Pelosi backtracks, now says Samoa NOT exempt - FOX

Me | 1/12/07 | georgiadawg32

[GeorgiaDawg32]

Video link on foxnews website, www.foxnews.com left side of the screen..

According to FoxNews, pelosi now says Samoa is INCLUDED..

Her trickle-up theory apparently won't go over very well with the people there, as their representative had this to say (pay attention to para 2) regarding the devastation of the Samoan economy if this goes through:

"In a statement in response today, Faleomavaega (American Samoa delegate) said "despite recent claims made by the Washington Post which suggest that American Samoa is exempt from the federal minimum wage process, I wish to set the record straight." He says since 1956, the Wage and Hour Division of the US Department of Labor has conducted Special Industry Committees every two years in American Samoa to determine minimum wage increases.

"While these Industry Committees have been phased out in other US Territories due to their more diversified economies, American Samoa continues to be a single industry economy. In fact, more than 80% of our private sector economy is dependent either directly, or indirectly, on two U.S. tuna processors, Chicken of the Sea and StarKist. As has been repeatedly stated at our Special Industry Committees, a decrease in production or departure of one or both of the two canneries in American Samoa could devastate the local economy resulting in massive layoffs and insurmountable financial difficulties," the Congressman says.

"For this very reason, I do not support efforts to apply mainland minimums to American Samoa at this time. The truth is the global tuna industry is so competitive that it is no longer possible for the federal government to demand mainland minimum wage rates for American Samoa without causing the collapse of our economy and making us welfare wards of the federal government."

[Carling]

Minimum wage should be up to the local or state governments to determine. The American Somoa situation illustrates exactly why a blanketed minimum is a terrible idea at the national level. I doubt anyone with a legal visa or citizenship is making much less than $10/hour in San Francisco, for example, regardless of the $5.25 national minimum. Here in Oregon, the state minimum wage is $7.50/hr, and many rural communities have trouble meeting that while the businesses here in the Portland metro area often pay higher for entry level and unskilled workers.

[Phantom Lord]

aren't the 100 hours up yet?

No, the 100 hours are not up yet. And here is the dirty little secret on the 100 hours.

Pelosi said she was going to get 6 bills through in the first 100 hours of the new congress. Fine. BUT, and its a big BUT. The only time that counts toward the 100 hours is when they are spending time on one of those 6 bills! So if they are debating, giving self congratulatory speeches, etc... that time does not count toward the 100 hours.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

The DING-A-LING Democrat hard at work....Never mind!

[GeorgiaDawg32]

exactly correct..time left on the 100 hours is 75 hours, 15 mins

http://www.house.gov/pelosi/

[doug from upland]

Hmmmmm, I bet there will be some good property buys pretty soon there.

[RJL]

According to FoxNews, Pelosi now says Samoa is INCLUDED..

We all know that what a politician says doesn't mean spit, what is written into the law?

[Continental Soldier]

Oh, yeah, this one says this and that one says that, but what is the bottom line? Will American Samoa be included in the new minimum wage legislation or not? Why is this question so difficult to answer?

[syriacus]

The Samoans should make sure that every 20th can of tuna has only water in it.

I opened a can of tuna a few months back and found no tuna in it.

[politicalwit]

" How do they correct an oversight? "

I would "assume" that any correction would be in Committee with the Senate.

[WalterSkinner]

..many interested parties are watching...