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Senate Again Fails to Raise Minimum Wage
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051019/...minimum_wage_1
By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer 35 minutes ago WASHINGTON - The Senate on Wednesday defeated a proposal to raise the minimum wage, rejecting arguments by Democrats that the current floor, $5.15 an hour for the past eight years, was perpetuating poverty. The proposal by Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) to raise the lowest wage by $1.10 over an 18-month period was defeated on a near-partyline vote of 51-47 vote. The Senate was also voting Wednesday on a Republican alternative that combined the same $1.10 increase with various breaks and exemptions for small businesses. It was expected to lose. Kennedy, D-Mass., said Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the depth of poverty in the country and he pointed out that a single parent with two children working a minimum wage earns $10,700 a year, $4,500 below the poverty line. He said it was "absolutely unconscionable" that in the same period that Congress has denied a minimum wage increase, lawmakers have voted themselves seven pay raises worth $28,000. Kennedy, who has campaigned relentlessly for a minimum wage increase, picked up one vote from the 46 votes for a similar measure in March. On Tuesday he modified his proposal, which originally called for a $2.15 increase over 26 months, in hopes of attracting more Republicans. The first minimum wage of 25 cents an hour was enacted under President Roosevelt in 1938. Congress has since voted eight times to increase it, including under Republican presidents Eisenhower, Ford and George H.W. Bush. Congress approved the last increase in 1996, with the second stage, boosting the rate to $5.15, taking effect in 1997. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level, including Washington State at $7.35, according to the Labor Department. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two — Ohio and Kansas — are below; and six do not have state laws. Also on Wednesday, Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, proposed adding $3.1 billion to the administration's $2 billion request this year for emergency heating assistance for low income families. "We're about see a second tidal surge from Katrina and Rita," with rising energy costs, Reed said. A vote could take place Thursday, with GOP leaders saying an emergency spending bill to be taken up soon was a better venue for the heating assistance debate. Alabama Sessions (R) No; Shelby (R) No. Alaska Murkowski (R) No; Stevens (R) No. Arizona Kyl (R) No; McCain (R) No. Arkansas Lincoln (D) Yes; Pryor (D) Yes. California Boxer (D) Yes; Feinstein (D) Yes. Colorado Allard (R) No; Salazar (D) Yes. Connecticut Dodd (D) Yes; Lieberman (D) Yes. Delaware Biden (D) Yes; Carper (D) Yes. Florida Martinez (R) No; Nelson (D) Yes. Georgia Chambliss (R) No; Isakson (R) No. Hawaii Akaka (D) Yes; Inouye (D) Not Voting. Idaho Craig (R) No; Crapo (R) No. Illinois Durbin (D) Yes; Obama (D) Yes. Indiana Bayh (D) Yes; Lugar (R) No. Iowa Grassley (R) No; Harkin (D) Yes. Kansas Brownback (R) No; Roberts (R) No. Kentucky Bunning (R) No; McConnell (R) No. Louisiana Landrieu (D) Yes; Vitter (R) No. Maine Collins (R) No; Snowe (R) No. Maryland Mikulski (D) Yes; Sarbanes (D) Yes. Massachusetts Kennedy (D) Yes; Kerry (D) Yes. Michigan Levin (D) Yes; Stabenow (D) Yes. Minnesota Coleman (R) No; Dayton (D) Yes. Mississippi Cochran (R) No; Lott (R) No. Missouri Bond (R) No; Talent (R) No. Montana Baucus (D) Yes; Burns (R) No. Nebraska Hagel (R) No; Nelson (D) Yes. Nevada Ensign (R) No; Reid (D) Yes. New Hampshire Gregg (R) No; Sununu (R) No. New Jersey Corzine (D) Not Voting; Lautenberg (D) Yes. New Mexico Bingaman (D) Yes; Domenici (R) No. New York Clinton (D) Yes; Schumer (D) Yes. North Carolina Burr (R) No; Dole (R) No. North Dakota Conrad (D) Yes; Dorgan (D) Yes. Ohio DeWine (R) Yes; Voinovich (R) No. Oklahoma Coburn (R) No; Inhofe (R) No. Oregon Smith (R) No; Wyden (D) Yes. Pennsylvania Santorum (R) Yes; Specter (R) Yes. Rhode Island Chafee (R) Yes; Reed (D) Yes. South Carolina DeMint (R) No; Graham (R) No. South Dakota Johnson (D) Yes; Thune (R) No. Tennessee Alexander (R) No; Frist (R) No. Texas Cornyn (R) No; Hutchison (R) No. Utah Bennett (R) No; Hatch (R) No. Vermont Jeffords (I) Yes; Leahy (D) Yes. Virginia Allen (R) No; Warner (R) No. Washington Cantwell (D) Yes; Murray (D) Yes. West Virginia Byrd (D) Yes; Rockefeller (D) Yes. Wisconsin Feingold (D) Yes; Kohl (D) Yes. Wyoming Enzi (R) No; Thomas (R) No.
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North Carolina
Burr (R) No; Dole (R) No. I love my NC!
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Hey Joshy...I have a question.
I just got the Wildflower CD/DVD deluxe set. When I put the DVD into my DVD player, the only "special" feature that I am getting is the video for "Good is Good". Where is the acoustic tracks and the DVD quality tracks?
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And of all the Republicans to vote for it, it was Santorum and Specter of Pennsylvania. I wonder why that is.
I'd also like to see the Republican alternative and find out what kinds of breaks and exemptions are leading Democrats to reject it. |
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A general question to anyone, since I must admit I'm not terribly well-versed on the ins and outs of this: Do any states have their own minimum wages that are higher than the national minimum wage? And if not, why not? Is this something that state legislatures are not allowed to do? |
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Also, that doesn't really answer my question about why Santorum and Specter voted for the proposal. Or about what the differences are in the Republican-sponsored proposal. |
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There was also a yes vote from DeWine (R) in Ohio.
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~Suzy |
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