Minimum wage: A first setback for Joe Biden

HOne of the US Democrats’ campaign results in the presidential campaign was: “$ 15” can be read in large letters on posters, posters, and banners. What was meant was a new nationwide minimum wage target, an old demand of left-wing Democrats.

Joe Biden also fought on the campaign trail after years of restraint for $ 15 (about 12 euros) an hour. The minimum wage has been $ 7.25 for more than ten years, and it should gradually increase to the aforementioned $ 15 by 2024.

But it now appears Biden may bury this major campaign promise. A month into taking office, the president faces his first serious political setback.

How could this happen? Biden had “hidden” the upper minimum wage in the 1.9 trillion stimulus package. Usually, Senate laws require a supermajority of 60 votes. The Democrats, however, have only 50 members in the second Senate – and the Republicans are staunchly opposed to raising the minimum wage. Budget laws only need a simple majority in the Senate. With the vote of Vice President Kamala Harris, who decided in the event of a tie, it was possible to pass a higher minimum wage that is “hidden” in the stimulus package.

Do, can, will.

Biden frustrated the plans of Elizabeth McDonough, a woman largely unknown to the American public. McDonough is a senator, a sort of arbitrator in procedural matters. The non-partisan senator decided Thursday evening that the minimum wage has no place in the Corona aid package.

What Biden predicted is said to be putting the Democratic Party under great pressure. Your left wing feels that Biden isn’t “doing” enough. He did not bring a prominent leftist into his government, but only centrists, moderates and old acquaintances from Barack Obama’s presidency.

Doubling the minimum wage, which Democrats and left-wing groups have been fighting for years, was a prize for all Democrats who quarrel with Biden – or, worse yet, suspect he is running the status quo as only president.

Alarm bells are ringing loudly among Democrats. Just minutes after the decision, the White House sent a statement. President Biden was “disappointed” with the decision. “It’s disappointing,” said Nancy Pelosi, a spokeswoman for the House of Representatives, “because increasing the minimum wage would give 27 million Americans a well-deserved wage increase and lift nearly a million Americans out of poverty.” Pelosi said House Democrats believe an increase in the minimum wage is necessary. So the passage must remain in the bill. But for how long?

Immediately after the decision, the left Democrats expressed their displeasure. Senator Elizabeth Warren, for example, demanded that the requirement to obtain a supermajority of 60 votes in the Senate be removed. Warren wrote on Twitter that “it is time” to cancel the so-called disruption.

With their tiny majorities, the Democrats would have to revoke Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell’s veto against popular politics. Warren is fueling a sensitive debate that could become another Democrat’s predicament. It wasn’t until the other day, when the issue was raised, that Warren Group colleague Joe Mansion said he was against abolishing the need for the vast majority. “I can assure you that I will not vote to end the disruption, because that would break the Senate,” said Mansheen of conservative West Virginia in January.

Left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted Thursday evening that he “absolutely does not agree” with the Senator’s decision: “But the struggle to raise the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour continues.” Sanders, the chair of the Senate Budget Committee, has said in the past few weeks that he has repeatedly argued over why the minimum wage as part of the aid package is in line with the law.

On Thursday evening, Sanders began the attack immediately. Sanders announced a bill that would make companies lose tax write-offs unless they pay their employees at least $ 15 an hour.

The Democrats appear to be facing controversial internal debates. It is already clear how narrow majorities in both houses of Congress are making Biden’s judgment difficult.

It’s very likely that the president will soon suffer another setback. So far, there is no Senate majority in sight for Biden as budget director, proposed by Biden. And here, too, Senator Manchen is the one who makes life difficult for the President. He refuses to agree to Tandin. Ministers and senior officials need a second seat on the council. Tanden may now be Biden’s first employment proposal, which he has to collect again. The new Democratic majority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, faces a challenge on all fronts.