Get the Minimum Wage Bill to the White House already

OK, I'm going to slam the Democratic leadership again. In general I think they're doing a good job, but this one baffles me.

So the House and Senate decided on a compromise on how much money in corporate welfare it'll cost to give poor people a $2/hour pay raise (turns out it's $5 billion. They also had to throw out a limit to deferred compensation plans, which are a major corporate giveaway.

So, the bill's done, and the President has incdicated that, with these welfare payments to corporate America in place, he'll sign it. So the Democrats threw it into the Iraq spending bill?

The White House has indicated support for the minimum wage increase, but the measure is attached to an emergency spending bill for the Iraq war that President Bush has threatened to veto. Should he follow through on the threat, Democrats are likely to revive independent minimum-wage legislation.

Look, everybody's already on the record on this legislation. Those who voted against it will alredy be clubbed by negative ads. I sort of get that you can club those who voted for it in the first place with a "Congressman X voted against the minimum wage" ad when the Repubs vote against the final Iraq bill en masse, but here's the thing. Somewhere in America tonight a family is going hungry. They have to figure out if they're going to buy medicine or pay the rent. They have to figure out which child gets a Christmas gift this year, or if they don't. They actually need this pay raise, without delay. The House is for it, the Senate is for it, the President is for it. But the Dems just want to play a little bit more politics with it before these people can get their money.

Even if that's not a consideration, because the wage increase are gradual and timed and those timings won't change with a delay in passage (I'm not convinced), Democrats need to get a piece of their agenda to the President's desk. Most of the other 100 hours legislation has been bottled up in the Senate or in conference. Nothing's become law. The minimum wage is low-hanging fruit, and even though I detest the fact that you have to give rich businessmen money to let a poor guy make $7 an hour, this would be a major accomplishment. It should happen immediately.