I have a lot of sympathy for folks who scrape by on minimum wage. I've done it, and it is a real struggle, and I don't even have progeny. A surprisingly large number of “Red Staters” would be much better served economically if they aligned their political interests away from the Republican party.
Senate rejects hike in minimum wageA battle over whether to raise the minimum wage is spilling into the hard-fought congressional races, with several Democratic challengers staging campaign events on the issue and Democrats promising to hike the wage as one of their first acts should they win control of Congress.
The fight heated up Wednesday as the Senate rejected a proposal by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) to boost the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over the next two years. The vote was 52-46 in favor of the higher wage, with eight Republicans joining Democrats to back the change, but that left proponents eight votes short of the 60 necessary to prevail under a parliamentary deal between the two parties.
Democrats have tried several times to raise the minimum wage since the last increase in 1997, and they are portraying themselves as allies of ordinary hard-working Americans. “This battle will continue all across America until at long last justice is done,” Kennedy said. “It's time for the Republican leadership to stop its obstruction and get out of the way.”
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Meanwhile, Democrats have begun attacking Republican lawmakers for accepting annual cost-of-living increases while denying a raise to ordinary workers. Since 1997, the last time the minimum wage was raised, congressional salaries have risen by about $35,000.
Plus, in weeks like this one, I feel like I am back working for minimum wage, and it sucks.
Tags: Democrats, /Rethuglicans
