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January 12, 2007
The conservoblog hand wringers screw up another one
Update: Over at Kos, dday's diary has a good explanation of this. Better than mine, actually.
Conservative bloggers all over this Moonie Times piece bellowing that Nancy Pelosi is exempting a big tuna company from the new minimum wage law because the corporation is based in her district:
On Wednesday, the House voted to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour. The bill also extends for the first time the federal minimum wage to the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands. However, it exempts American Samoa, another Pacific island territory that would become the only U.S. territory not subject to federal minimum-wage laws. One of the biggest opponents of the federal minimum wage in Samoa is StarKist Tuna, which owns one of the two packing plants that together employ more than 5,000 Samoans, or nearly 75 percent of the island's work force. StarKist's parent company, Del Monte Corp., has headquarters in San Francisco, which is represented by Mrs. Pelosi. The other plant belongs to California-based Chicken of the Sea.
The wingers are going apeshit:
I hate to say I told you so, but….I told you so. Democrats practice a form of double standards and hypocrisy like nobody else on earth. And it doesn’t even faze them. I’ve said many a time over the past year or so on this blog that for them to stand there and complain about how “poorly” they were treated in Congress, how the Republicans shut them out, how corrupt Republicans were, blah, blah, blah, was the biggest load of manure ever manufactured by man or beast in this country. And again, I’ve been proven correct.
Blogs for Bush(that they can still use this name shows how shameless they are):
That's right, something is fishy. Anyone who has any basic understanding of economics knows that raising the minimum wage results in higher prices and job losses... It is no coincidence that Samoa has been exempt because Nancy Pelosi doesn't want a company in her district to be adversely affected by a minimum wage increase.
Outside The Beltway:
Well apparently everybody who works for minimum wage will get a pay increase except for those living in America Samoa. And ironically, the biggest employer in America Samoa? StarKist Tuna. StarKist is owned by Del Monte and is headquartered in San Francisco in Pelosi’s district. I’m sure it is a complete oversight. Oh and if you are wondering whether or not your typically cannery worker earns more than the minimum wage, the answer appears to be, “No.”
Not that rightwing bloggers can be counted on to DO ACTUAL RESEARCH ON A TOPIC...but for crying out loud. This one is too easy.
American Samoa is already covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, which means they already have to pay the minimum wage designated by the Department of Labor.
In addition, Pelosi's office has directed the Chair of the Education and Labor Committee to direct American territories to use the same standard.
This exact minimum wage bill has been introduced since 1999. DelMonte apparently didn't purchase their factory in American Samoa until 2002. Pelosi supposedly set this up just to help DelMonte? LOL wow..what foresight she must have!
Given the fact that the bill doesn't name StarKist, DelMonte or any particular company specifically..the Republicans are once again left grasping at straws.
Its as if they set this stuff up on purpose to give us liberal bloggers something to hit out of the park.
Posted by Carla at January 12, 2007 04:30 PM
