We ask ourselves; "Why do Rs vote against their own best interests".

[LynnTheDem]

Who here is unhappy that the minimum wage bill failed?

You should be VERY HAPPY that it did fail.

"The Patriot Act"

"Clear Skies Initiative"

"No Child Left Behind"

"Healthy Forests"

"Operation Iraqi Freedom"

....."MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE".....

All of the above are the same; Orwellian rethug-speak bushit.

It was a trojan horse bill. While it would have increased the minimum wage for 1.2 million Americans, it would ALSO have totally taken away ALL min. wage protections (along with overtime pay & 40-hour workweek) for 6.8 million Americans.

In other words;

1. It legalized sweatshops

2. It was just like all the republican's other bills, such as the "Clear Skies", "NCLB", etc. Ie: total bushit.

Several people even here on DU fell for the name, and didn't bother to actually read through the bill & amendments. If DUers had been the ones to vote on that bill, would it have passed?

READ THE BILLS. That's YOUR PATRIOTIC DUTY. "BY THE PEOPLE".

Republicans don't bother...and that is why they constantly vote against their own best interests.

Santorum Offers Trojan Horse for Workers
http://www.epinet.org/newsroom/releases/2005/03/050304-Minimum_Wage.pdf

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. Excellent point

I couldn't have said it any better.

[LynnTheDem]

4. Hell's bells, if ALL American adults took the bloody time to READ

the important bills, there wouldn't be more than a handful of republicans in the country.

Most rightwingers want exactly what we want; but they vote AGAINST what they (and we) want because they're too damn lazy to do their PATRIOTIC DUTY and read the damn bills and it just MAKES ME SOOO MAD where is my space modulator!!!

:D

[me b zola]

8. Jessie Jackson said something very simular

And I agree.;-)

[beyurslf]

2. Santorum's bill did those things. The other min wage bill didn't...

At least, that is the way I understood it on NPR.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

5. Another excellent point to make

There were two minimum wage bills. One, the Dem version, raised it a lot higher than the Santorum version.

[AllegroRondo]

6. And the Dem version didnt try to sneak in corporate loopholes

[LynnTheDem]

7. The Republican bill did those things...the other bill was the DEMS' bill.

And I wish it had passed...but you know there wasn't a hope in hell for that one.

My OP was about the Republican bill only. Sorry, I shoulda made that more clear.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

3. Thanks for pointing this out.

Again. :) It's important that people understand what's hidden in these bill's. Things are not always what they appear at face value.

[tx_dem41]

9. Kennedy's amendment had no such backdoor provisions. Santorum's

amendment did. They both were rejected.

[LynnTheDem]

10. yeah but it was a total given from the start that the Dem bill was never

going to get passed in bush's rethug government.

But now when the rethugs try to say (and they will try) "The elitest Dems killed the minimum wage increase, they want Americans to live in poverty!" the Dems can say "Nooooo...YOU evil-doer rethugs killed our HIGHER min wage increase that had NO trojan horses!"

Bonus! :D

[applegrove]

11. Because they have bought into Patriot the Patsy manipulations.

Disraeli discussed Patriotism as a way to get the masses to vote for an elite agenda. At a time when the newly formed democracies were voting for their own needs and loving it, Liberal Parties were doing well and conservatives... not so much!