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Pierce writes: "The proposal to raise the minimum wage died of neglect today in the Senate, which saved it from having to be drawn and quartered in the House of Representatives anyway."

Rep. Paul Ryan. (photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Rep. Paul Ryan. (photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)


Minimum Wage Hike Died of Neglect

By Charles Pierce, Esquire

01 May 14

 

he proposal to raise the minimum wage died of neglect today in the Senate, which saved it from having to be drawn and quartered in the House of Representatives anyway. Fortunately for the Republic, Funk Soul Brother No. 1 Paul Ryan, the zombie-eyed granny starver from the state of Wisconsin, dropped by to "rap" with the members of the Congressional Black Caucus to "clear the air" regarding his comments about "inner-city" culture from a few weeks back, and nobody hit him in the face with a pie, so the glory train clearly has left the station.

Can we just drop the pretense now and admit that one of our two major political parties is perfectly fine with pauperizing the American middle-class in order to "redistribute" wealth upwards? Can we please lay the myth of the Republican moderate to rest, at least on this issue? The only Republican to vote to open debate was Bob Corker. Susan Collins of Maine, still terrified that some alderman from Aroostook in a flannel shirt and three-corner hat will primary her, voted to let the increase die. Naturally, the dimmer bulbs in the chandelier struggled to shine.

Republicans accused Democrats of staging a show vote they knew would never pass. "So let's talk about the 800-pound gorilla here in the Senate chamber," Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the Republican whip, said Wednesday morning. "This is all about politics. This is all about trying to make this side of the aisle look bad and hardhearted."

Let us study the many ways this simple statement reveals John Cornyn to be a jackass.

First, this is the same John Cornyn who once got up in the Senate and opined that judges who made decisions with which he disagreed might be subject to physical violence? I think you lose your right to accuse anyone else of grandstanding after that one.

Second, the argument that Democrats were forcing Republicans to take tough show votes that make them look bad is an interesting one. Perhaps we should explore it in open debate on the Senate floor. Whoops, sorry, John Cornyn and the rest of his party made that impossible.

Third, Cornyn's statement can be reasonably be translated as, "Don't pass anything that to which the monkeyhouse on the other side of the Capitol might object." This is, of course, pretty much everything except the elevation of Jesus to the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, people get poorer and, instead of money, they get lectures from Paul Ryan. The country's in a bad way.

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