They had a vote today in the House of Representatives on whether or not to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 by 2015. All the Republicans voted against it. Every single one. But six Democrats also voted against it. Here are their names:
John Barrow- (Georgia- 12th District)
Jim Matheson- (Utah- 4th District)
Mike McIntyre (North Carolina- 7th District)
Bill Owens- (New York- 21st District)
Colin Peterson- (Minnesota- 7th District)
Kurt Schrader- (Oregon- 5th District)
All six of them represent conservative districts. None of their votes made any difference to the outcome. But I’d still like to understand their motivation for voting against the hike in the minimum wage. Did they want to pad their moderate voting records? Did they want to avoid needlessly annoying business interests in their districts? Did they hope to win or maintain business support? Are they genuine assholes who truly share Republican values?
One thing that is not possible is that they voted in a way that represented their constituents’ values, because there are no congressional districts where most people oppose raising the minimum wage. Seventy-one percent of Southerners support raising the minimum wage, as do 50% of Republicans. You won’t find a single congressmen whose opposition to raising the rate has majority support in their district. Not one.
Nonetheless, the amendment failed 184-233.
