Chris Van Hollen: “I thank my colleague. This rule and the underlying bill are the kind of cynical ploy that unfortunately make Americans…”

“I thank my colleague. This rule and the underlying bill are the kind of cynical ploy that unfortunately make Americans lose faith in their government. Americans know that Democrats have pushed for years to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25, a wage that has not been raised since 1996. Yet in the last 10 years, the Republican leadership has never allowed an up-or-down vote on that simple proposition, and tonight they still don't have the guts to do it. Here is what they say to the American people: in order for American families who work at the minimum wage and earn $10,000 a year to get a small wage increase, you have got to give the 7,500 American families with estates over $7 million a big tax break. Now, who are the losers tonight? Well, the big losers are everybody else. If you earn more than $10,000 a year, but you don't come from one of the 7,500 families with $7 million estates, you're a loser. And that is most of America. Why are you a loser? Because you are going to be paying billions of dollars on the interest by this additional borrowing. And here is the double standard: every year since 1996, this Republican leadership has had an up-or-down vote on congressional pay raises. They have never held their pay raise hostage to another piece of legislation. But when it comes to increasing the wages for working Americans, families earning $10,000 a year, oh, they are different from us Members of Congress.…”