Kucinich blasts 'minimum wage for maximum blood' report

Ron BrynaertPublished: Tuesday May 22, 2007
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) delivered a blistering speech on the House floor today in response to an Associated Press report that "the latest Iraq Supplemental funding plan, incredibly, will tie an increase in the minimum wage to funding the war through October."
Earlier today, Anne Flaherty reported for the AP that "the next war spending bill most likely will fund military operations and not demand a timeline to bring troops home, although it will contain other restrictions on Bush's Iraq policies," including so-called "benchmarks" that the Iraqi government will be expected to reach.
"The Democrats' new bill also was expected to include the first federal minimum wage increase in more than a decade, a top priority for the Democrats who took control of Congress in January," Flaherty continued. "White House officials have said Bush was amenable to accepting an increase in the minimum wage, although they and key GOP lawmakers favor larger tax cuts to accompany the measure."
Kucinich said in response, "If this is true, and I hope it is not, it tells American workers that the only way they will get an increase in wages is to continue to support funding the war which is taking the lives of their sons and daughters."
"First blood for oil," Kucinich continued. "Now a minimum wage for maximum blood. Aren't the American people giving enough blood for this war without having to give more to have a wage increase?"
Kucinich asked, "What's happened to our country? We are losing our moral compass. We're losing our sense of justice. We're losing touch with the difference between right and wrong."
"We do not have to fund this war," the 2008 Democratic presidential candidate added. "We must leave Iraq now. Support our troops and bring them home. HR 1234 is a plan to end the war and stabilize Iraq and give Iraqis control of their oil. We must take a new path. We must take a path of truth and justice."

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