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On Thursday, the Senate voted to up the federal minimum wage rate to $7.25 per hour over a two year period. the bill was loaded with some controversial tax cuts for small businesses and some higher taxes for $1 million-plus executives.
The first wage increase in 10 years was approved by a 94-3 vote.
From Associated Press;
"Passing this wage hike represents a small but necessary step to help lift America's working poor out of the ditches of poverty and onto the road toward economic prosperity," said Sen. Edward Kennedy ( bio, voting record), D-Mass.
The bill must now be reconciled with the House version passed Jan. 10 that contained no tax provisions. House Democrats have insisted they want a minimum wage bill with no strings attached, though some have conceded the difficulty of passing the legislation in the Senate without tax breaks.
"Of course, Democrats would prefer to pass a clean increase in the minimum wage," said the spokesman, Jim Manley. "The fact is that Republicans have made it very clear that the only way we will pass a modest increase in the minimum wage is with tax breaks for small business."
It is worth noting that the GOP did not get all the tax breaks that they have wanted in earlier wage increase bills.
It still seems stupid that small business should get a tax break just for paying a better living wage to their employees, which is still not enough to live on in the first place. If you want less people living on the government system, pay them enough to stay out of the system in the first place. $7.25 an hour 2 years from now doesn't cut it!
