Coal Mine Cleanup Added to (Min. wage/Estate) Tax Bill

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON -- Republicans are trying to boost their bid to cut estate taxes with a last-minute legislative add-on that would pay for abandoned coal mine cleanup projects and health care for retired miners.

A coalition of labor, environmentalists and mining companies is behind the drive to renew the mine reclamation program, which uses fees on mined coal to pay for cleanup projects and health care for retired mine workers and their families.

The mining provision was added to the estate tax bill to try to entice West Virginia Democratic Sens. Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller to abandon a Democratic filibuster on the estate tax measure. It's also important to the re-election bid of Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., the provision's top sponsor.
...
The mining provision is one of several aimed at attracting the votes of wavering Democrats. A provision to authorize rural bonds targets Mark Pryor, D-Ark., while a tax break for timber companies is aimed at Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

"They knew what they were doing," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., of the GOP authors of the overall bill. "They loaded up the estate tax bill with as many state specific, industry specific projects as they could."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/02/AR2006080201174.html

[rubberducky]

1. I feel that the dems have been offered the carrot

and the stick. Don`t know about anyone else, but I`m so undecided about this bill, because so much of it is so wrong.If we don`t take back at congess then min. wage will be DOA until `08. And if we don`t win in `08 we will all be in some deep s**t.

[bigluckyfeet]

2. Repukes will go to any lengths

to get tax breaks for millionaires.

[krkaufman]

13. So why not pass this bill ... ??

... and then reinstate and raise the estate tax after the Dems have regained control?

[Lasher]

15. Because it's easier to block legislation than it is to pass it.

To get a new bill passed to restore the estate tax as it is now, we would have to control both houses of Congress and the Presidency, or would have to have a veto-proof majority in Congress. That might be a long time in coming.

Edit to add: Might not. :-)

[krkaufman]

16. True. Thanks. n/t

[Rose Siding]

3. This is an awful bill. It puts $30 billion into pockets so deep that laws

can't touch them. It actually lowers wages in some states for people who work for tips. It returns pennies on the millions of dollars.

[54anickel]

4. Personally, I'd say let the minimum wage go at this point. Damned

if they'd just show some scrupples once in a while. Is it important? Sure, both the minimum wage and the mine cleanup funds are. Matter of fact, they are so important they should stand on their own, no bargaining allowed. I would think that if the Dems could make it clear that the issues most important to the American public are "not for barter" they might score some points and respect.

Face it, there aren't all that many jobs that are paying the minimum wage. Does it suck that it's been stuck where it's at for so long? You bet, and it needs to be raised, but not like this. I think we can wait for a better "deal". Dems should block it and do so proudly. JMHO

[aquart]

7. As it is, this bill REDUCES minimum wage in some states.

There is no excuse for voting for it.

[ladjf]

5. Unbelievable creeps. (nt)

[aquart]

6. The bill is NOT acceptable.

Let's vote on minimum wage with the NEXT Congress, not these well-bribed criminals.

[mom cat]

9. Exactly. That is what I told Kennedy's office today when it sounded

like he might be wavering.

[AzDar]

8. The Republicans are out of control...it's almost as though they'll

do ANYTHING; hurt ANYONE, to get the Paris Hilton Tax Cut passed.
The Dems need to be smart enough to just walk away from the whole issue of minimum wage for now, and try again when the grown-ups are back in charge.

[Rose Siding]

10. In role reversal, AFL-CIO is pushing to kill the bill

An Estate Tax Twist Reverses Party Roles On Minimum Wage

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 3, 2006; Page A01

For years, organized labor has worked hard to raise the minimum wage, while business groups have campaigned to block such a change. This week in the Senate, however, the AFL-CIO is pushing to kill the wage increase while practically the entire business lobby is demanding that it pass.

The reversal is the product of election-year politics and clever -- critics say devious -- legislative packaging that has been dubbed the "trifecta." In the same bill, senators are being asked to raise the minimum wage (the liberals' goal), cut the estate tax (the conservatives' objective) and approve a laundry list of popular, though narrowly targeted, tax breaks.

"The sides have flipped," said Peter R. Orszag, an economics scholar at the Brookings Institution.

Prodded by moderate Republicans eager to undercut criticism by Democrats that GOP economic programs overwhelmingly favor the rich, the House approved the package last week, including a three-year phased-in boost in the nation's minimum allowable hourly wage to $7.25 from the current $5.15. It would be the first increase in the minimum wage in nine years.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/02/AR2006080201670.html

[gulfcoastliberal]

11. So the burden for cleaning up the mines goes to the taxpayer rather than

the mining companies? How apropos. Sens. Byrd and Rockefeller, step down sirs.

[me b zola]

12. Just like big oil

They couldn't afford to do business if they had to pay their operating cost. Compassionate conservatism needs to step in and lend a hand up. </sarc>

:argh:

[radfringe]

14. bwaa-haaa-haaa

it's like a poker game

"I'll see your minimum wage and raise you coal cleanup..."

(there's a toon in there somewhere)

Other things to 'sweeten the pot':

- Stemcell research with veto override provisions
- Marriage defined as being between 1 person and 1 person
- meaningful taxcut for us peons
- A real energy bill
- A real prescription drug plan
- Withdraw from Iraq

your suggestions?