Further assistance in getting a leg up in the world will ultimately be denied to the working poor, I’m afraid. 

In a blatant election year move, Republican members of the House tacked on an estate tax rider to a bill that would increase the minumum wage from 5.15 to 7.25 over the next 3 years.

Now, with full knowledge that it will be defeated in the Senate, the GOP can lay claim to having voted for a minimum wage hike in the upcoming elections.

Couldn’t we have dealt with the minimum wage issue first, and then worried about giving Paris Hilton a 3 million dollar tax break? Oh wait, that 3 million will trickle down to her bodyguards.

We have gone the longest without raising the minimum wage since it was initiated in 1938.

And we are not talking about giving teenagers in their first jobs more money. Most of those affected are adults.  And over a third of them are the sole bread winners in their families.

61% are women, many of them trying to raise families on their own.

And it’s the fiscally responsible thing to do.  There is historical evidence that poverty and unemployment actually drops when the minimum wage is increased. 

Here’s some more numbers from the Center for American Progress and Sojourners:

5.4 Million–NUMBER OF AMERICANS WHO HAVE FALLEN INTO POVERTY SINCE THE MARCH 2001 RECESSION.

5.15 per Hour–FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE.

28.6 Percent–HOW MUCH THE INFLATION-ADJUSTED VALUE OF THE MINIMUM WAGE HAS ERODED SINCE 1979.

0–NUMBER OF TIMES THE MINIMUM WAGE HAS INCREASED SINCE 1997.

8–NUMBER OF TIMES THE CONGRESS HAS INCREASED ITS OWN PAY SINCE 1997.

31,600–HOW MUCH MORE A YEAR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS MAKE TODAY COMPARED TO 1997.

0–HOW MUCH MORE A YEAR PEOPLE EARNING MINIMUM WAGE EARN TODAY COMPARED TO 1997.

10,700–AMOUNT A PERSON MAKING MINIMUM WAGE WILL EARN IN A YEAR.

5,900–AMOUNT BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL WORKING 40 HOURS A WEEK, 52 WEEKS A YEAR AT MINIMUM WAGE WILL LEAVE A FAMILY OF THREE.

7.3 Million–NUMBER OF WORKERS WHO WOULD BENEFIT FROM AN INCREASE IN THE MINIMUM WAGE.

11 Million–NUMBER OF JOBS ADDED TO THE ECONOMY IN THE FOUR YEARS AFTER THE LAST MINIMUM WAGE HIKE.

72%–PERCENTAGE OF MINIMUM WAGE WORKERS WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM AN INCREASE IN THE MINIMUM WAGE WHO ARE OVER THE AGE OF 20.

1.8 Million–NUMBER OF PARENTS WITH KIDS UNDER THE AGE OF 18 WHO WOULD BENEFIT FROM AN INCREASE IN THE MINIMUM WAGE. 

$8.88–AMOUNT MINIMUM WAGE WOULD HAVE TO BE TODAY TO HAVE THE SAME PURCHASING POWER IT HAD IN 1968:

2.5 Years–AMOUNT OF HEALTH CARE FOR TWO CHILDREN WHICH COULD BE BOUGHT BY RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE FROM $5.15 TO $7.25.

86%–PERCENTAGE OF AMERICANS WHO SUPPORT RAISING THE FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE.