In A Word – Manipulate. Raising the minimum wage while adding tax breaks is politically criminal.
Gerald Eisman
August 04, 2006
Manipulate: To influence or manage shrewdly or deviously. To tamper with or falsify for personal gain:
Politics never changes, particularly when the activity is aimed at messing with the minds of the voting public or gaining and maintaining political power. For years, organized labor has been in the forefront of the movement to raise the minimum wage while business groups have fought vigorously to thwart such an action. This week, however, in the Senate, organized labor is fighting to kill a wage increase bill while the entire business community is screaming for its passage.
What has caused this monumental reversal in roles? Perhaps a Republican party that is in jeopardy of losing its power and majority in the House and Senate and seeing its president, George Bush, get closer to the bottom of the list of America's worst presidents in history has something to do with it. However, the most likely reason is the maintenance of power. The new proposed Senate bill has been dubbed devious and nicknamed the "trifecta."
The truth is, tied into the bill to raise the minimum wage over 3 years are two other legislative musts for the Republicans and Conservatives. One is to cut the estate tax (a Conservative goal) and the other is to approve a long list of narrowly targeted tax breaks (the Republican goal). When you tie the Republican and Conservative goals together and examine the resulting figures, you come up with savings to the ultra rich somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 billion dollars in the next ten years. With America running a deficit of over $300 billion dollars every year, the country cannot support that much more in lost revenue.
The manipulation of legislation to get dangerous and damaging laws on the books is both devious and injurious to the average American. Adding unrelated amendments and codicils to an act of legislation is one hair this side of criminal. That is how, in the nine years since the last increase in the minimum wage, Senators and Congressmen have given themselves wage raises of up to thirty thousand and more dollars annually. It is surprising the things that are added on to legislative bills that have absolutely no relationship to the original bill.
Some of the long time opponents of raising the minimum wage that have flip-flopped included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. Another proponent of the plan (which represents 1000 business groups) is the Tax Relief Coalition.
One top business lobbyist said this: "Every closely held business in America today is either affected by the death tax or could be affected by it. At the same time, less than 3% of the country's workers get paid at the minimum wage." If that figure is correct, why are there so many poor people in the United States? The lobbyist went on to say, "People in the business community understand that it is important to the Republicans standing for election in November to demonstrate that they have compassion for folks at the lowest end of the economic ladder." Seems to me someone is trying to pull the wool over America's collective eyes. Since when has business and the wealthy given a hoot for the average Joe?
Business organizations have long opposed minimum-wage increases arguing that increased labor costs would force lay-offs and firings from low-paying positions. They also declare that prosperity is generated by stronger economic growth and not by an elevated wage increase. That fact notwithstanding, the business community agrees that the trade-off between lower estate taxes and a higher minimum wage clearly favors the business community and upper income Americans, thus they are backing the bill.
Meanwhile, labor officials base their opposition to the upcoming Senate bill on two kinds of justice – economic and social. They feel the reduced revenue from estate tax relief would lead to more cuts in federal entitlement spending on programs for the poor, such as food stamps and other social safety nets while increasing the deficit further.
"We don't think minimum-wage workers should have to wait for millionaires to get another tax cut before they receive a long overdue increase," said Bill Samuel, the AFL-CIO legislative director.
In a diametrically opposed view, Dan Danner, executive vice-president of the National Federation of Independent Business, argued, "We have strong concerns about the minimum wage hike, we're supportive of permanent relief of the estate tax. If Congress needs to address the federal minimum wage level this year, we believe it should be addressed in a package that also provides significant relief for small business… The bill does just that."
And so it goes, day after day, month after month, year after year, and politician after politician; the manipulative beat goes on. Majority leader Bill Frist, another Republican (Tenn.) with presidential ambitions, warned that he will not permit any other votes this year on any major element of the bill if the overall package is blocked. In other words, no tax breaks, no minimum wage law.
In order to manipulate fence sitters to vote for the bill, Republican Senators added a plethora of special benefits. For example, the Republicans added a provision to the legislation that grants extra write-offs for timber extraction, an addition geared toward enticing three Democrats to vote for the measure. The three, it should be noted, represent timber states. How is that for manipulation?
Once again the administration has reached for new lows to deprive Americans of something they desperately need to survive; income without added debt. We heard the same arguments about raising the minimum wage nine years ago, the last time it happened. Business survived then and it will survive now, without manipulation and added national debt.
Politics never changes, particularly when the activity is aimed at messing with the minds of the voting public or gaining and maintaining political power. For years, organized labor has been in the forefront of the movement to raise the minimum wage while business groups have fought vigorously to thwart such an action. This week, however, in the Senate, organized labor is fighting to kill a wage increase bill while the entire business community is screaming for its passage.
What has caused this monumental reversal in roles? Perhaps a Republican party that is in jeopardy of losing its power and majority in the House and Senate and seeing its president, George Bush, get closer to the bottom of the list of America's worst presidents in history has something to do with it. However, the most likely reason is the maintenance of power. The new proposed Senate bill has been dubbed devious and nicknamed the "trifecta."
The truth is, tied into the bill to raise the minimum wage over 3 years are two other legislative musts for the Republicans and Conservatives. One is to cut the estate tax (a Conservative goal) and the other is to approve a long list of narrowly targeted tax breaks (the Republican goal). When you tie the Republican and Conservative goals together and examine the resulting figures, you come up with savings to the ultra rich somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 billion dollars in the next ten years. With America running a deficit of over $300 billion dollars every year, the country cannot support that much more in lost revenue.
The manipulation of legislation to get dangerous and damaging laws on the books is both devious and injurious to the average American. Adding unrelated amendments and codicils to an act of legislation is one hair this side of criminal. That is how, in the nine years since the last increase in the minimum wage, Senators and Congressmen have given themselves wage raises of up to thirty thousand and more dollars annually. It is surprising the things that are added on to legislative bills that have absolutely no relationship to the original bill.
Some of the long time opponents of raising the minimum wage that have flip-flopped included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. Another proponent of the plan (which represents 1000 business groups) is the Tax Relief Coalition.
One top business lobbyist said this: "Every closely held business in America today is either affected by the death tax or could be affected by it. At the same time, less than 3% of the country's workers get paid at the minimum wage." If that figure is correct, why are there so many poor people in the United States? The lobbyist went on to say, "People in the business community understand that it is important to the Republicans standing for election in November to demonstrate that they have compassion for folks at the lowest end of the economic ladder." Seems to me someone is trying to pull the wool over America's collective eyes. Since when has business and the wealthy given a hoot for the average Joe?
Business organizations have long opposed minimum-wage increases arguing that increased labor costs would force lay-offs and firings from low-paying positions. They also declare that prosperity is generated by stronger economic growth and not by an elevated wage increase. That fact notwithstanding, the business community agrees that the trade-off between lower estate taxes and a higher minimum wage clearly favors the business community and upper income Americans, thus they are backing the bill.
Meanwhile, labor officials base their opposition to the upcoming Senate bill on two kinds of justice – economic and social. They feel the reduced revenue from estate tax relief would lead to more cuts in federal entitlement spending on programs for the poor, such as food stamps and other social safety nets while increasing the deficit further.
"We don't think minimum-wage workers should have to wait for millionaires to get another tax cut before they receive a long overdue increase," said Bill Samuel, the AFL-CIO legislative director.
In a diametrically opposed view, Dan Danner, executive vice-president of the National Federation of Independent Business, argued, "We have strong concerns about the minimum wage hike, we're supportive of permanent relief of the estate tax. If Congress needs to address the federal minimum wage level this year, we believe it should be addressed in a package that also provides significant relief for small business… The bill does just that."
And so it goes, day after day, month after month, year after year, and politician after politician; the manipulative beat goes on. Majority leader Bill Frist, another Republican (Tenn.) with presidential ambitions, warned that he will not permit any other votes this year on any major element of the bill if the overall package is blocked. In other words, no tax breaks, no minimum wage law.
In order to manipulate fence sitters to vote for the bill, Republican Senators added a plethora of special benefits. For example, the Republicans added a provision to the legislation that grants extra write-offs for timber extraction, an addition geared toward enticing three Democrats to vote for the measure. The three, it should be noted, represent timber states. How is that for manipulation?
Once again the administration has reached for new lows to deprive Americans of something they desperately need to survive; income without added debt. We heard the same arguments about raising the minimum wage nine years ago, the last time it happened. Business survived then and it will survive now, without manipulation and added national debt.
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