On Friday, Bush signed the Iraq War funding bill passed last week by both houses of Congress. The legislation includes a provision to raise the minimum wage in three stages over the next two years from the present $5.25 an hour to $7.25.
The minimum wage increase was part of a package of domestic measures, such as continuing aid for Hurricane Katrina victims, that the House passed 348-73. All 73 "no" votes came from the GOP. It was added to the bill funding Bush\'s war in Iraq, which passed 280-142, mostly on Republican votes.
The Senate, however, combined both the Iraqi troop funding and the minimum wage hike -- which also includes $4.8 billion in "small business" tax breaks that Bush demanded -- into one package. It passed overwhelmingly, 80-14, with ten of the 14 "no" votes coming from Democrats upset about eliminating the troop withdrawals.
Pushing the two measures together, minus any deadlines for U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq, forced three of the Senate\'s four Democratic presidential hopefuls to vote against the package, and thus against the minimum wage increase. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) voted "yes," while Sens. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.), Barack Obama (Ill.) and Christopher Dodd (Conn.) voted "no." Obama and Clinton waited until the end of the roll call to vote.
In the House, the two GOP presidential hopefuls, Reps. Thomas Tancredo (R-Colo.) and Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) split. Tancredo voted against the minimum wage hike, and Hunter voted for it. Both voted for the Iraq war funds.
Democratic hopeful Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) voted for the minimum wage hike and against the war funds. So did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who as Speaker by tradition rarely votes. The House held separate votes, then rolled the two measures together.
The Iraq war bill does include benchmarks the Iraqi government must meet by September, lest it face losing $1 billion in U.S. reconstruction aid, but enforcement of the benchmarks is up in the air. It also requires Bush to file his first report on the Iraqis\' progress, or lack of it, by July 15.
While Congress failed to raise the minimum wage over the past decade, several states, including Minnesota, stepped in to raise standards. Minnesota\'s current minimum wage is $6.15 an hour. The new federal law will pre-empt state law, raising the minimum wage for most Minnesotans.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
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On Friday, Bush signed the Iraq War funding bill passed last week by both houses of Congress. The legislation includes a provision to raise the minimum wage in three stages over the next two years from the present $5.25 an hour to $7.25.
The minimum wage increase was part of a package of domestic measures, such as continuing aid for Hurricane Katrina victims, that the House passed 348-73. All 73 "no" votes came from the GOP. It was added to the bill funding Bush\’s war in Iraq, which passed 280-142, mostly on Republican votes.
The Senate, however, combined both the Iraqi troop funding and the minimum wage hike — which also includes $4.8 billion in "small business" tax breaks that Bush demanded — into one package. It passed overwhelmingly, 80-14, with ten of the 14 "no" votes coming from Democrats upset about eliminating the troop withdrawals.
Pushing the two measures together, minus any deadlines for U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq, forced three of the Senate\’s four Democratic presidential hopefuls to vote against the package, and thus against the minimum wage increase. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) voted "yes," while Sens. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.), Barack Obama (Ill.) and Christopher Dodd (Conn.) voted "no." Obama and Clinton waited until the end of the roll call to vote.
In the House, the two GOP presidential hopefuls, Reps. Thomas Tancredo (R-Colo.) and Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) split. Tancredo voted against the minimum wage hike, and Hunter voted for it. Both voted for the Iraq war funds.
Democratic hopeful Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) voted for the minimum wage hike and against the war funds. So did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who as Speaker by tradition rarely votes. The House held separate votes, then rolled the two measures together.
The Iraq war bill does include benchmarks the Iraqi government must meet by September, lest it face losing $1 billion in U.S. reconstruction aid, but enforcement of the benchmarks is up in the air. It also requires Bush to file his first report on the Iraqis\’ progress, or lack of it, by July 15.
While Congress failed to raise the minimum wage over the past decade, several states, including Minnesota, stepped in to raise standards. Minnesota\’s current minimum wage is $6.15 an hour. The new federal law will pre-empt state law, raising the minimum wage for most Minnesotans.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.