum wage increase. Though Boehner said it was a “cynical ploy” for Democrats to make it a campaign centerpiece, polls indicate that voters clearly favor an increase in the wage, and Boehner acknowledged that GOP leaders are “probably going to have to find some way to deal with it.”

A week earlier, Boehner, an Ohio Republican, all but ruled out allowing a vote on the matter, saying an increase is “very bad economic policy.”

Keep in mind, Senate Republicans already helped reject an increase, and House Republicans will likely do the same.

But at least voters will have a chance to consider how every member of Congress — especially those who don’t mind seeing their own taxpayer-financed salary go up — votes on a minimum-wage increase before the November elections.

They’re running scared, but watch what they do. They’ll probably pass a bill that will only raise the minimum wage by a dollar or so, and will also further reduce taxes on the rich, “because they’ll need a break from the increased costs of paying a higher minimum wage”.

Mark my words, they’ll try to steal the issue with a token increase, then slide another tax cut in there.

  • Happy National Oildependence Day!

    Didn’t the Democrats threaten to withhold congressional pay raises unless the minimum wage got a new vote?

    I’m sure the Republican congress believes themselves to be underpaid. That’s why they need the Abramoffs. Perhaps they’ll propose that poor people be allowed to sell their votes as an extra source of income.

  • Can someone explain to me why members of Congress shouldn’t be well-paid? If they are to maintain a household in D.C. and in their home district, shouldn’t they be supported at a level to do so? If we want public office holders to be average citizens that aren’t millionaires or aren’t well-connected to lobbyists, shouldn’t we pay them fairly for their service?

    I completely agree that congressional salary should be tied to the Federal minimum wage, but why this knee-jerk reaction that congress is overpaid?

  • Astrogeek, I don’t think members of Congress are overpaid. I just think that if they need a pay raise then those who are making minimum wage need one even more.

  • polls indicate that voters clearly favor an increase in the wage, and Boehner acknowledged that GOP leaders are “probably going to have to find some way to deal with it.”

    Ha! That pesky “will of the American people” crap. Isn’t such a hassle that you always have to “find some way to deal with it.”?! Can we please get back to things that voters clearly don’t favor?

  • Racerx, that is the least that these Rethugs will attempt in their efforts to get the positive spin of being “for” the minimum wage increase while at the same time making serious and sustained efforts to “poison” the increase.

    Just look at Michigan, for example, where the Rethugs in the State Legislature want to exempt tens of thousands from overtime pay (this is AFTER they were forced by political realities to increase the minimum wage BEFORE the voters would have forced the state to adopt the change this November WITH a COLA). Look for the Rethugs in Congress to do the same thing, either by job classification OR, more likely, by redefining what it means to be a “supervisor” or a “management” employee. In fact, the Man-on-Dog already tried that earlier this year when the Senate refused to adopt Kennedy’s proposal.

    The next effort will be to make sure that there is not a COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) or other indexing to make sure that the purchasing power is not eroded. It’s necessary for Congress; it’s NOT okay for the working schlubs.

    Finally, watch them attach this to some piece of legislation that has to go to Conference, they’ll as usual exclude the Dems from those Conference meetings, and the minimum wage increase will mysteriously disappear in the dark and dead of night. It’s the tried and true game plan for the Lying.Fucking.Bastards who don’t give one good shit about the plight of even the middle class let alone the working poor.

    Cynical indeed.

  • If the Republican don’t offer a straight-forward bill on the minimum wage, then the Democrats should just abstain from voting–because their vote won’t matter.

  • Astrogeek.
    They are definitely over paid. I do not know the statistics, but I do know that the Bug Man didn’t have a college education and was making $160k. Sorry, but in my book that is too much.

    A employee of the people, a politician, should be in the game cause they love this country, not cause they want two homes and a Navigator.

    Note on the post. They might vote for an increase, but they are going to feel in in their pocketbooks. All that small business cash might actually have to go to employees rather than republican political ads.

  • We have something very similar going on in California which has not raised its minimum wage for many years. Governor Schwarzenegger has vetoed bills the past two years to increase our minimum by $1 per hour and now, in an election year, is trying to get this done administratively through our Industrial Welfare Commission.

    But he has stated he will veto any increase that has a cost of living adjustment factored into it for future years.

    So it’s basically–do as little as possible and delay increases, and then take credit for it. Gives triangulation a bad name.

    To read more, go to Schwarzenegger Responds to Moral Issue of Minimum Wage With Election Year Gimmick

  • The comments by Astrogeek & “the slip kid no more” are undoubtly GOP or the so called conservatives.As you all know, GOP stands for Greedy Old Pricks— & they call themselves conservatives because they want to conserve every penny that they make, or more likely STEAL & do not want to give it to the poorer people who really need it. That is also why they
    want & get the big tax cuts from their party & make the working people take up the slack by being taxed more & paid less.
    Take for example the price of gas—the rich manage to deduct the price of gas on their tax returns, but the working & poor people cannot. Yet, the rich executives of the oil companies & other large corporations such as railroads, get outrageous salaries & perks while the lower classes get nothing. But they still have to pay the higher prices for everything.
    I & a lot of people I’ve talked with about this, think that any & all raises given to any politicians,should be voted on by the people in a national election, & that all politicians should be paid by social security when they retire & not before. And not paid by a seperate retirement set up by themselves for themselves, no matter how long they serve.
    If the politicians were paid just like the people on social security, I’d bet that the social security problem would be taken care of rather quickly—
    & there would be a tremendous amount of money added to social security.

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