Meanwhile, back on the Hill

The House's Saturday passage of a bill designed to raise the minimum wage is one of the best examples of rank politics we've seen in quite some time. OK, well, at least for a month or two.

The Democrats are whining loudly about this bill, which raises the minimum wage but is tied to a lowering of estate taxes. No doubt it's something of a stunt by the starboard side of the aisle, but the dems are loathe to admit the minimum wage issue has always been a bread-n-butter partisan weapon for them.

I'd venture a guess that most of their current ire is probably less on behalf of their constituency and more based on the fact they've been outfoxed. The average Joe getting a mimimum wage raise couldn't care less about the estate tax.

So, we begin the war of rhetoric. Harry Reid:

"The Senate has rejected fiscally irresponsible estate tax giveaways before and will reject them again," Reid said. "Blackmailing working families will not change that outcome."

Let's see if we can parse that. The same democrats who fashion themselves as champions of the constitution call revoking a 50+ percent tax on somebody's estate "a giveaway". Let's get it straight--it's a takeaway to begin with. The only giveaway is giving it back to those who deserve it--the evil rich, which includes family farmers.

By the way, the 'working families' rhetoric has bothered me for years. Guess it beats working slob, but let's face it, politicians like Reid use such distorted imagery to suggest that lower wage folks are somehow morally elevated, as if anyone middle class or higher sits around the pool all day waiting for a check. Poppycock. Balderdash (rich guy talk).

Most everyone works hard for their jingle, and sometimes the harder workers who effectively understand and exploit their God-given talents make more. The democrats just hate that. As a noted philosopher once said, "Should five per cent appear too small Be thankful I don't take it all 'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah I'm the taxman".

In reality the bill will probably die in the Senate, after which they'll all return to their districts and saturate the airwaves with irritating commercials describing how they alone tried to get 'er done, blaming "Washington politicians" for the failures.