Muddying Minimum Wage Reform

by   |  February 02, 2007

On Thursday, the Senate passed a minimum wage bill loaded up with more than $8.3 billion in corporate tax breaks. If their goodies for business weren’t included, Senate Republicans said they would preserve the current poverty wage of $5.15, where it has been stuck for 10 years. “Republicans are demanding billions in corporate tax breaks in exchange for a $2 bump in the minimum wage. As they play their political games, low-income workers continue to wait for their first raise in a decade,” Gerald W. McEntee said in a released statement. “Business doesn’t need another break; the working poor do. The American people have spoken on the minimum wage issue. Republican leaders had better start listening to them, or their lopsided November defeat is going to be a preview of what’s to come in 2008.”