I know it’s becoming cliché to vilify republicans for having little to no regard for the working class, but it doesn’t help that every time a bill comes to the floor that provides hope, it’s immediately shot down. Senator Ted Kennedy witnessed this first hand as he proposed to raise minimum wage by $2.10 from the minuscule $5.15 an hour, while republicans rejected the notion and instead, felt that raising it by $1.10 would cure poverty and end hunger. It’s almost as if, since they knew there was no way in hell they would vote to raise it by $2.10, they just threw in a smaller figure to show that they do have a heart after all.
Some of you might be saying that democrats should bite the bullet on the issue, so that minimum wage would at least increase, even though the amount would not be as substantial. This train of thought might be the sensible route to take, since the republicans’ proposal gives regulatory breaks to businesses and is corporate friendly and that would wash away the increase in wages.
You also have to consider that if democrats settle for the smaller increase, they’ll have to live with the decision until it’s debated sometime in the future. You have to remember that, this is the first time the issue has been brought up and debated in over 8 years, so who knows when it will be brought up again.
I guess it’s more important to debate whether or not we should have kept a woman who was in a persistent vegetative state alive so she could have stared at a ceiling for the rest of her life or debate if government should intervene to alter the Major League Baseball steroid policy.
It may sound insensitive but as a people, we have to get our priorities straight and concentrate on passing bills that benefit the masses so that we can have a promising future by ensuring the overall well being of our country.
We can’t spend time at the dinner table discussing news stories that affect a small number of the population because there is a responsibility to check up on the government to see whether or not they’re protecting your interests.
Raising minimum wage by $2.10 should be a non issue, but you have republicans proclaiming that if you increase wages, then businesses won’t be able to afford to pay their employees. That couldn’t be further from the truth, because if you think about it, if employees have more money in their pockets to spend, businesses would profit and employers can hire more help.
Well, I guess common sense does not apply in government when it comes to benefiting the disadvantaged and the people with disabilities trying to free themselves from government assistance.
If I were coming from the conservative viewpoint, I would probably write that it’s your problem and you should have worked harder or you should go back to school to acquire the fundamental skills to make it.
That’s all well and good but if you grew up in a poor neighborhood, money might be a little bit of an issue and going back to school would require you to live like a pauper.
It might be true that perseverance and hard work can create opportunities for poor individuals but a little push towards the goal that could benefit our economy couldn’t hurt.
President Bush could probably step in and implore government to come together on this and work out a deal that helps the lower class but makes sense in the overall economic scheme, but that might be wishful thinking. If Bush is the religious, moral values president, why isn’t he concerned with curing poverty and using his power to lend the unfortunate a hand
? Hypocrisy is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?
If that wasn’t bad enough, a bill that makes it more difficult to file for bankruptcy has been recently passed while most of us were preoccupied with the daily grind and were probably not aware of this frightening proposal. This bill is another attack on the middle and lower class people who could face financial ruin due to high medical costs or the sky rocketing costs of living.
The ironic thing is that most of the people who are affected by this bill probably voted for Bush during the November election because they were worried about banning gay marriages. This is just another case of people voting against their interests due to religious and value issues, and now it’s coming back to bite them on their red pulsating behind.
The credit card companies can now exhale as they are the victors and they can continue to screw consumers and continually get away with it. Republicans and intimidated democrats seem to think that credit card companies were being wronged for so many years and now the purchase hungry public will get their punishment.
This has been festering for a little less than a decade and now these companies have had their prayers answered just like every other corporation since Bush came into power in 2000. This is part of a continuing epidemic that will spread and break the backs of the middle class so that the huge gap between the rich elite and the poor will continue to broaden.
Do you agree with him? Let us know, email us at nathasha@audacitymagazine.com or join the Online Forum.