Majority Whip Roy Blunt says the U.S. House of Representatives will vote to increase the minimum wage sometime before the midterm elections, according to a Boston Globe story.
It would be the first House vote in a decade on boosting the minimum wage, a contentious issue nationwide and here in Missouri. Rick Klein of the Globe writes that Blunt told a luncheon crowd this week that leaders will vote on the minimum wage "this fall or sooner."
The federal minimum wage has remained frozen at $5.15 since 1997.
"We're at the point where that vote is coming," Blunt told the Globe. "I'm not sure that it's a 'must-pass,' but it will probably be a 'will-pass.' "
Blunt said the minimum wage would be part of a package of proposals, but an aide said leaders are still working on a specific plan, and said that no specific timeline for a vote has been set.
3 comments:
I've read the Constitution, and have yet to find the Amendment that says the following:
"Congress shall have the right to pass laws requiring employers to pay X dollars per hour to employees."
G'head... look for yourself, folks. It ain't there.
What is it with the Blunt family and using one issue to get your way on another? Roy will agree to a new federal minimum wage but only if he gets his way on the inheritance tax. Matt Blunt will agree to a special session on the MAWD program for disabled workers but only if he gets his way on the Medicaid fraud bill.
Linking unrelated issues is one of the most destructive tactics of the politics as usual crowd. The result is either passage of an issue that reaally doesn't have the support to pass on its own or political deadlock.
Why don't both Blunts just take their ball and go home?
I knew someone was eventually going to take the "general welfare" line out of the Constitution, and define it as "welfare, in general".
That is NOT what the Founders meant. They would be horrified at the sheer bulk of gov't programs.
I'm just curious, though: If we go about giving gov't the power of "requiring that employers pay their employees livable wages"... how much power are they allowed to use?
Let's take it down to the personal level: You hire a neighborhood kid to mow your yard. Should you be required to pay him a "living wage", and his health insurance, and... well, I hope you get the picture.
Of course, that's a silly idea... right? Gov't would NEVER get that big... nah.
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