After 100 hours, prospects look bleak

Townhall.com::Sticking it to low-skilled workers::By John Stossel

In the first hundred hours of the just-started session of Congress, the new leadership promises to raise the minimum wage. The Democrats won't be opposed by many Republicans. President Bush says he'll go along with a higher minimum wage if it's coupled with tax and regulatory breaks for small businesses.

Raising the minimum wage is definitely popular. Voters in six states approved higher minimums last Election Day. State politicians in both parties are practically drooling with eagerness to "help" lower-income workers. After all, how can you call the current minimum, $5.15 an hour, a "living" wage? Who can live on that?

We all want the poor to make more money. So if government can raise wages by decree, why are the popular proposals so stingy? What good is a measly buck or two extra? Let's really do something for the poor. Let's raise the minimum wage to $20 an hour. Even better, $50!

Or maybe we should take a deep breath and think like economists for a change.

The law of supply and demand, which operates whether we like it or not, says that when the price of something goes up, people buy less of it. That's why environmentalists like higher gasoline taxes, and anti-smoking activists back higher cigarette taxes.

Congress

100-Hour Agenda: Democrats' attempt to implement their "first 100 hours" agenda has had mixed results so far, with some successes but a few bloopers as well.

Ethics Reform: The Democrats' House ethics reform hit a snag with their prohibition of travel by members on corporate jets. The new rule bans travel on non-governmental planes that are not licensed by the FAA for commercial air travel. The problem is that the FAA does not license planes for commercial air travel -- only pilots. The way the rule is written, members of Congress would literally be forbidden from flying on any commercial flight as well as any corporate jets. Republicans pointed to this difficulty as a result of Democrats' failing to put any of their "100 hour" legislation through the committee process.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are not following their House counterparts in enacting a ban on Senators' flying on corporate jets. The main concerns are that the provision could make re-election more difficult for many incumbents. As a compromise, their package makes such travel much more expensive for senators by requiring them to pay a charter rate.

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Brainiac's some of these Dem's.

Hundred hours hoopla continues
Aside from ethics “reform” and a vote for the destruction of human embryos, two other major initiatives of San Fran Nan Pelosi’s “First Hundred Hours” agenda cleared the House floor this week.

The minimum-wage bill passed 315-116, calling for a $2.10 raise over the next two years. The Senate will consider its version later this month, which will include a series of tax breaks for small businesses to offset the cost of implementing the increase—in other words, a bone to get Senate moderates to play along. For their part, House Demos don’t feel the need to help small business, but the final bill is unlikely to survive without some form of relief.

Of note, the minimum-wage hike specifically exempts a major tuna company, StarKist Tuna, in San Fran Nan’s home district from implementing the pay increases—certainly nothing fishy about that in this, the most ethical of Congresses...

Then there is Pelosi’s PAYGO initiative, also introduced this week. In theory, PAYGO seems like a good way to control spending: Any increase in spending must be offset by a decrease in spending in another area, thus keeping overall government spending at a constant level. Unfortunately, the Nancy Pelosi version of PAYGO exempts any existing entitlement from budget cuts, which, coincidentally, is where the bulk of government spending is concentrated. What’s more, under Pelosi’s plan, any new tax cuts would have to be offset by tax hikes in other areas, but tax hikes do not need to be offset by tax cuts. How convenient. The reality of PAYGO, then, is that spending can continue to rise as long as taxes rise in tandem. Sounds like old-fashion governance from the Left.
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So much for open and honest
Nancy Pelosi has been promising us for months that she will run “the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history.” One might logically conclude that allowing C-Span better access would be part of the bargain. One would be wrong. Pelosi denied C-Span’s request to place more cameras in the House chamber for “reaction shots” during debates. C-Span argued that allowing only shots of lawmakers speaking on the floor or the presiding officer “does a disservice to the institution and to the public.” Pelosi pontificated in response, “I believe the dignity and decorum of the United States House of Representatives are best preserved by maintaining the current system of televised proceedings.” “Dignity and decorum”? At least Madame Speaker has a sense of humor.

2007 ? Publius Press, Inc.