Shameful
At 6.25/hr., the minimum wage would offer $13,000 a year, before taxes, to a person that worked 40 hours per week, 52 weeks/year. Republicans think that's too much.

Senate proposals to raise the minimum wage were rejected yesterday, making it unlikely that the lowest allowable wage, $5.15 an hour since 1997, will rise in the foreseeable future.

A labor-backed measure by Senator Edward Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, would have raised the minimum to $6.25 over an 18-month period. A Republican counterproposal would have combined the same $1.10 increase with various breaks and exemptions for small businesses.

The Kennedy amendment to a spending bill went down 51 to 47.

The next time you are suspecting, or hearing, that there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans, know that no Senate Democrat voted against the minimum wage increase. Almost every Republican voted against. Democrats were joined in support by Specter, Santorum, Dewine and Chafee, the last 3 of whom face tough re-election campaigns next year.