The GOP's Trojan Horse

Tomorrow Rick Santorum (Republican, Pennsylvania) is sponsoring a bill to raise the national minimum wage by $1.10. Sounds pretty good right?

Except it's a Trojan Horse.

Under Santorum's new bill, businesses with revenues of less than a million bucks would be exempt. Not just exempt from the wage hike, but exempt from ANY minimum wage. 6.8 million businesses would be affected, creating a nation of sweatshops free from any sort of government protection. Untold millions of workers would lose the guarantee of a minimum wage.

It gets worse.

Businesses grossing under $7 million would be exempt from fines, safety, health, pension and other labor laws.

Oh yeah, Santorum's bill would kill the 40-hour work week, thus eliminating overtime pay. It would also ban states from requiring employers to pay tipped workers with a guaranteed wage. Employers could pay tipped workers nothing and force them to live off tips.

Economic Policy Institute has a full report on Santorum's bullshit plan.

So essentially, Santorum's bill would raise the national minimum wage, but exempt small businesses from even having one. Furthermore, it would actually BAN states from creating their own minimum wage laws.

Nice try Rick. So you not only want to dismantle Social Security, you want to do away with worker's rights altogether.

What an asshole.