Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/279973
The odds that Congress will pass an in- crease in the minimum wage before the November elections are so low that even the nation's lobbyists are largely ignoring it. The AFL-CIO, the nation's largest union group, won't gear up for a push in Congress until a vote on an increase is sched - uled in the Senate, said chief lobbyist Bill Samuel. His group, and business organizations that oppose raising hourly pay, are giving more attention to wage proposals in the states. The National Retail Federa - tion's lobbying in Congress "has been at most a modest stab," said David French, chief lobby- ist for the Washington-based industry group that opposes the legislation. "When it is re- ally around the corner, you'll see the lobbying pick up, but it's not going to require an all-out blitz." The proposal to raise the fed - eral minimum wage to $10.10 an hour from $7.25 is being pushed by President Barack Obama, by U.S. Senate can - didates in at least six states, and in campaign commercials in four states. Still, little pres- sure is being applied in Con- gress, nine senators said in in- terviews. Instead, advocacy groups see the legislation as the beginning of a broader campaign that may span years. In at least eight states so far this year, a pro - posed increase in the state pay floor has cleared either the Sen- ate or House, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The federal minimum wage hasn't been increased since 2009. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid postponed a vote in his chamber earlier this month to give labor unions more time to organize support, said a leadership aide who sought an - onymity to discuss strategy. A Senate vote — especially with no House action expected amid Republican opposition — would create a list of targets for interest groups. This makes a decision on the vote a compli - cated choice for Reid, and for Democratic senators seeking re-election in states that voted Republican in the 2012 presi - dential contest. If those senators vote no, they could suppress Demo- cratic turnout. If they vote yes, they give opponents an issue to use against them. "Right now each side is try - ing to shape the landscape around targeted lawmakers in states and districts," said Re- publican strategist Ron Bon- jean, who was an aide to former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. "There's much more activ- ity on the grassroots and com- munications level." Lott is now a lobbyist at Patton Boggs. At least four Democrats seeking re-election next year have expressed reservations about supporting a $10.10 min - imum wage. They are Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Udall of Colorado and Mark Warner of Virginia. Landrieu and Pryor are running in states Obama lost in 2012. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., said he too hasn't made up his mind about the proposal Demo - crats have put on the table. "We're looking at it pretty carefully," Donnelly said in an interview in which he said he supported the concept of an in - crease. "We're going to wait to see the legislation." The perception that a fed- eral wage increase is more of a political talking point than a real possibility saps enthusiasm from some senators who might be willing to work on the issue. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican who occa - sionally crosses party lines on issues, said Reid has said he will bring the federal minimum wage bill straight to the Senate floor without a committee vote. That is a deviation from the typical process, she said. "To me that's not legislat - ing," Murkowski said in an in- terview. "That's an effort to message on an issue that the majority feels is going to be beneficial to them in an elec - tion. That's not why I'm here. So whatever." Murkowski said she hears far more about a ballot mea - sure in Alaska that would tie the state's $7.75-an-hour min- imum wage to inflation after 2016. "There's a lot of folks that don't have any appreciation at all that we're doing this on the federal level," Murkowski said. "They know that we have got an initiative on the primary bal - lot and are paying attention to that." In addition to Alaska, state minimum wage increases are on the ballot or are being con - sidered in South Dakota, Ar- kansas, California, Idaho, Mas- sachusetts and Missouri, ac- cording to the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, a Washington- based group that tracks voter initiatives. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have set their minimum wages above $7.25 an hour. The highest state level is currently $9.32 in Wash - ington state, which in 1998 en- acted an increase linked to the cost of living over opposition from retailers, restaurants and hotels. Democrats see an advantage on the issue. Sixty-nine per - cent of Americans, including 45 percent of Republicans, sup- port the president's call to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 over the next three years, according to a Bloom - berg National Poll released March 12. Twenty-eight per- cent of poll respondents oppose such action. Annie Linskey and Kathleen Hunter wrote this column for Bloomberg News. Column Lobbyists ignoring minimum wage Cartoonist's take "Look, if you want Obam- aCare, you are just going to have to make some better budgeting decisions." "Budgeting decisions? I make $36,000 a year. The best deal I could find on ObamaCare, with sub - sidies, is $350 a month. That is a hefty 10 percent of my income!" "Like President Obama recently said at a Span - ish-speaking town hall, all you have to do is prioritize your budget better. I'll bet if we look at your cable bill, cell phone bill and other things you are spend - ing on, we will find your priori- ties are not good." "My priorities! Do you know how little $36,000 is? Have you seen the price of food lately? Pro - duce is so high, the wife and kids and I are going without salad many nights." "Maybe you ought to plant a garden and grow your own. That would be the environmentally re - sponsible thing to do." "Our electricity costs are soaring, too — the EPA is driv- ing that by writing new rules that are hurting coal-fired elec- tric plants." "We're doing that for your own good. Besides, it isn't the government's fault that you probably hoarded inefficient in - candescent light bulbs that waste heat and burn more en- ergy. People like you cause your own problems." "Gasoline prices are out of sight. Federal gasoline taxes aren't helping and the govern - ment is not letting refineries ex- pand. With global demand for gas growing, prices will keep going up. We can't afford gas on my salary now." "You are driving an SUV, aren't you? For your own good, the govern - ment bailed out GM and lost $10 billion in taxpayer money — and promoted environmentally friendly elec - tric and hybrid cars in the pro- cess. They get way better mile- age than your SUV." "We can't afford a Chevy Volt. Are you listening? We can't af- ford any of the things our ex- panding federal government is foisting on us — least of all ObamaCare. You promised to make health insurance less ex - pensive, but costs are soaring!" "Such ingratitude. Look, smart people in Washington have been making important de - cisions that you simply are not smart enough to make yourself." "Really? Then why does Medi- care Part D, a successful enti- tlement program that provides drugs to the elderly poor, work so well? Under Part D, seniors are free to choose among a va - riety of benefits, costs and plans offered by private insurers. Ac- cording to the Heartland Insti- tute, Medicare trustees esti- mated a 2013 average monthly cost of $61 — the actual costs are HALF that." "Look, there have been some bumps in the road, but that's partly because people like you aren't getting with the program." "Getting with the program? You imposed a massive overhaul on a health system that the ma - jority of Americans were happy with. You forced the policies to cover things many people don't need or want and you imposed all kinds of new taxes. It would have been cheaper and easier to leave the existing system intact and give subsidies to people of modest means to buy their own policies." "How selfish you are being. We need everyone in the pool for this thing to work. Sure, people who can pay will pay more to sub - sidize people who can't pay. So quit your whining and embrace your duty. Become a willing par- ticipant in our government's col- lectivist effort to control every- one's health care — or the IRS will track you down and impose a fine!" "You still aren't listening. I make $36,000 a year, just like the fellow at the Spanish-speak - ing town hall. Even if I was will- ing, I cannot afford to spend 10 percent of my income on Obam- aCare!" Tom Purcell, author of "Misadven- tures of a 1970s Childhood" and "Comical Sense: A Lone Humorist Takes on a World Gone Nutty!" is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review humor columnist. Send comments to Tom at Purcell@caglecartoons.com. Tom Purcell Government advice on affording ObamaCare Murkowski said she hears far more about a ballot measure in Alaska that would tie the state's $7.75-an- hour minimum wage to inflation after 2016. Tom Purcell The taxpayers are being shaed Editor: Nice roads to someone's $58,000,000 court house or Taj Mahal is obscene. Wake up taxpayers. You are being shafted. — Richard Griffith, Cottonwood Poppycock regarding salmon population Editor: Soon, in the next few months, we will begin to hear from the state water department and from the Department of Fish and Wildlife about how much water has to be let out of Shasta Dam for various reasons. These rea - sons will sound as though they make sense. Does the word poppycock ring any bells? Already this year the water re - lease at Shasta Dam has been as low as 1,100 CFS. This apparently is enough to generate the electric- ity we need. This is the primary function of the dam this year. The state water department cannot claim that more water is needed to support the cen - tral valley farms. It has already been decided to not allow them any water at all this year. A lot of crops will not be grown this year because of that, probably, a nec - essary decision. Then there is a group that will claim that more water, like maybe seven or twelve thousand CFS, needs to be released for the health of the salmon population. There's that word poppycock again. When I moved up here with my parents from LA in 1948, when the salmon were running you could walk across the Sac - ramento River on the backs of spawning salmon at Blackberry Island in Dairyville. The impact on the salmon had not yet been fully felt by the Shasta Dam com - pletion in 1945. We now know the cost to the salmon population by the erec- tion of that piece of concrete. Some groups will tell us that the salmon require a water tem- perature below 50 degrees Fahr- enheit. Uh oh. Again? I caught a salmon at Dairyvillle in 1959 that still had sea lice attached. That meant he made the trip from the ocean in less than two days. I doubt he had time to check his thermometer. What we need to do is to learn how to manage the water system in California. We need to scratch that BDCP tunnel scheme as well as Gover - nor Brown's railroad from fan- tasy land to Disneyland and put those funds, if they even ex- ist yet, to solving our state's wa- ter issues. Letting all the water out of our lakes to grow lettuce in the cen- tral valley and claiming it's to help the salmon is long overdue for exposure as the ridiculous self-serving statement that it is. — Fred Boest, Red Bluff Letters Greg Stevens, Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EdiToriAL BoArd How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151 ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FaCEbook.CoM/ rbdailynEwS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @rEdbluFFnEwS OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, March 19, 2014 » MORE AT FaCEbook.CoM/rbdailynEwS AND TwiTTEr.CoM/rEdbluFFnEwS A6