Shame on you

Alexander (R-TN), Allard (R-CO), Bennett (R-UT),Bond (R-MO), Brownback (R-KS), Bunning (R-KY), Burr (R-NC), Chambliss (R-GA), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Cornyn (R-TX), Craig (R-ID), Crapo (R-ID),DeMint (R-SC), Ensign (R-NV),Enzi (R-WY),Graham (R-SC), Gregg (R-NH), Hagel (R-NE), Hatch (R-UT), Inhofe (R-OK), Isakson (R-GA), Kyl (R-AZ), Lott (R-MS), McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY), Sununu (R-NH), Thomas (R-WY)

Recognize any of those names up there? That's a list of senators who voted to eliminate the federal minimum wage. I'm not talking about voting against an increase in the minimum wage (you can find the roll call vote on that here). A vote against increasing the minimum wage which has been stuck at the same rate since 1997 is shameful enough. These Senators want to eliminate it entirely.

I've highlighted the name of the Senator from Tennessee who voted to screw the working poor. Even Tennessee's newest millionaire Senator, Bob Corker, didn't have the audacity to vote for this abominable piece of legislation. It was enough for him to contribute to blocking the proposed increase. Talk about representing your constituency. Tennessee is ranked 35th in personal income by the U.S. Census Bureau with the state's per capita income at 27, 828. It doesn't take all that many millionaires like Alexander, Corker and our former Senator Bill Frist to offset a whole lot of people who are barely scraping by, if that. There's a wonderful line in the movie Gladiator where a Roman senator states, "I've never claimed to be a man of the people, but I do try to be a man for the people." It's obvious that's not at work here. Alexander made his political mark in his first Governor's race by wearing a red and black plaid flannel shirt to point out that he was just a common, every day man. That shirt will still come out sometimes in his re-election campaigns, and its hypocrisy makes me ill.

Look carefully at that list. I've written about Alexander because he's one of my Senators, but there are some pretty significant names on there, like John McCain, undeclared Presidential hopeful and Sam Brownback whose hat is already in the the ring. Do we want a president who thinks we don't need a minimum wage?

I've signed payroll checks. I know the impact that even modest wages and salaries make on an organization, and I know that each of those checks went to people who needed at least the bare minimum of a roof over their heads, clothing on their backs, food in their bellies and enough health care to keep them able to keep working.

Bill Clinton once said that we don't need government on our backs, but we do need it by our side. Alexander and his pals who voted to eliminate the federal minimum wage can't tell the difference.

minimum wage, Lamar Alexander, Bob Corker, John McCain, Sam Brownback