The Minimum Wage Stays the Same, for Now

Yet another reason to kick the GOP out of Congress:

On Thursday, August 3rd, the Senate voted 56-42 to reject a bill (it needed 60 votes to pass) that would have reduced the estate tax for multimillionaires while raising the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over the next three years. On July 29th, the House voted in favor of such a bill. In what appears to be another campaign tactic, the Republicans tried to entice the Democrats into passing a cut on the estate tax, which would have given the Republicans a much-needed election year victory, while simultaneously silencing Democratic candidates’ charges that the Republicans have not done enough to ease the average American citizen's financial burdens. The Democrats, however, did not bite, and many Senators believe that citizens will see right through the Republicans’ tactics. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) said, “This is a cynical ploy on the part of the Republican leadership in an election year,” and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) stated that “the American people won’t fall for it.”

If the Republicans hope to appeal to an American public disillusioned by the Iraq war and rising inflation, cutting taxes for the wealthy is not the smartest route to follow.

See http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14176214/ for more information.