It's been 10 years since the federal minimum wage was raised to $5.15 per hour. The House Democrats made raising the federal minimum wage one of their top priorities during the recent "first hundred hours" push. It passed.
As the measure moved over to the Senate, Sen. Edward Kennedy, the longtime Massachusetts Democrat, pushed hard for its passage. Yet, the bill has faced numerous amendments and offers of tax breaks for small businesses, making the passage difficult. The situation has frustrated Democrats, to say the least. And to say Kennedy was upset is an understatement. He went to the Senate floor Thursday evening and raged about the situation -- raged. He gave a red-faced and fiery speech that should be electrifying to everyone.
Kennedy's outrage should be echoed by every decent person in a position to help America's wage workers. Despite the fact that many states have minimum wages higher than the federal minimum, that we allow employers to pay someone $5.15 for an hour's work is shameful. Washington state's minimum is now $7.93, the nation's highest, and there has been little evidence of the higher wage slowing the state's economy.
-- Wenatchee, Wash.
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3 comments:
Son, you can't handle the truth! We live in a world that has taxes, and those taxes have to be guarded by men with amendments! Who's gonna do it? You?!
I have a greater responsibility to hold the masses down than you could possibly fathom. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That this bill's death, while tragic, probably saved Republicans money. And their existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves cash.
You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want this bill to fail, you need this bill to fail.
We Republicans use words like sacrifice, patriotism, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent spending something we don't own. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a Democrat who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedoms that I purchase form the multitudes, and then questions the manner in which I provide them.
I would rather you just said "thank you," and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a amendment, and suggest a tax. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to do, Mr. Kennedy.
--Ted Stevens
My word, but that was a pretty good parody. Nice work, Dr. P. -- L.
For what it's worth, I really appreciate your political insights on your blog. I've been checking it periodically since November, and I'm glad you're back.
Nuss
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