Good Fucking FSM

"Prospects for an increase in the minimum wage suffered a setback today in the Senate, where a move fell short, at least for now, to raise the minimum by $2.10 an hour without tax breaks for small businesses. The 54 'yes' votes were six short of the number needed to shut off debate and move on to consideration of the bill, which easily passed in the House two week ago. … All 43 'no' votes on the motion to end debate were cast by Republicans."

Republican Sam Brownback didn't vote, I assume because he's running for president and doesn't want to have to explain a vote against a wage increase for hardworking Americans. Democrat Tom Carper didn't vote, for reasons I don't know, and Democrat Tim Johnson didn't vote, because he is still recovering from brain surgery. —(Updated after jhupp rightly pointed out in comments I sounded a bit flippant by not explaining Johnson's abstention.)

Basically, the GOP is holding minimum wage workers hostage and refusing to give them a wage increase, unless another tax break is tied to it. They argue that small business owners have to be given a tax cut to "help offset the costs of the increase," to which I'm sympathetic, except for the fact that the GOP has made no provision whatsoever to account for the extension of another new tax cut to businesses. If you're going to reduce federal revenue by offering a tax cut here, then you'd better raise taxes there (big business, top 2%, etc.), or justify it with spending cuts for programs that don't steal federal dollars from the poor (try looking at that huge honking defense budget).

The irony, of course, is that they argue the tax cut is necessary to offset small businesses' losses due to pay raises—and yet they don't seem to give a rat's behind when it comes time to making sure the government's expenditures in the form of tax cuts are offset by increases somewhere else. And they wonder why we think they're fucking morons.

As a final aside, I love how conservatives are unswayable social Darwinists when it comes to individual Americans—Stuck on your roof after a hurricane? Tough shit—should have gone to college, Schmucko!—but are suddenly all about a safety net at the mere thought that some business owners might succumb like the sickly antelope because they can't keep up with the cost of doing business in America after a federal minimum wage increase. Amazing how survival of the fittest only seems to apply up to the point where the weakest of the fit become threatened.