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The national minimum wage is barely tolerable by small businesses during a robust economy, but raising it in a severely faltering economy is just plain ludicrous. Fewer people working means fewer taxes collected by the government. Businesses find it harder to expand and compete because they can't afford to hire more expensive entry-level workers. The facts clearly show that for each 10 percent increase in the minimum wage small business hiring declines by .8 to 1.2 percent. Here's another example. About 4 percent of teen-agers who were unsuccessful in finding a summer job in retail in 2008 have Congress to...

Democrats have never been shy about criticizing the Bush tax cuts, but they’ve been reluctant to push for broad tax hikes since retaking control of Congress. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel could soon break the ice. The New York Democrat has spent months formulating a plan to raise taxes on the rich to shield most taxpayers from the alternative minimum tax and offer some goodies to the working poor and married couples. Rangel hasn’t tipped his hand on his plan for coming up with at least $800 billion in revenue over the next decade, but reports earlier...

Starkist Samoa, Gov. Togiola T.A. Tulafono and some local businesses have voiced their disappointment with the passage of a federal bill, that includes provisions to increase minimum wages for American Samoa over a period of time. StarKist Samoa had planned to launched next month the expansion of its tuna pouch production, after it was transferred early this year from Ecuador. The company planned to hire between 200-300 workers, but some employees say they were informed Wednesday that this project is on hold. - ADVERTISEMENT - Bank of Hawaii Small Business Resource Provisions of the federal supplemental bill that provide millions...

As tax season nears, Democrats in Congress are discovering they have an urgent political bomb to defuse -- the alternative minimum tax. The AMT already hits four million Americans, and without new legislation this year it will explode in the pocketbooks of 23 million taxpayers What's amazing is that many Democrats and reporters are trying to blame this looming tax increase on the 2001-2003 tax cuts. See if you can follow their argument: Taxpayers are obliged to pay the higher of their tax bill under either the regular IRS code or the AMT. And because the tax cuts reduced the...

The Senate voted overwhelmingly yesterday to increase the federal minimum wage for the first time in nearly a decade, but added small-business tax breaks that are unacceptable to House leaders, preventing Democrats from claiming a quick victory on one of their top legislative priorities. The Senate voted 94 to 3 in favor of the measure, which would raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour from $5.15 over two years. To attract Republican support, Senate leaders agreed to extend tax credits and expand deductions for businesses that would be hit hardest by the minimum-wage increase. Those tax breaks, worth $8.3...

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WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a Democratic bill to increase the federal minimum wage for the first time in a decade, demanding it first include small-business tax relief. Democrats fell short of the 60 needed to end debate and go to passage of the House-passed measure, which would raise the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour from $5.15 per hour over two years. Republicans demanded tax breaks be added to the legislation to help small business cover the proposed pay hike for millions of America's lowest paid workers. Senate Democratic leaders have indicated they...

In the first hundred hours of the just-started session of Congress, the new leadership promises to raise the minimum wage. The Democrats won't be opposed by many Republicans. Raising the minimum wage is definitely popular. Voters in six states approved higher minimums last Election Day. State politicians in both parties are practically drooling with eagerness to "help" lower-income workers. We all want the poor to make more money. So if government can raise wages by decree, why are the popular proposals so stingy? Let's really do something for the poor. Let's raise the minimum wage to $20 an hour. Even...

To adopt Section 34a of Article II of the Constitution of the State of Ohio. Except as provided in this section, every employer shall pay their employees a wage rate of not less than six dollars and eighty-five cents per hour beginning January 1, 2007. On the thirtieth day of each September, beginning in 2007, this state minimum wage rate shall be increased effective the first day of the following January by the rate of inflation for the twelve month period prior to that September according to the consumer price index or its successor index for all urban wage earners...

WASHINGTON -- As Congress returns to work after Labor Day, Republicans face a burning question: whether to try again to pass a minimum-wage increase, or risk facing voters in November without having done so. Some Republican lawmakers, particularly those facing tough re-election fights, want another chance to back an increase from the current $5.15 an hour, a move that would deprive Democrats of a major campaign talking point. "After 10 years, good grief, it's not like we're increasing it in a way that would cause unemployment," says Rep. Chris Shays, a Connecticut Republican locked in a close race. "I think...

The French government plans to raise its legal minimum wage by slightly more than 3 percent... The 3.05 percent increase will boost the hourly minimum wage to $10.39...a raise that will apply to 2.5 million workers. One of the highest in Europe, minimum wage in France has increased by more than 17 percent in the last four years... Some business leaders, meanwhile, interpreted the increase as a ploy by an unpopular government to win votes ahead of the 2007 presidential elections.

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Wednesday killed an effort to raise the minimum wage, but Democrats who back the measure say they will try again both in Congress and through ballot measures in several states. The federal minimum wage has been $5.15 per hour since 1997. On a procedural measure Wednesday, senators voted 52-46 in favor of raising the wage to $7.25 in three steps, but that was short of the 60 votes needed to move the legislation forward. The vote came one day after House Republican leaders made clear they won't allow a vote on the issue, fearing it...

SACRAMENTO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger filled a dormant state commission with four Democrats on Friday before asking them to approve a $1-an-hour minimum wage increase without the annual cost-of-living adjustments pushed by Democratic lawmakers. Two of the four were originally appointed to the Industrial Welfare Commission by former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and served until their terms expired last year. The two others were new appointments by the Republican governor, one of them representing the state manufacturer's association. A fifth commissioner's term expires in January. Schwarzenegger, who vetoed two previous minimum wage increases, is asking the commission to increase the minimum...

Some great stories about Private Citizens standing up for themselves against an out of control government...

As rising gasoline prices continue to shock drivers across the country, one small chain of Minnesota gas stations is challenging a state law that requires sellers to charge consumers a minimum price. Midwest Oil of Minnesota filed suit Monday in Ramsey County District Court, arguing the law is unconstitutional and hinders competition. In June, the state Commerce Department accused Midwest Oil of selling, offering or advertising gas below the state minimum on more than 160 occasions. Minnesota law prohibits retailers from engaging in unfair discrimination and competition by selling, offering or advertising gasoline below cost. State officials ordered Midwest Oil...

Is this tax trap waiting for you? By William Neikirk Tribune senior correspondent Sun Aug 21, 9:40 AM ET The AMT is coming after you. Congress passed the AMT, or alternative minimum tax, in 1969 to crack down on 155 super-rich people who had escaped paying taxes. But in the next few years, it will ensnare millions in the middle class and perhaps roil the nation's politics. This year nearly 4 million taxpayers are being hit by the AMT, but that number will soar to 20.5 million taxpayers next year and 51.3 million, or 45 percent of all taxpayers, by...

Once again, Mr. Ehrlich is kowtowing to the Pat Robertson/Jerry Falwell wing of the Republican Party. He's fearful that both bills are going to be petitioned to ballot next year (by members of his own party) and hurt his support among religious conservatives. That seems unlikely. The politics of an election year should prevent a veto override. But we'll give him this -- at least the governor has his limits. He chose not to veto legislation adding sexual orientation to Maryland's hate crime law and another that will require schools to monitor bullying. It was disappointing that Mr. Ehrlich felt...

At first glance, the term "gun nut" would appear to be nothing more than an ad hominem against the more enthusiastic weapon owners of this country. However, as one reads the literature espoused by gun nut organizations, the reasoning behind this term becomes startlingly clear. Gun nuts are called as such because they are incontrovertibly insane. The gun lobby has adopted the same attitude toward politics as Rush Limbaugh: "Don't confuse me with facts, I've got my mind made up!" Gun nuts are so obsessed with opposing gun control laws that no amount of factual evidence against their position will...

Statewide Hunting Proposal Runs Into Unfriendly Fire Proposal Would Make 16 Minimum Age To Hunt POSTED: 5:22 pm EST December 10, 2004 In North Carolina, you must be 16 years of age to get a driver's license, but there is no age requirement to hunt deer, turkey and other game. There is now a push to change that. VANCE COUNTY, N.C. -- A hunting accident is prompting a call for a minimum hunting age, but the proposal has run into some unfriendly fire. State law allows a child of any age to shoot game as long as a parent or...

The Navy has set minimum bid prices and deposit requirements for the planned auction of the old El Toro Marine base, scheduled to begin Jan 5. The minimum averages range from about $125,000 to just under $300,000 per acre but are expected to ascend quickly although the federal government reckons it will fall short of the nearly $1 million per acre that Tustin air base land fetched. That’s because plans for the 3,700-acre base call for large sectors to be left as wilderness areas or developed as parks. Still, interest in the land is expected to be intense. It will...