News on the Niche
July 21st, 2006We all have political issues that we care about that can be considered niche issues. You know, the things that don’t make the nightly news, things that don’t cross a candidate’s lips. Well, the situation in the Northern Marianas island, by which the minimum wage doesn’t apply in a US territory and people are working for what amount to slave wages, is one I despise, and, as I’ve written in the past, helped push me over the edge on Tom DeLay.
Well, Democrats proposed that the minimum wage be given them, and Republicans didn’t bite. Democrats also proposed awhile back that the minimum wage be raised here: Republicans refused. Now they’re flip-flopping.
House of Representative Republicans on Thursday introduced their own version of legislation increasing the federal minimum wage. The “Minimum Wage Competitiveness Act of 2006,” introduced by Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and 13 other Republicans, would raise the minimum wage from the current rate of $5.15 an hour to $7.15 an hour one year and 60 days after the enactment of the bill. Minimum wage legislation has previously been introduced by House Democrats, and in the Senate. The bill also includes a minimum wage increase for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a territory of the US. The minimum wage of the Mariana Islands is only $3.15 an hour. Under the proposed legislation, the Marianas would receive an increase of 50 cents per hour every six months, until the minimum wage was equal to that of the US, which would take approximately four years.
The Mariana Islands are subject to US laws, but are currently exempt from US minimum wage requirements and most provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Republicans’ minimum wage bill would apply the Fair Labor Standards of 1938 to the CNMI, in hopes of improving dire working conditions. Some 30,000 temporary “guestworkers” — predominately women — from China, the Philippines, and Thailand work in the Northern Mariana Islands, but are reduced to little more than indentured servants due to the high recruitment fees and the low minimum wage.
Since 1995 at least 29 different bills regarding labor and immigration issues in the Northern Mariana Islands have been introduced. Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff worked on behalf of the Marianas government and its garment industry to ensure that Congress would not pass laws to improve wages and working conditions for the Marianas workers. Tom DeLay, one of Abramoff’s staunch Congressional allies, helped in keeping any bills regarding the Marianas from reaching the House floor, according to Rep. Miller, and even called the Marianas “a Petri dish of ‘capitalism’.”
Funny how Republicans can say such a thing about living human beings, while disregarding stem-cell research as “murder” and an experiment “playing God.” Disgusting, more like, but about these proposals: I’m not sure that Republicans want them to pass. I’m willing to bet that this is a trap, as they know that Democrats simply won’t like the “50 cents every six months” proposal, and might vote against it because of that. Additionally, Democrats might oppose it because of the one year schedule for the minimum wage increase here to take effect.
I, personally, support this measure. It is likely the best that can be done at this moment in time, and taking this action would be in the best interest of everyone involved. It’s the best we’ll get until we take back the Congress and yes, that does say awful things about Republicans (in regard to the Marianas). I do understand, however, the need to take time for the minimum wage increase here to take effect, as businesses do need time to adjust, so I understand that. It’s the continued selling-out of those Islands that bug me.
Morally, too, I am appalled by a Las Vegas law making it illegal to feed a homeless person for free in a park. I’m tempted to go to Vegas with a sandwich in protest, but I’m glad that, at least, this measure is absolutely unenforceable, because it’s so stupid and senseless.
To share a little bit of myself with you, let me say that I love Eastern Europe. I’d rather visit Kiev than Paris, much like I’d rather be in Moscow than Jamaica, and Alaska than Hawaii. I simply adore these regions of the world for their natural beauty and history. I’m sad to see that the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine is encountering serious problems as elections have caused rifts between the branches of government. I, for one, admired Yuschenko’s handling of the Revolution, but I wish he were better at government. However, I don’t entirely fault him, as Democracy is far more turbulent than dictatorship. I simply wish the best for the Ukraine in all its days to come.
Now, to close, Israel is massing an army on Lebanon’s border, and appears poised to attack. I am discouraged by this news, as there’s no reason, in my view, to assault Lebanon like this. It’s awful, and I think Bush is spineless to allow it, or idiotic to condone it. Both. Yeah, both.