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Step right up folks and get your own bottle of Dr. Republican’s fabulous, new, magic cure-all potion! It’s 100-percent guaranteed to eliminate the minimum wage blues and lift you into a state of euphoric prosperity (side effects might include nausea, delirium, or bouts of rage, and all promises expire after election day, November 7th).
In a cynical legislative flim-flam, GOP leaders in the house passed a bill in the dead of night to raise America’s minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. Never mind that this still amounts to poverty pay of $15,000 a year for full time work, and never mind that even this wage would not be phased in until three years from now – the most cynical part of the Republican scam is that their minimum wage hike is tied to yet another massive tax giveaway to the very richest people in our country!
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For the past decade, the super-wealthy heirs to such fortunes as Wal-Mart, Gallo wines, and M&M candies have been quietly but furiously lobbying to avoid paying taxes on their windfalls. And now, under the ruse of raising the bottom wage for poor people, Republicans are trying to deliver by slashing America’s estate tax, saving these privileged elites $268 billion over just ten years.
Take the hardship case of Paris Hilton, the celebrity and heiress to the Hilton hotel empire. Aside from the millions she has made as an actress and model, Paris was in line to haul off $158 million when her daddy, Barron Hilton, dies. That’s after paying the estate taxes on her inheritance. If the Republican tax giveaway becomes law, however, this poor little rich girl will walk off with $250 million from daddy’s fortune.
This is Jim Hightower saying… So there’s Dr. Republican’s magic elixir, folks. While loudly praising themselves for doling out a $2.10 raise to poor workers – they’re slipping an extra $91 million to Paris Hilton.
Sources:
“GOP passes minimum wage increase, approves estate tax cut,” Austin American-Statesman, July 29, 2006.
“Minimum Wage Fight Heads to the Senate,” The New York Times, July 29, 2006.
“GOP Gives Hilton $91M @ 2 AM!” www.dailykos.com