Posted on 01/12/2007 11:41:46 PM PST by JohnHuang2
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday said Democrats will close a loophole in the House-passed minimum wage increase that exempts American Samoa -- an action taken after it was revealed that one of the U.S. territory's main employers is based in her congressional district.
"I have asked the Education and Labor Committee as they go forward with the legislation to make sure that all of the territories have to comply with U.S. law on the minimum wage," Mrs. Pelosi said.
The decision follows criticism over the exemption, reported earlier this week by The Washington Times, to allow tuna canneries in American Samoa to continue paying $3.26 an hour -- nearly $4 less than the $7.25 minimum wage passed by the House Wednesday.
Republicans, after the vote, pointed out that StarKist Tuna, one of two companies that employs about 75 percent of the Samoan work force, is owned by Del Monte, which is headquartered in Mrs. Pelosi's San Francisco district.
"Simply put: It is unethical to provide a special benefit to a company in any member of Congress' hometown," said Rep. John B. Shadegg, Arizona Republican. "For Democrats to act in such a manner so early on in their tenure is hypocritical at best and criminal at worst."
Democrats involved in the legislation say that neither Del Monte nor StarKist has lobbied Mrs. Pelosi or the committee on the matter. And records show that while Del Monte political action committees have given $5,300 in the past five years to Republicans, neither they nor Del Monte executives have given to any Democrats.
The bill, which raises the federal minimum wage $2.10 from $5.15, pointedly extends for the first time the federal minimum wage to the Northern Marianas Islands, another U.S. territory in the Pacific with similarly low
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
Same rumors about Kerry.
Most arguments about a national minimum wage focus on the effect it has at the low end of the pay scale, by keeping out entry-level workers. There's something else that should be mentioned--the US is such a big place that the cost of living is highly variable. Therefore, a minimum wage in one part of the country might be virtually meaningless, because it is well under the effective floor at which most people could work (especially with welfare available), and might be a very high effective wage in others.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Samoa is such a place, and the minimum wage boost is going to be so high relative to the cost of living that there is all sorts of unemployment and other economic dislocation (e.g., substuting capital machinery for workers, who then go on the dole.)
Nazi Pelosi
And how does a committee alter a bill once it is passed? I though only a conference committee could do that and the conference report noting the change must be voted on by the full House.
Title 29, United States Code, Section 206:
(3) if such employee is employed in American Samoa, in lieu of the rate or rates provided by this subsection or subsection (b) of this section, not less than the applicable rate established by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with recommendations of a special industry committee or committees which he shall appoint pursuant to sections 205 and 208 of this title. The minimum wage rate thus established shall not exceed the rate prescribed in paragraph (1) of this subsection;
See post 26
Then you missed FOX when they replayed all day yesterday a Republican Rep. who stood down the dems on the House floor exposing this. It was very comical.......I was laughing myself silly.
Where's the demand for hearings and investigatons?
Oh, that's right....democrats.....silly me...
Quite frankly, the exemption should still stand and be spread to the 50 states - the Federal Government should not be dictating one-size-fits-all economic interference. If we wanted central planning, we'd be the Soviet Union.
If the minumum wage results in the 75% of AS being unemployed, do you think Pelosi will understand that she is at fault?
No argument from me there, and because the Federal minimum wage hasn't been raised in many years that was the de facto result.
The CNMI exemption was agreed to by treaty, which has expired. The AS exemption was not by treaty.
As an aside, notice that in HR 2, the minimum wage in CNMI will raise from $3.55 to $7.25 in 50 cent increments every six months! Talk about inflationary.
And the pelosi RESTAURANTS....don't forget the pelosi NON-UNION restarants.
THanks for that info! I'll do a search and see if I can find any details.
The short answer is "no." She probably wrote in the loophole because a constituent requested it, not because she really understood or cared about the economics.
I would not presume that she ever read the bill, more less wrote it.
That's correct. If you don't make any money..you're poor. If you make lots of money...they tax it all away...you're poor too. Democrats want to ensure everyone is poor. It's the the communist model they admire most.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.