NYT: Republicans Near a Vote to Increase U.S. Wage (due to Nov elections)

[lindisfarne]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/28/washington/28cong.html?ei=5094&en=93f2199baba1d2f6&hp=&ex=1154145600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
July 28, 2006
Republicans Near a Vote to Increase U.S. Wage
By CARL HULSE
WASHINGTON, July 27 — Under intense pressure from their moderate wing, House Republican leaders moved on Thursday toward allowing a vote Friday on an increase in the minimum wage before sending anxious lawmakers home for a month of campaigning in the battle for control of Congress.

House Republicans were still assembling a proposal Thursday night. But the momentum had clearly shifted in favor of considering an increase of at least $2 in the $5.15 an hour minimum wage, despite strong resistance from conservative Republicans and the party’s allies in the business community.

“I have a high degree of confidence that we are going to have a package presented tomorrow,” said Representative Sherwood Boehlert, Republican of New York and a centrist who has been clamoring for a wage vote, as he left a meeting on Thursday in the office of Speaker J. Dennis Hastert.

Mr. Boehlert and others have argued that Republican support for an increase in the federal wage is essential to shore up the party’s strength among blue-collar and low-income workers who could decide critical House contests in the Northeast and Midwest.

The willingness of the leadership to relent on a wage vote after months of reluctance illustrates Republican nervousness about the November elections, and a desire to break for the August recess on a politically positive note. Although many states now require higher wage levels, the federal minimum wage has remained at $5.15 an hour since 1997.

<snip>

[rodeodance]

1. nice of them!!

[Arkansas Granny]

2. And these would be the same Republicans who voted down

a minimum wage increase last month.

"The Senate yesterday rejected a Democratic plan to boost the minimum wage for the first time in nearly a decade, but Democrats vowed to campaign on the issue this fall to highlight their differences with the Republican majority."

<snip>

"The Senate has rejected 11 attempts to raise the minimum wage since 1998, according to a legislative history compiled by Democrats. House Republican leaders indicated this week that they would not allow a vote on the issue this year."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/21/AR2006062101069.html

First they oppose the minimum wage increase on the grounds that it's bad for the economy, then they embrace it because it can help them stay in office. Can we all say "hypocrisy"?