Free Republic

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...

About a fortnight ago, Mrs. Williams alerted me to an episode of Oprah Winfrey's show titled "Inside the Lives of People Living on Minimum Wage." After a few minutes of watching, I turned it off, not because of the heartrending tales but because most of what was being said was dead wrong. Let's look at it. The show claims that 30 million Americans earn the minimum wage of $5 an hour. Actually, the federal minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, and 17 states mandate a higher minimum wage that approaches $7 an hour. At one point, Oprah did manage to...

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- In a move that could foster partisan fireworks ahead of this fall's midterm elections, congressional Democrats moved Wednesday to reintroduce legislation to raise the minimum wage by $1.50 over the next three years. The federal minimum wage, which stands at $5.15, would be raised 60 cents this year, 50 cents the following year and 40 cents in the third year, under legislation offered by Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., who has led the charge for past minimum wage hikes. The wage was last raised in 1996. The issue has long been a partisan lightning rod. Many Democrats contend...