Members of the Republican Study Committee have officially put their GOP leadership on notice as to their opposition to scheduling a vote on an increase to the minimum wage — read their letter here.

But as Congressional Quarterly reports, their efforts may not be good enough to overcome the squishiness of the GOP’s powerful mushy middle:

Over the course of 48 hours, prospects for a pre-recess vote to raise the nation’s minimum wage shifted from unlikely to probable — a change driven by the fears of House Republicans who know their election opponents will pounce if Congress fails to act.

“A minimum of 30 members need that vote so they don’t get skewered and barbecued over the summer break,” said Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill. “They know the 30-second commercials have already been cut.”

Members of the party’s small moderate faction spurred their leaders to action by making a credible threat: They notified leaders on July 26 that they would prevent the House from adjourning for the August recess until a minimum wage boost was considered on the floor. By late Thursday, the House appeared close to a deal. The Rules Committee passed a resolution allowing for a minimum wage bill to be considered Friday.

UPDATE: My Heritage Foundation colleague Mike Franc debunks the myths surrounding the minimum wage and explains why it would actually hurt low-wage workers:

An enduring urban legend about minimum-wage workers is that they are married adults struggling to raise children in Dickensian-style poverty. As Kennedy said in a recent Senate floor speech, “Minimum-wage workers are forced to make impossible choices between paying the rent and buying groceries, paying the heating bills or buying clothes.” Their families, he said, lack health care and adequate housing. Their “daily fear” is “poverty, hunger and homelessness.”

The data, however, tell a very different story. While some minimum-wage workers are primary breadwinners raising young children, the overwhelming majority are either younger workers honing their skills in entry-level positions or part-time, mostly female workers from middle-class homes supplementing their spouse’s income.

Read the rest here.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 28th, 2006 at 10:41 am and is filed under economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.