New Dog, Same Old Trick

It seems the Republicans don’t have a problem at all making me and the rest of the middle class poorer.

WASHINGTON, July 27 — Under intense pressure from their moderate wing, House Republican leaders moved on Thursday toward allowing a vote Friday on an increase in the minimum wage before sending anxious lawmakers home for a month of campaigning in the battle for control of Congress.

House Republicans were still assembling a proposal Thursday night. But the momentum had clearly shifted in favor of considering an increase of at least $2 in the $5.15 an hour minimum wage, despite strong resistance from conservative Republicans and the party’s allies in the business community.

“I have a high degree of confidence that we are going to have a package presented tomorrow,” said Representative Sherwood Boehlert, Republican of New York and a centrist who has been clamoring for a wage vote, as he left a meeting on Thursday in the office of Speaker J. Dennis Hastert.

And what will the effect of such a raise be? Well, among other things, it will teach people that bottom-rung, low-wage jobs are exactly the sort of jobs our government wants people to have, since they are the ones the government is pushing on our businesses, thanks to that amazingly foolish phrase “living wage”. It will teach people who have worked very hard to get raises above the minimum wage that their work meant exactly nothing, since they could have just loafed along and ended up with the same salary. It will ensure that a good portion of the lower middle class now has less buying power thanks to Congress’ meddling with the free market. And it will remove more entry-level jobs from the market, since businesses won’t be able to afford to hire as many new workers.

But it’s all for the good, right? Congressman Boehlert just wants to try to help, no matter how bumbling that help may be?

Nope. He’s just spending your money to buy votes.

Mr. Boehlert and others have argued that Republican support for an increase in the federal wage is essential to shore up the party’s strength among blue-collar and low-income workers who could decide critical House contests in the Northeast and Midwest.

So there you go. The Republicans have learned a trick the Democrats mastered decades ago: you don’t need to actually bring a cogent argument to the table when you can simply take money from some people and give it to others in order to buy their votes in November.

No related posts.

Category: Political Pontifications