Bankruptcy, Minimum Wages, and CNN

Gag. CNN is getting worse and worse... they report on the minimum wage dispute as a part of the bankruptcy bill that is sailing through the Senate (more in a sec) with a bunch of he-said she-said and a picture of Santorum with an exceedingly general caption which all add up to making it seem like all they were arguing over was the amount. Oh, and some vague "pro-business" measures.

Finally, about halfway through, you finally get an idea of what those measures are:

These include an option for employees to work up to 80 hours over two weeks without qualifying for overtime pay; a provision restricting the ability of states to raise the minimum wage for restaurant employees; and waiving wage and overtime rules for workers in some small businesses now covered.

Not exactly a small difference between the two proposals, eh? How about reporting the banalities later and giving us the meat of the issue up front?

I like the first one myself... you could have to work 80 hours on week and then be on your butt for the next and never get overtime. Oh, and none of that would be up to you. This is what the Republicans call "flextime." Imagine being a single mom (let along someone in a "traditional" family) and having to work 80 hours in a week all of a sudden... as Sen. Kennedy points out, Santorum really has no interest in the minimum wage other than to keep it low; instead, this manuever is really just a charade so he can have some more ammo to fend off what appears to be a big fight in 2006. Propose a minimum wage hike, put a poison pill in it for the Dems, and then go to the rural area and say "Hey, I tried, but those mean Dems blocked it!"

Another passage I liked:

"Wages do not cause sales. Sales are needed to provide wages. Wages do not cause revenue. Revenue drives wages," said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming.

Boy, that's a mouthful... it would have been faster to say "trickle-down" but the right won't say that term anymore even under pain of torture. Not only does it not "test well," but it just doesn't work either.

Of course, the bigger issue here is the bankruptcy bill itself, which is an incredible hand-out to the insurance industry which will allow them to really stick it to regular folks by removing what little protections exist in bankruptcy and against usury. That's why it really burns me to see quotes like this regarding the minimum wage:

Countered Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa: "This is a values issue. This is at the heart of what kind of country we want."

Oh yeah? What about the over bill you jackasses?!? They got all flush over their impending success on social security that now I guess they think they can go on vacation or something. I thought a little success would go a long way for the party, but I guess not...