US Senate rejects minimum wage hike
Afp, Washington
Democrats in the Republican-controlled US Senate late Thursday blocked a final vote on a controversial measure that would have raised the federal minimum wage by a little over two dollars over three years. Democrats denounced the measure as a Republican political stunt because while it would have raised the pay of low wage workers it also slashed estate and gift taxes for well-to-do Americans. Senate leaders failed to obtain the required 60 votes to shut off debate and bring the bill to vote. That procedural vote was 56 to 42. The defeat of the bill means that the minimum wage remains unchanged for nearly a decade at 5.15 dollars an hour. The House of Representatives had passed the bill by an overwhelming margin late last week, but Senate Democrats and US labor interests attacked it. Republicans had hoped to trumpet the minimum wage hike, which is supported by most Americans, as they return this weekend to their home districts for their summer recess.
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