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To: bart13 who wrote (64901)	3/28/2007 11:02:24 PM
From: LTK007	Respond to of 116555

:) (eom)

To: bart13 who wrote (64901)	3/29/2007 1:28:43 AM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

Minimum wage hangs in balance of Iraq vote Wage hike tied to budget bill calling for pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq, President Bush vows veto. Amid the controversy of the war budget bill being debated in the Senate this week, the fate of the minimum wage raise is at stake, as well. In early March House Democrats attached the minimum wage legislation to the budget bill in order to speed the agreement between chambers on the size of the package of small business tax breaks. The passage of the minimum wage bill into law has been stalled over differences between the House, which has approved a smaller $1.3 billion package and the Senate which has passed an $8 billion package Both the House and Senate bills provide for a gradual increase of the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour over two years. Now the minimum wage hike's future is tied to the outcome of the war budget bill, which has moved from the House to the Senate, and calls for a pull out of troops from Iraq even as it provides funding for them. Democrats and some Republicans in the Senate support the bill but it is vehemently opposed by President Bush, who has threatened a veto of any bill setting a deadline for the withdraw of U.S. troops from Iraq. Minimum wage supporters still see value in its inclusion in the bill. Bill Samuel, of the AFL-CIO, said this go-round of the minimum wage bill allows the two chambers to come to agreement on the tax breaks. Once a compromise on the size of the tax breaks is hammered out, a new minimum wage bill can be brought forward later and passed, either as stand alone legislation or as part of a less controversial budget package. "This is a step forward not but not a final one," said Samuel of the Iraq spending bill, who predicts another minimum wage bill could be produced by mid-to-late April. By then, the tax-breaks would presumably be worked out between the House and Senate. President Bush's reiteration of his plans to veto any bill calling for a timeline for the withdraw of U.S. troops from Iraq, makes a minimum wage rise unlikely for now. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Tuesday issued a statement regarding the budget: "The Constitution gives those who oppose this war a clear and concrete way of expressing their views: and that's to vote against funding it." "Attempting to have it both ways - by slipping a withdrawal date into this bill, by making the support of our troops contingent on a dangerous and defeatist surrender date, was wrong a week and a half ago. It's wrong now," McConnell said. "Millions of hardworking Americans have waited long enough for a raise and unfortunately, Senate Republicans have thrown up roadblocks on an issue that is a matter of equity and fairness," said Drew Hammill of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. .... money.cnn.com