The minimum wage was last increased federally in two thousand and nine, from five dollars and fifty five cents to seven dollars and twenty five cents. For years now there has been a movement to raise that amount to fifteen dollars. While some conservatives have claimed that this could be job killer, job growth was healthy in the years following the last increase. More importantly, a decent minimum wage would mean that no American citizen who works full time would have to live in poverty, which seems like common sense to me. And, according to a Pew research poll, a whopping sixty seven percent of the American public (including a majority of Republicans) agree with me.
Despite that, yesterday the minimum wage increase (and the will of the people) took a big blow in the Senate. Why? Because the arcane rules there state that a filibuster (and the sixty votes it requires to break it) can be avoided and a straight majority can pass a bill through something called reconciliation. But that bill can only be passed if all the elements of it will have an impact on federal spending or revenue in some way. (This was how the Republicans were able to pass an unpopular tax break without any Democratic support in twenty seventeen). To make things even more complicated, a ruling has to be made about whether a certain part of the bill qualifies as part of reconciliation. The person making that ruling is called the Senate parliamentarian, who is appointed by the Senate Majority Leader. Our current parliamentarian is Elizabeth MacDonough, who has served since two thousand and twelve. Yesterday she ruled that the minimum wage increase included in the stimulus bill that President Joe Biden has guided through congress does not qualify for reconciliation, essentially killing it.
In other words, we have a branch of our government in which an unelected person can kill an important part of legislation without any system in place to overrule or change that decision. Furthermore, the only reason that that person has so much power in the first place is to avoid the use of the filibuster by any member of the Senate that opposes that legislation. So, in an alleged democracy, we have a law that is supported by the American public, a majority of both houses of congress and the White House, thwarted through the ridiculous system of our Senate that gives far too much power to individual members (and one appointed parliamentarian). An increase in the minimum wage is not only popular, it would improve the lives of tens of millions of Americans. And yet it has been sunk by the ridiculous rules of the Senate. Is there any wonder that so many Americans are cynical about congress when so little can get done?
The obvious answer here is to finally put a stake in the filibuster (which, as I always mention when writing about it, is not in the Constitution). Unfortunately that does not appear likely in that a majority of the Senate has to vote to remove it, and the Democrats have the barest of majorities, without any room for dissension. And Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, has stated that he will not vote to end it. So it appears that for now the change killing filibuster will remain.
Although Biden will still be able be able to get most of what he wants in the stimulus bill before he signs it, the excision of one of the most popular parts of the bill just shows how intractable our congressional system has become. And with the filibuster still around, it will be hard for him to get much done in the upcoming years, (although reconciliation can be used three times a year). Yes until the filibuster is removed, gridlock remains the main word describing our political system. And things like the minimum wage increase, along with other logical changes like statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington DC, will have to wait. It's a shame.
No comments:
Post a Comment