Paging the LSM! We have found the obstructionist.
Democrats have been trumpeting their support for a hefty minimum wage increase in the run-up to November’s midterm elections.
So why haven’t they taken up legislation in Congress?
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., left a private meeting with his Democratic caucus dead-set on holding an immediate vote to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 by 2016, a nearly 40 percent hike. He told reporters, “I’m going to try to do it this month.”
That was on Nov. 7.
Four months later, Reid has yet to call a vote on legislation to raise the minimum wage, even though his party commands a five-seat voting majority in the Senate and President Obama is promoting it as a top priority.
“If Harry Reid thought he would have the votes, he would have pulled the trigger,” David French, a lobbyist for the National Retail Federation, which opposes the bill, told the Washington Examiner. “We’re entering the fifth month of anticipated action on the minimum wage. His efforts to build support for the bill have obviously not been successful.”
Reid has postponed votes repeatedly, despite frequent floor speeches extolling the benefits of raising the minimum wage. He has also used the argument as a weapon to attack Republicans who oppose an increase. Polls show the vast majority of voters support a hike.