A Republican election-year effort to fuse a cut in inheritance taxes on multimilllion-dollar estates with the first minimum wage increase in nearly a decade was rejected by the Senate late Thursday.
Republicans needed 60 votes to advance their bill, which links a $2.10 increase in the $5.15 federal minimum wage over three years to reductions an estate taxes next decade. Passed by the House last Saturday, the bill got a 56-42 vote, four votes short of succeeding.
For Republicans, the combination could have neutralized a Democratic campaign issue while also advancing an estate tax cut, a priority that may have an uncertain future if the GOP loses seats in Congress in November’s election.
Good. Voting this down completely would have been even better. For old-time true Republicans such as myself, the Republican party stood for smaller government and free markets. Passing this would have been a mistake. When they learn to increase funding to programs when they increase the expense of those programs, it will mean something positive for all of society. Until then, when they raise the minimum wage, as I have proven in the past, it just means the people who can afford it least will lose their jobs. Period.
Technorati Tags: National Politics
Tags: National Politics
3 Comments »
on 04 Aug 2006 at 1:20 pm 1.Why We Worry said …
Senate blocks minimum wage increase
The Senate rejected a cut in inheritance taxes for multimillion-dollar estates that also carried a rider which would have raised the minimum wage. The minimum wage of $5.15 has not increased for almost a decade. (Source: AP)
Senate Democrats were face…
on 04 Aug 2006 at 2:38 pm 2.Chris said …
Republicans these days seem to pretend to be for small government when they aren’t. It used to be that Republicans could always complain about the size of government increasing under FDR. Now the Democrats can turn around and say look what happened under Bush Part II.
But that’s beside the point, as I said on WhyWeWorry.com, people that don’t make enough to live on, end up on welfare and medicaid that we all have to pay for. The corporations that profit from these workers should have to be responsible for feeding and keeping their workers healthy. Not me.
on 04 Aug 2006 at 4:10 pm 3.Moonage
said …
You’re preaching to the choir with that argument. I’m a Goldwater Republican born well after the fact. The problem is two-fold, the Goldwater Republicans couldn’t get elected and died on the vine. Since the Goldwater Republicans couldn’t beat em, they joined them.
Second point is since raising the minimum wage puts MORE people on welfare and such due to losing their jobs, it’s the primary reason I oppose it. There are a lot of people in low-paying jobs that do not rely on the government, ie, teen workers, spouses working second jobs, retirees, etc.. Raising the minimum wage does not affect them at all. So, the net effect is those needing it most get hurt most often. And, those collecting government benefits while working simply depend more on the government benefits as benefits are usually structured to their income level.