Democrats hang hats on minimum wage push (Florida)

[Florida_Geek]

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/07/31/Columns/Democrats_hang_hats_o.shtml

Democrats hang hats on minimum wage push
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Staff Writer
Published July 31, 2004

Tony Hill calls it "the silver bullet" for Florida Democrats.

Could it also be John Kerry's secret weapon?

It is Amendment 5, a proposal to increase the minimum wage Florida by $1, to $6.15 an hour, and tie annual increases to inflation. It will be on the Nov. 2 ballot as a constitutional amendment.

Democrats see it as a way to help the working poor while driving thousands of liberal voters to the polls at the same time.

Do the math, and the politics.

For a struggling single mother working a cash register in a convenience store, it's a pay raise of $40 a week.

For Kerry, it could mean another vote from someone who might otherwise stay home on Election Day.

The prospect of a raise might do it.

"This is a kitchen table issue," says Hill, a Jacksonville Democratic state senato

[AmerDem]

1. interesting!

thanks for the post. I'm sure alot of talking points can be made to slam that creep in out white house.

[Greedy Oil Puritan]

2. I wonder how Al Sharpton feels about this?

He supported a Republican governor (NY's George Pataki) who just vetoed a state minimum wage increase from $5.15 to $7.15 using the federalist argument that it wasn't the state's issue.

I wonder how many Republican governors will turn this issue from a federalist to state-rights issue if the federal government tries to do the same thing?