Jaba the Kennedy fights over tax cuts

Reading Charles Hurt from the Washington Times this morning, I see Teddy Kennedy, one of the richest men in Congress*, is pissed about trading tax cuts for a minimum wage increase;

“How many more billions of dollars do we have to give you, Mr. Republican?” the Massachusetts Democrat shouted. “How many more dollars do we have to give you to get an increase in the minimum wage? It is shocking. It is disgraceful.” 

Who is “we”, Teddy? Is it coming out of your pocket? Small businesses will be hit hardest by a minimum wage increase (well, actually, new hires will be hit hardest because they won’t get hired if small businesses can’t afford to pay them), so how much sense does it make, since Congress is hell-bent on imposing this unfunded mandate on employers, that Congress give those employers who will still hire new workers despite the hike a break?

“Senator Kennedy complains about $8.3 billion in tax relief out of one side of his mouth, while asking for $8.5 billion in pork-barrel spending out of the other,” said Wesley Denton, spokesman for Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina Republican.
    “He wants to have it both ways, and that’s exactly what this debate has been about. He says he wants to help people get out of poverty, but then proposes a one-size-fits all federal mandate that actually prevents people from getting their first job,” Mr. Denton said. 

Where was Teddy Kennedy’s concern for the American worker when he voted for the 1993 tax hike that raised EVERYONE’S taxes – including retirees on Social Security? Where was Teddy Kennedy’s concern for the American worker when he voted against President Bush’s tax cut in 2001 when about half of low-income workers were either given a thirty-three percent tax cut or moved entirely off the tax rolls.

And, by the way, Fat Boy, where is all of this “bi-partisan cooperation” I’ve been hearing about? You complained for twelve years that Republicans weren’t compromising with you (despite the fact that President Bush asked you to help him write the “No Child Left Behind” bill) – what do you think compromise means, Mumbly Joe?

* According to the Wall Street Journal, Kennedy earned $161,000 in 2005.

Major assets: Five family trust funds, $6 million-$30 million; two blind trusts, $1 million-$5 million

Major sources of unearned income: Income from family and blind trusts $1.1-$6 million

Category: Politics