Bush links minimum wage to tax break

[journalist3072]

Bush links minimum wage to tax break

By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 22 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush endorsed one of the Democrats' top priorities for the new Congress, a $2.10-an-hour minimum wage increase — and on a faster timetable than they have proposed.

But his support comes with a catch.

Bush said at a Wednesday news conference that any pay hike should be accompanied by tax and regulatory relief for small businesses, potentially a tough sell for Democrats, who are about to reassume control of the House and Senate.

"Minimum wage workers have waited almost 10 long years for an increase," responded Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) of Massachusetts, who has said that boosting the federal minimum wage will be his chief goal when he takes over as chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. "We need to pass a clean bill giving them the raise they deserve as quickly as possible."

Entire article at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061221/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

[Captain Hilts]

1. DON'T do it. We're at war. Holding the wage down 10yrs. is already a subsidy. nt

[HappyWeasel]

2. anyone who goes out of business because of this really shouldn't have been in business in the first

place....

like that hate mailer who accused his drunk and lazy employees for the destruction of his business when he hired them.

[Jersey Ginny]

38. I completely agree! n/t

[Trajan]

3. FUCK that ...

Tie the wage increase to a Tax RESTORATION .....

The jig is up, mofos, .... time to fix the piggybank ....

[pinto]

4. Methinks he won't win this one. Minimum wage increase is long overdo and a great Dem move,

along with easing the squeeze on federal support for college costs. Both are inexpensive initiatives on the federal scale, but will pay a good dividend at the local level.

I support increasing the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation.

[IndianaGreen]

5. More tax handouts to the super rich, while the working class struggles

just to make ends meet. How white of him!

[rman]

11. "small businesses" aren't usually owned by the super rich

Knowing Bush there's probably a catch hidden somewhere in there. but making business easier for small corporations doesn't seem like a bad idea to me. Although i'd go further and see to it that tax regulations for large corporations are enforced rather than allowing them to circumvent those by means of offshore banking.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

17. If it's small business only...

I can live with that. But I'd prefer the definition of "small business" to be written by the Democrats. I have no problem with easing the financial burden of higher wages on the mom and pop's of the world.

But the Walton family can just go screw themselves (Note: I Think They Did).

[GoddessOfGuinness]

39. I agree...This would help the Mom&Pop operations

that cannot afford to hire help at a living wage. However, I wonder if small businesses that are under large corporate umbrellas would qualify for the tax cuts too...

[rman]

40. i worry to

No doubt W isn't being honest.
But i think the Dem party should in principal support small businesses, more so than large corporations.

[Old and In the Way]

6. Let him veto it.....and make the Republican vote on an over ride.

Democrats ought not to compromise on more tax breaks for the well off...we are running huge deficits as it is. Raising the minimum wage will stimulate the economy and Bush knows it. By adding another loser taxcut, the Republican corporate media will give taxcuts the credit for the economic uptick that raising the minimum wage will drive.

Let the Republicans run a separate bill on more taxcuts...there's no reason to link them together. Let them stand on their own merits and let the voters decide which Party is looking out for our collective best interests.

[Anywho6]

7. "$287,994 for me; $454 for you." n/t

[rucky]

8. My wife's a small business owner...

and while we currently pay our employee a living wage, I can see how an increase would put a squeeze on new & small businesses, seeing as we've been open more than a year and haven't paid ourselves a penny yet. The taxes they put on startups are prohibitive: If they put a moratorium on taxes for startups the first two years, there'd be a heckova lot more businesses around (and able) to pay for that third year. There'd also be a heckova lot more startups, period - which is a good thing.

[MGKrebs]

15. How is a minimum wage increase a burden?

Every company has the same minimum. The playing field is just as level after a mandatory increase as it was before. You should be able to raise your prices by a marginal amount to cover the additional cost and still be just as competitive.

[rucky]

18. I wasn't complaining about it...

My point was that a tax break wouldn't be a bad idea.

[TankLV]

20. Then vote on the tax break SEPARATELY.

Make it STAND ON IT'S OWN!

Keep the MINIMUM WAGE bill JUST FOR THE MIMINUM WAGE!

[rucky]

21. And give Baby Bush an excuse to veto?

Unless his "tax relief" caveat is another trojan horse for the uber-corps, we should be for both. Small businesses count for 75% of the employment, but a much less proportionate amount of the GDP. If we do something to help small business, we're helping workers, too. Reality is, if we're going to get around a blanket veto for any legislation, we'll have to work with the Emperor. And for once (on the surface) this proposal seems reasonable. Let's get this passed.

[alcibiades_mystery]

25. Yes, let him veto it

Then the Republicans in Congress can show whether they side with the people or with Bush. Absolutely let him veto. We need a demonstration of how depraved these people really are.

[diamidue]

28. Exactly! n/t

[rucky]

31. and how much longer at 5.15/hour?

just to prove a point

:shrug:

[alcibiades_mystery]

32. It is not "just to prove a point"

It is to get a raise passed without corresponding destruction of the tax base.

Let's be honest. There are good points on either side, and the question is not one of "proving a political point" but responsible and fair organization of the social. The minimum wage should be raised alone, and then we can look more closely at other issues. This nonsense about tacking on tax breaks to minimum wage increases is the political chicanery - not refusing such tactics.

[TheWatcher]

34. The Christmas Miracle has occurred

You and I actually agree on something.

[alcibiades_mystery]

36. Well

Go fuck yourself.

Better? :-)

[TheWatcher]

43. Ah, now THAT'S more like it.

Merry Christmas. :hi:

[alcibiades_mystery]

44. Cheers

:-)

[TankLV]

42. Yes! Show the country what lying phoneys these repuke are once and for all!

I am NOT for any more tax cuts. Period.

If you and your fellow repukes want one, vote on the tax cuts ALONE, too.

Give the working man a fucking chance for a change.

OVER TEN YEARS!

Wbh is that so hard for you and your repuke friends to understand?

[MGKrebs]

22. Well I don't think the taxes are a big issue either.

I own a small business myself. Many (if not most) small businesses don't make a profit right away anyway, so taxes are minimal if anything. If you are making a profit, you should pay taxes. It's the same for everybody, except...

Where I see the playing field not being level is when communities give big tax and/or utility breaks to big companies to lure them in. Small companies never get those kind of breaks. Of course, we don't have to comply with a lot of the employment rules that a lot of larger companies do either.

[harpboy_ak]

37. sometimes small companies *do* get a break

We have value-added export small businesses here in Juneau that get breaks from our municipality. The city was smart enough to only give a break in water bills for businesses that export products out of our local community, bringing in money from outside the area.

The two businesses are brewing and value-added fish processing (usually smoking), both manufacturing processes that use a lot of water. They don't give the break to fish processors that ship unprocessed raw fish products (fresh or frozen), such as fillets, whole fish or crabs, crab meat, or oysters, only to those that smoke fish or prepare processed fish products such as caviar and spreads or dips.

Brewing, of course, adds value to imported grain and hops and local water and spruce tips (for Winter Ale). Alaska Brewing has added almost 80 well paying jobs to the local economy, and outsells Redhook on Seattle tavern taps --- even after Anheuser-Busch bought Redhook and poured on all that Bud marketing power. They've gone from being a microbrewery to being a "regional craft brewery", because of their increased volume.

Any small business that exports products can take advantage of this city ordinance, which really does support entrepreneurs who create jobs.

[MGKrebs]

41. Now that's my idea of "progressive"!

Create jobs, biggest bang-for-the-buck outside money, and (presumably) profits not going to some company in St. Louis or elsewhere.

I see the Mayor is a Dem, is the rest of the Assembly majority Dem?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

27. Small business owner here too

I can see where relaxing some of the startup taxes could be helpful, but minimum wage increase has already been made irrelevant by cost of living. You simply cannot hire someone to work for minimum wage right now and expect any kind of performance or loyalty from them. Since training isn't cost effective, not to mention the time it takes to find and hire new employees. I've always paid a starting wage that's higher than the new proposed increase, and I feel it's helped me establish my business.

Tell your wife to stick with it if she can, it's worth it in the end.

[THUNDER HANDS]

9. i support a tax cut

for those making minimum wage. They should have no taxes taken out of their paycheck at all.

[tritsofme]

10. In most cases the EIC would accomplish this goal.

nt

[truthisfreedom]

12. We're obviously winning. I'm grinning from ear to ear that bush was forced to concede already!

WOOHOO!

[rodeodance]

13. yes, it should be a clean bill -------NOthing attached.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

14. $10 minimum wage tied to $20,000 standard deduction tax break, Dems need to help working class now.

Helps poor people and many in working/middle class, stimulate economy, creates jobs gets a Democrat elected in 2008.

[Vinca]

16. Good idea - no more tax cuts for the megawealthy. nt

[pop goes the weasel]

29. Yes!

Democrats should make it clear that tax relief will focus on addressing the effects of long-term inflation on low income earners. A $20,000 standard deduction would be a benefit to small business owners as well as their employees, and it would address some of the problems that have resulted from the flattening of the income tax rate.

[TankLV]

19. Keep it SIMPLE and UNCOUPLED. JUST the WAGE HIKE.

Make it a vote on the wage hike alone.

Every time they couple it with something else - which is everytime so far, the wage hike gets deleted or diluted and the wealthy get more tax breaks.

KEEP IT SIMPLE.

JUST THE ONE ISSUE - MINIMUM WAGE HIKE!

[Zenlitened]

23. Well, I think the Dems out to put a clean bill on his desk first, raising the min. wage...

... with the promise that we'll next take up small business tax cuts. Which should be entirely do-able by rescinding previous tax cuts for the uber-rich or our fellow "citizens," the corporations. :evilgrin:

I mean, it's the fiscally-responsible thing to do, right? Level-spending from here on out: If revenue is trimmed somewhere, it has to be replaced be revenue from somewhere else. If spending is increased in one part of the budget, it has to be decreased in another part.

You know... kind of like the way responsible taxpayers run their own household finances? The ones who haven't become enslaved to Credit Card Nation, at least. Some of those lost souls have been willing zombies in the quest to rack up staggering debt. Too many, however, have been dragged in kicking and screaming, overcome by one too many medical bills, a series of eye-popping heating bills, and who knows what else.

A raise in the minimum wage would have helped a lot of those folks. But you knew that, didn't you, Dubya? Not that you cared. But now you see a chance to pit small business owners against low wage-earners, and that really gives you a thrill doesn't it? Sicko.

I can't wait until he learns first-hand what prison laborers get paid. :grr:

[alcibiades_mystery]

24. Bush can pound sand

If he wants to veto the minimum wage increase, he can go ahead and do that. It'll give all the Congressional Republicans a chance to show voters whether they side with the people and override, or remain rubber-stamp idiots for the failed Bush Administration.

Bush has ZERO fucking leverage on this thing. They tried to run this line as an lection issue for '06, and the Dems held firm, with no consequences. The only negative consequence would be for Bush if he vetoes, and his rubber-stamping cohort in the Congress if they refuse to override. I dare that fucker to veto a minimum wage increase. Please fucking do that, Bushie.

[Norquist Nemesis]

26. Whatever happened to Up-r-Down, Up-r-Down!

[krispos42]

30. Tie minimum wage to Congress' salary

Minimum wage should be the annual salary of a Congressman divided by 2,000.

In this case, the minimum wage would be over 8 bucks an hour. And each time Congress got one of those nice cost-of-living adjustments, so would the little people.

And tax relief for small business is fine as long as we screw the rich to the wall to make up for it. How about 90% tax on all income (regardless of source) for everything over 10 million dollars a year?

[tabasco]

33. Good God Almighty we have the mafia running our country.

THIS IS WHAT UTTER CORRUPTION LOOKS LIKE.

[TheWatcher]

35. You are just now figuring this out? :)

That's exactly what has occurred. Our country has been hijacked by a Crime Family which is part of a larger Global Crime Syndicate. Not hard to figure out.

The sad thing is that most Americans have no idea how bad things really are.

[VegasWolf]

45. Fuck Bush, raising the minimum wage isn't going to drive the Pizza kings out of

business. These clowns give hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to Republicans to keep the minimum wage down. Why not give that money to the people who need it?

[MilesColtrane]

46. "should be accompanied by tax and regulatory relief for small businesses"

Like evironmental regulations? Workplace condition regulations for employees? Regulations covering political contributions? Union and collective bargaining regulations?

The 110th need to watch this bastard like a hawk. No telling what he'll try to sneek in there.

And as far as taxes go, something tells me that Bush thinks of Exxon, Halliburton, and GE as small businesses.