Why is it okay for Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce and her Republican Party to vote for their own pay raises yet continue to block minimum wage increases? Does Pryce hate the working poor? Are Republicans only out for filling their own pockets with money? Why has the Republican Party opposed minimum wage hikes time and time again? While the Republican-controlled Congress has voted for their own $31,000 pay increase over the last nine years, they have not pushed for an increase in the minimum raise. I find this morally wrong.
According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Democrats will be pushing for an increase in the minimum raise if they win control of Congress. This is reason #459 to vote for Democratic candidates in the next election.
The AFL-CIO has a report card on elected officials called Who's on Our Side? The AFL-CIO works for all Ohioans and all Americans to improve wages and working conditions. (The Republicans, on the other hand, work to stop wage increases and improved safety conditions.) Here is Pryce's 'report card' from the AFL-CIO: (click on 15th district-Pryce)--
PRYCE ON JOBS AND WAGES:
• Supported a trade agreement that will send jobs overseas and worsen conditions for workers [CAFTA, Vote #443, 7/28/05]• Blocked a vote to increase the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour [Vote #365, 7/12/05]
• Refused to support the reinstatement of Davis-Bacon community wage standards for workers on federal construction projects in states affected by Hurricane Katrina, which President Bush suspended [HR 3763]
• Supported giving Wal-Mart a sweetheart deal—after it violated child labor laws—that would weaken wage and hour protections [Vote #318, 6/24/05]
• Refused to support a bill that provides protections for workers to form unions [Employee Free Choice Act, HR 1696]
PRYCE ON RETIREMENT SECURITY:
• Opposed protecting pension benefits for more than 120,000 United Airlines workers [Vote #309, 6/24/05]
PRYCE ON HEALTH CARE:
• Supported slashing funds for Medicaid, which provides low-income families, children and seniors with health care [Vote #601, 11/18/05]• Supported a health care plan that would strip away critical consumer protections and raise premiums for the majority of small business employees [Vote #426, 7/26/05]
PRYCE ON TAX FAIRNESS:
• Supported a budget that uses the Social Security trust fund surplus to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans [Vote #149, 4/28/05]• Voted for $56 billion in tax cuts mostly for wealthy investors—even though the House earlier voted to cut $50 billion from Medicaid, food stamps and student loans [Vote #621, 12/8/05]
PRYCE ON EDUCATION:
• Supported cutting $14.3 billion from federal student financial aid programs that help middle-class families afford to send students to college [Vote #601, 11/18/05]• Supported cutting $784 million in funding for America’s public schools [Vote #598, 11/17/05]