Minimum wage increase should have been okayed

While President Bush continually touts how his tax cuts are helping an economy that he says is always getting stronger, the Republican-controlledCongress turned down yet another attempt by Democrats to raise the federal minimum wage. The House refused to allow a vote by all members and the Senate voted along party lines against it. Congress should be aware that if the federal minimum wage from 1968 were adjusted for inflation, it would be worth $9.09 today -- 75 percent more than the current minimum of $5.15. Contrary to a 1998 study done by the Economic Policy Institute, which finds that unemployment and poverty rates dropped following the last increase in the federal minimum wage in 1997, the Republicans continue to insist"any increase in the minimum wage will result in loss of jobs." Other studies also have proven that theory false. Who would have imagined the Republicans were so concerned about losing jobs when the policies under Mr. Bush have facilitated the sending of middle-class manufacturing and tech-level jobs out of the country? They also do not appear to be much concerned when employers are hiring immigrant workers who are willing to work for less than Americans. Many people are struggling to survive on $5.15 per hour while members of Congress are receiving their automatic yearly cost-of-living increases, which protect them against inflation. Since the minimum wage was last increased in 1997, Congress' base pay has risen by $31,600 to $165,200 per year. Plus they receive taxpayer-paid family health benefits. Contrast that to the minimum annual wage of $10,700,well below the poverty line for a family of three. That amount is not enough to pay for housing, food and clothing for one person let alone transportation to work, health care, child care, recreation or anything else. The one party rule we now have in Washington is not working for most Americans. Mr. Bush has turned the largest surplus into the largest deficit while Congress raises the statutory debt limit a record fifth time to $9 trillion. Perhaps Mr. Bush forgets that, unlike him, we don't have rich relatives or Saudi friends to bail us out when the collection agency comes calling. Nick Reina, Milmay - Published in the Daily Journal, Aigust 10, 2006