AM Feed - July 31: Minimum Wage Bill Also Includes More Tax Breaks for Millionaires
Hot Topics
- It took some after-hours scheming, but the Republican-controlled House of Representatives finally agreed to raise the minimum wage early Saturday – but not before pairing the measure with another round of tax cuts for millionaires. The minimum wage has not been raised in nearly a decade, while costly tax cuts targeted at the wealthy have been a regular occurrence over the last few years. The bill in question raises minimum wage from the current hourly rate of $5.15 to $7.25 over the next three years, but it also slashes taxes for multimillion dollar estates. The Senate is expected to address the bill this week. [link]
- The Medicare prescription drug benefit championed by the Bush administration has already seen more than its share of troubles. Eligible recipients have been slow to sign up for the complex program, and now a new round of troubles are starting – those than have signed on are now reaching the infamous “doughnut hole” in their coverage. The plan contains a gap in coverage for an estimated 3 to 3.5 million beneficiaries, which means that, for many people, prescription costs will skyrocket once a certain limit is reached. “The drug benefit was fine for a while, until the doughnut hole came around. It was a total surprise. Nobody ever explained it to me,” said Melvin Kinnison, a retired deputy sheriff who suffers from diabetes and prostate cancer. [link]
- Tom DeLay may have resigned from Congress last month, but his political battles are still raging on. A current case to decide DeLay’s fate on the November ballot has reached a federal appeals court in New Orleans. Following DeLay’s June 9 resignation, Republicans attempted to remove him from the Texas ballot and replace him with another candidate. A federal judge ruled in favor of Democrats who filed suit to keep him on the ballot, calling the potential candidate switch a “serious abuse of the election system and a fraud on the voters.” Arguments will be heard in the appeals court today. [link]
Quote of the Day
*“Mr. Bolton, by temperament and conviction, is far too dismissive of the results that can be achieved by this kind of traditional diplomacy. That is what makes him the wrong man for the job. America desperately needs to repair the alliances and relationships damaged by the shoot-from-the-hip diplomacy of the Bush first term. It simply cannot afford to write off the possibility of winning back hearts and minds at the United Nations.” – Excerpt from an editorial in yesterday’s New York Times
Do you have any ideas for the AM Feed? Any stories or issues that you'd like to see highlighted? We'd love to hear your feedback. Drop us a line at afv@americanfamilyvoices.org.
— aucpavyec Jan 9, 09:03 #