DOUBLE DEFEAT FOR AMERICA

The so-called Compromise to continue funds for the Iraq Occupation should be seen in its true reality. The Democrats totally buckled under. There was NO Compromise.

Oh, I understand the logic behind it, but I propose that if Congress ONLY sent one Bill with a deadline attached repeatedly to George, and he kept Vetoing it, only one question would be left. Who is supporting the troops and who is not.

As for the Compromise of a raising of the monimum wage I offer the follwoing.


Where is the so-called Compromise?

The recent Supplemental Funding Bill included a raise of the Minimum Wage from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour phased in over two years.

Using information from the US Census Bureau, the following may be said.

1. Following the ten year cycle between 1996 and 2006, annual inflation rate has been about 2.546%. Assuming a similar rate for 2007 to 2009, the higher minimum wage would only be about 29 cents in real purchasing terms. (This assumption could be slightly deceptive since gasoline prices alone have doubled between 2004 and 2007)

2. Current minimum wage places a single earner at about 53% of current poverty level, meaning a second full time job would be needed to edge over the poverty level.

3. Only about 2% of all workers currently receive minimum wage rates.

4. Kansas has a minimum wage rate below the mandated Federal level, while Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and South Carolina have no minimum wage level. The Great Plains States generally have only the Federally mandated minimum rate (North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas) and three western states (Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming). Five other states (Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia, and New Hampshire) also use the Federal minimum.

The House Democrats especially have been calling the Supplemental Spending Bill a compromise, but that seems a hard show to sell. Politically, those states which trend Republican will resent the raise in the Wage Rate and might vote accordingly. Secondly, the few workers who will receive any benefit are going to still have no voice in government, nor any assurance of a future raise hike.

Meanwhile, an unpopular war continues and American and Iraqi lives continue to be lost.

So, Where is the so-called Compromise?