Politics As Disco, Part Two

As I mentioned in an earlier post about this, sometimes watching politics is like watching a bad dance contest. But every once in a while a contestant makes a smooth, perfect move. So it is with the Republican members of the House who have forced the Democrats, and now organized labor, into the unenviable position of opposing an increase in the minimum wage.

For years, organized labor has worked hard to raise the minimum wage, while business groups have campaigned to block such a change. This week in the Senate, however, the AFL-CIO is pushing to kill the wage increase while practically the entire business lobby is demanding that it pass.

The reversal is the product of election-year politics and clever — critics say devious — legislative packaging that has been dubbed the "trifecta." In the same bill, senators are being asked to raise the minimum wage (the liberals' goal), cut the estate tax (the conservatives' objective) and approve a laundry list of popular, though narrowly targeted, tax breaks.

"The sides have flipped," said Peter R. Orszag, an economics scholar at the Brookings Institution.

Prodded by moderate Republicans eager to undercut criticism by Democrats that GOP economic programs overwhelmingly favor the rich, the House approved the package last week, including a three-year phased-in boost in the nation's minimum allowable hourly wage to $7.25 from the current $5.15. It would be the first increase in the minimum wage in nine years.

The Senate intends to vote on the package this week, but the outcome is too close to call, lawmakers from both parties agree. Several Republican committee chairmen are unhappy with how the House GOP leadership stitched together the bill, and they may raise objections on the floor. But the biggest obstacle to passage is the strong opposition from Democratic leaders and their labor-union allies to the estate tax provision, which would permanently reduce the federal levy on estates left by the wealthiest Americans.

Labor officials say that their opposition is a matter of economic and social justice. They also say that reduced revenue from estate tax relief could lead to cuts in federal programs for the poor, such as food stamps.

And all that high-minded talk about social justice won't fit into a sound bite. This one is a massive loser for the Democrats. They are going to get beaten over the head with this one in campaign commercials. Have to give the award for best fandango to the Republicans on this issue.

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1. Blue Crab Boulevard » Blog Archive » Politics As Disco - Part III — Thursday, 3 August , 2006 @ 9:23 pm