Speak Truth to Power
Class warfare against the middle class and poor became rampant, after Republicans won control of Congress and corporate lobbyist began making large contributions to their campaign coffers.
Repealing the estate tax is a priority for most Congressional Republicans. The repeal of the estate tax serves to benefit less than 2 percent of all estates and its repeal would be very expensive. The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation agrees it would cost more than $600 billion over 10 years. The full cost would start to hit the Treasury in 2011, which is the same year that the nation's oldest baby boomers will turn 65 and start a sharp rise in spending on Social Security and Medicare. At the same time Republicans are seeking to exempt the richest estates from taxes, they are blocking a raise in the federal minimum wage for the nation's poorest workers.
Senate Democrats tried unsuccessfully to raise the minimum wage, which stands at just $5.15 an hour. Since the minimum wage was first adopted, there has been a long tradition of bipartisan support for a raise every decade. Today, a minimum-wage worker earns just $10,700 a year, nearly $6,000 below the poverty line for a family of three. Every Republican president since Eisenhower has signed a bill increasing the minimum wage. Although, Congress recently raised their own pay by $31,000, most Republicans strongly opposed an increase in the minimum wage, unless it is tied to a repeal of the estate tax.
It's a national disgrace that poverty is up for the fourth year in a row. During this time the costs for health care, oil, housing, child care has skyrocketed, but congressional Republicans refuse to give hardworking men and women the pay they deserve. It’s time to reward work with an increase in the federal minimum wage.
Repealing the estate tax is a priority for most Congressional Republicans. The repeal of the estate tax serves to benefit less than 2 percent of all estates and its repeal would be very expensive. The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation agrees it would cost more than $600 billion over 10 years. The full cost would start to hit the Treasury in 2011, which is the same year that the nation's oldest baby boomers will turn 65 and start a sharp rise in spending on Social Security and Medicare. At the same time Republicans are seeking to exempt the richest estates from taxes, they are blocking a raise in the federal minimum wage for the nation's poorest workers.
Senate Democrats tried unsuccessfully to raise the minimum wage, which stands at just $5.15 an hour. Since the minimum wage was first adopted, there has been a long tradition of bipartisan support for a raise every decade. Today, a minimum-wage worker earns just $10,700 a year, nearly $6,000 below the poverty line for a family of three. Every Republican president since Eisenhower has signed a bill increasing the minimum wage. Although, Congress recently raised their own pay by $31,000, most Republicans strongly opposed an increase in the minimum wage, unless it is tied to a repeal of the estate tax.
It's a national disgrace that poverty is up for the fourth year in a row. During this time the costs for health care, oil, housing, child care has skyrocketed, but congressional Republicans refuse to give hardworking men and women the pay they deserve. It’s time to reward work with an increase in the federal minimum wage.
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