The ‘poison pill’ we’ve been waiting for

Just to follow up for a moment on an earlier post, we were waiting to see what congressional [tag]Republicans[/tag] would tie to a [tag]minimum-wage[/tag] [tag]increase[/tag], if anything. GOP leaders could let Congress pass it straight, take credit for a popular move, and take a key campaign issue away from Dems.

Or they could play a silly little game. Guess which course they chose?

Congress would pass an increase in the minimum wage before leaving Washington for vacation, but only as part of a package rolling back taxes on the heirs of multimillionaires, a Senate leadership aide said Friday.

The GOP package would also contain a popular package of expiring tax breaks, including a research and development credit for businesses, and deductions for college tuition and state sales taxes.

The wage would increase from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour, phased in over the next two years, the aide said.

Who could have possibly imagined? Republicans will hold the first minimum-wage increase in nine years hostage, waiting for Dems to give millionaires and billionaires another tax cut.

“Its political blackmail to say the only way that minimum wage workers can get a raise is to give a tax giveaways to the wealthiest Americans,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). “Members of Congress raised their own pay no strings attached. Surely, common decency suggests that minimum wage workers deserve the same respect.”

Yes, “decency.” Good one, Sen. Kennedy.

It’s not altogether clear how this is going to unfold on the Hill, but let’s game the scenario out for a moment.

Republicans think they’re in a good situation here. If Dems acquiesce, the GOP gets to take a key campaign issue off the table and they get more tax cuts for the wealthy. If Dems balk, the GOP will say, “We tried to raise the minimum wage, but the Dems blocked our effort.”

House lawmakers were to discuss the package at an early afternoon session, while the Senate GOP aide professed confidence the bill could advance through the chamber next week.

The aide asked not to be identified publicly because of the ongoing closed strategy sessions on the bill. “It’s the one chance for Democrats who want to get a minimum wage increase,” the aide said.

This is a sucker’s bet. Typical voters don’t follow the details of the legislative process, but they’re familiar with the outcome. There’s no way in the world the electorate is going to believe that congressional Republicans really wanted to raise the minimum wage, after ignoring it for all these years, and Dems stood in the way.

So Dems should call the GOP’s bluff, because in reality, it’s the Dems who are in the stronger position here.

The only reason the issue is coming up at all is because Republicans are starting to sweat. Dems have no incentive to throw the GOP a life-preserver on this, especially with the majority is playing games. If Republicans offered a clean bill, Dems would be hard-pressed to block it, just so they could use the issue in November.

But fortunately, the GOP is incapable of seizing the opportunity. The solution for Dems is easy: block the GOP offer and run campaign ads talking about how the Republican Congress raised lawmakers’ salaries by over $3,000, while blocking a minimum-wage increase and demanding a tax break for Paris Hilton.