Saturday, August 05, 2006

No Wage Hike, No Tax Breaks

The bill to raise the minimum wage and make permanent the estate tax has died in the Senate. A sufficient number of Democrats were so upset by the prospect of people receiving their full inheritance that they decided to sacrifice the people who live on minimum wage to their cause.

I think this will hurt Democrats the most. Everybody pays taxes, and there was more in the bill than just the estate tax. Not many people actually live on minimum wage, at least not as many as the left would like to suppose, and even they would probably prefer to have both tax cuts and a minimum wage hike, as opposed to having neither.

I could be wrong, and no doubt the media will portray the political situation as bad for Republicans until an actual vote takes place to disprove their suppositions. But if the Democrats do benefit more politically, it will not be because their stance is meant to bring any practical benefit to the people. Rather, it is because their stance is an exaggerated display of their virtue, and there are many who are impressed by such shallow gestures.

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