Senate Republicans blocked a bill raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour in a 54 to 42 vote early Wednesday afternoon, with Majority Leader Harry Reid voting no for procedural reasons and Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker voting yes. In other words, all but one Senate Republican voted to keep the federal minimum wage at $7.25 an hour, or $15,080 for a year of full-time work, below the federal poverty threshold for a family of two. In fact, they voted to block a simple majority vote on the issue. And it wasn't a surprise. We all know that this is where Republicans stand on making work pay and building the middle class.
The minimum wage has not gone up since 2009. The minimum wage of just $2.13 an hour for tipped workers has not gone up since 1991. A majority of the workers who would get a raise if the minimum wage was increased to $10.10 are women, and about a quarter of the people getting a raise would be parents. See what the current poverty minimum wage level means for workers below the fold.
The Republican vote just now is shameful. If only they could feel shame.