June 21, 2006
Comeuppance
Remember "back in the day" when Republicans were stressing out over the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture on a bill, just to get a vote on it?
It was in regards to judges. But it really meant that any topic was open for this form of blockage.... and really for any reason.
- The federal minimum wage has been $5.15 an hour for almost 10 years, and is worth less now that at almost anytime in the last 50 years. Adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage in 1968 would be worth $9.09 today, 75% more than the current wage.
These 46 Senators who are blocking the will of the majority of the Senate on the minimum wage are such famous up-or-down screamers as Orrin Hatch, John Kyl, Rick Santorum, and John Cornyn. Note also the "no" votes of Conrad Burns, Jim Talent, Kay Bailey Hutchison, and John Ensign. How is that going to play in this election year in their home states? Other notable no votes are would-be presidential candidates John McCain and George Allen.
Breaks my heart.
Really.
Politics Posted by AlexC at June 21, 2006 5:54 PM
Perhaps more worrisome is that a majority of Senators in a Republican majority Senate favor increasing the minimum wage. Fifty-four copies of Tomas Sowell's "Basic Economics" STAT!
Posted by: jk at June 21, 2006 6:29 PMBy my count it's six republicans.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2& vote=00179#position
It looks like the usual suspects.
Posted by: AlexC at June 21, 2006 7:39 PM | What do you think? [2]