Ah, our rich, intrepid lawmakers once again win a battle against the poor

Well, our Senate has yet again shot down a bill to raise the minimum wage in our country. I mean, it isn’t like the cost of living has increased, has it? It’s not like inflation actually exists.

According to an article on CNNMoney.com, both sides seem to be playing politics with this one, with the Democrats having stomped on the bill because it was porkbarrelled with a decrease in estate taxes. One can only imagine why Republicans would have sponsored this bill for the first time in ten years right now. Oh, wait, it is an election year, isn’t it? The Democrats are claiming this bill to be a clever double threat: Porkbarrelled estate tax decreases that benefit only the rich, and election year sucking up to the poor if it actually passed. And so they stomped it into the ground.

My question is this…What the hell is an estate tax decrease doing on a bill to raise the minimum wage? Someone tell me what the hell the two have to do with one another? Maybe I’ll believe the Republicans actually give a crap about the poor if someone can answer this question…

And should the Democrats, even knowing that the rich would prosper in more than one way if this bill passed, still have stopped it? It would improve the lot of the poor in this country by finally allowing minimum wage to catch up to the increased standard of living. The rich pay less taxes, the Republicans can claim to have sponsored and passed the bill.Are these two consequences bad enough to stomp on the bill? Apparently Democrats feel that they were.

Thanks again, Congress…

Here’s the full link: http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/04/news/economy/minimum_wage/