All...
I think we may be missing the boat here on the minimum wage vote today in the U.S. Senate.
Let's be clear...Harry Reid didn't put the tax cuts in the bill. Harry Reid didn't kill it. We've got a problem now, to be sure. There are tax cuts in the bill, and that will be difficult to reconcile with the House, given that our new, fiscally-responsible House passed pay-go which will require offsetting cuts in spending to any tax cut.
But let's remember who is actually at fault here. Their names are listed below:
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
These are the Senators that voted AGAINST the minimum wage (and let's face it, that's EXACTLY what they did). These are the Senators who do not want to see ALL of our families incomes increase. These are the Senators who would rather keep working people mired in a cycle of poverty and debt than make a few more measly dollars an hour.
I submit to you that this vote, targeted specifically because they know the House's hands will be tied, is incredibly craven...giving us the 43 most craven individuals in the United States today.
Notice something about them? They are ALL Republicans. Every...last...one of them.
I also notice one very, VERY prominent Presidential contender on that list. (Brownback had the good sense to be absent from the vote.)
Make 'em defend their vote, I say. Tell us exactly WHY you intended not to modify, not to make better, but to KILL and DERAIL the minimum wage increase.
I'll wait...and try to hear you above the loud chirping of crickets.