New Democrat Congress faces the same troubles as their predecessors

    In 2006 America watched as Congress suffered through numerous ethical setbacks.  Then republican majority leader Tom Delay faced numerous minor charges which forced his resignation.  Democratic congressman William Jefferson was found hiding $90,000 in his freezer that he received from a bribe.  And republican congressman Mark Foley sending very inappropriate messages to former pages topped off the year in a despicable way.
    So Americans took to the voting booths and elected democratic majorities to both houses anticipating different and better leadership.  Irish Catholic grandmother, Nancy Pelosi, was easily elected the new Speaker of the House and became the first woman to serve in that role.  While being sworn in as the new Speaker she was accompanied by her daughters and grandchildren.
    And the very first issues that Speaker Pelosi decided to tackle were very moderate issues that most of the nation could get behind.  The first thing done by the new Congress was to pass all 9/11 Commission recommendations which President Bush intends to sign.  The second item of business was slightly more controversial.  Nancy Pelosi wanted to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour. 
    Speaker Pelosi must have a great way with words as she was able to convince about one-third of the republican Congressional caucus to vote for the raise, as well as convince President Bush to ratify the legislation.  She believed that raising the minimum wage was the best economic idea for the country.
    The minimum wage increase passed the House easily and will be taking effect everywhere in the country and in all American territories except American Samoa.  You’re probably wondering why minimum wage isn’t being increased in American Samoa if it is such a great idea.  Does the American Congress just hate American Samoa?
    StarKist has many employees in American Samoa earning around minimum wage.  It turns out that the congressperson that wrote this bill receives large amounts of money from StarKist.  Obviously there is something fishy (no pun intended) going on between StarKist and the author of this piece of legislation.  Oddly enough, the author for this legislation was our own newly elected House Speaker.  Nancy Pelosi, wanting to appease Star-kist intentionally left American Samoa out of the minimum wage hike.  American Samoa matters to Speaker Pelosi, but unfortunately appeasing big corporations matters more. 
    Nancy Pelosi became Speaker claiming that she would end the “era of corruption” in Congress.  It turns out that even in her first hundred hours she falls victim to the corruption of her predecessors. 
 
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Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 2 2007. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry