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Cake For The Rich, Crumbs For Workers' |
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Friday, 04 August 2006 |
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Last week, the House Republican majority voted to increase the minimum wage for the first time in nine years. The legislation reveals just how shameless the conservatives who govern Washington are.
In this economy, profits are up and CEO salaries are skyrocketing, but wages aren't keeping up. The rising cost of gas, health care, electricity, housing and college are taxing working Americans. To keep pace, Americans are working longer hours, borrowing more money and tapping what savings they have. (Last year, for the first time since the Great Depression, Americans spent more than they saved.) Worse, President Bush's tax cuts and trade policies have contributed to record budget deficits and record foreign debt, but haven't produced jobs. The conservative majority that runs the Congress is equally shameless. Since the minimum wage was last raised, the House leadership has repeatedly blocked meaningful votes to increase it. That wage now has its lowest value in half a century. During the nine-year time period, Congress has given itself seven pay raises, adding $35,000 to each of their incomes. To bring the minimum wage to the floor, the leadership had to bribe its members for their support. The bribe came in the form of a provision that would prohibit states from raising the federal "tipping wage" - the $2.13 minimum that applies to millions of waiters and bartenders who must rely on tips to survive. In most states, minimum-wage employees who receive tips can be paid less than those who do not, if they make up the difference with gratuities. Under current federal law, the minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13 an hour, compared with $5.15 an hour for non-tipped workers. This bonbon for the hotel and restaurant lobby was accompanied by a gaggle of new tax cuts, including the gutting of the estate tax that applies mainly to the richest 1% of the nation. While the administration is running up deficits, a Congress that is reducing taxes on wealth will find ways to raise taxes on work. For example, Bush proposed funding cuts to the Veterans Affairs Department while calling for $250 fees from vets to join the VA health program. These skewed policies are failing working people. They have generated record inequality, rising poverty and a sinking middle class. The CEOs and the corporate lobbies look after their own. Now Americans must start to support only legislators who serve their voters rather than their donors. |
