Representative Rob Andrews (D-NJ) welcomed this new government decree to increase wages with the following:
“When the tax bill was on the floor, the wealthiest people in the country, people making more than $300,000 a year wanted massive tax breaks. It was their day, and they got it. I am sorry to disappoint the opponents of the minimum wage, but this is not your day. This is the day for the people who empty the bed pans, change the bed linens, sweep the floors, and do the hardest work of America. After a 10-year wait… this is their day.”
I don’t question the fact that Rep. Andrews has the ability to create beautiful prose, but I do feel that his rhetoric, which totally disregards the facts, is dangerous. First, he states that the tax cuts were passed for the very rich. However, this ignores the fact that the 2001-2003 tax cuts lowered the average tax bill of those taxpayers earning below $50,000 by 47%. This decrease was larger than the decrease of the middle to upper middle class which saw a cut of only 20%. He also misleads us about hospital workers who ‘empty (our) bed pans.’ In fact, only 1.8% of hospital workers earn the minimum wage. Obviously he did not fact check before he approached the house floor.
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