Nat'l Dems Finally Take A Stand For Workers

Last week, the republican-controlled Senate voted down a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. The minimum wage is currently $5.15 an hour and has not been raised in the last nine years. In this same nine-year period, Congress has given themselves pay raises each year that add up to a total of $31,600. Good grief! In the last nine years, their raises add up to more money than millions of Americans make all year.

But this year, it looks like the Democrats are finally going to make a stand and fight for ordinary Americans. Yesterday, Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid [D-Nev] announced at a news conference, that Democrats are vowing to block the pay raises for Congress until the minimum wage is raised.

Reid said, "We're going to do anything it takes to stop the congressional pay raise this year, and we're not going to settle for this year alone. They can play all the games they want. They can deal with gay marriage, estate tax, flag burning, all these issues and avoid issues like the price of gasoline, sending your kid to college. But we're going to do everything to stop the congressional pay raise."

Senator Reid wouldn't detail the specific tactics the Democrats would use to block the raises, but he did say, "I know procedures around here fairly well." I hope the Democrats are serious about this, and have the unity and perserverence to see it through. This would make an excellent campaign issue. Around 75% of the American public is in favor of raising the minimum wage. With the millions of American workers, this could be a real vote-getter.

Couple the minimum wage & congressional raise issue with the terrible job Georgie has done in Iraq, and I believe the Democrats have a campaign that is a winner. They need to keep hitting these two issues hard until the election in November. I've been wishing the Democrats would find their spines and stand up for ordinary Americans. It looks like they finally have done it.


In other congressional news, the Senate has rejected a constitutional amendment to criminalize desecration of the flag. A two-thirds majority was needed to pass the amendment, but they were one vote short. The final vote was 66-34. A narrow margin of victory for free speech.