Raise the federal minimum wage, and offset it with a tax break for small businesses. Wouldn’t this just shift more of the tax burden back to the workers themselves? I mean, it’s gotta be paid and someone has to pay it, right? And why is it I don’t like the sound of that “regulatory relief”?

Bush Supports Democrats’ Minimum Wage Hike Plan

President Bush for the first time endorsed a specific plan for raising the federal minimum wage yesterday, as he embraced Democratic calls to boost it by $2.10, to $7.25 an hour, over two years.

The president’s backing greatly enhances the prospects for congressional approval next year of the first hike in the federal minimum wage since 1997. He stressed, however, that it should be accompanied by tax breaks and regulatory relief that would cushion the blow for small businesses.

“I believe we should do it in a way that does not punish the millions of small businesses that are creating most of the new jobs in our country,” Bush said during a news conference. “So I support pairing it with targeted tax and regulatory relief to help these small businesses stay competitive and to help keep our economy growing.”

The president’s endorsement of a minimum wage increase breaks with the position long held by conservative Republicans that the increase would hurt business and ultimately the economy. But with the Democrats poised to take control of both chambers of Congress for the first time in more than a decade, Bush cited his support of the proposed increase as proof of his intent to operate in a more bipartisan manner during the remaining two years of his presidency.
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“Minimum wage workers have waited almost 10 long years for an increase — we need to pass a clean bill giving them the raise they deserve as quickly as possible,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who sponsored legislation to increase the wage that failed in Congress earlier this year.

Source: The Washington Post