Friday, March 6, 2009
Legislature / Politics / Woods House Democrats Stick It to the Republicans on the Minimum Wage for Waitresses
Posted by Jeff Woods on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 5:12 AM
"This week the legislature had a chance to make life easier for working families and three Republicans in subcommittee chose not to do that. ... We're talking about $3.28 an hour for someone who's breaking their back, wiping down tables, hustling food to people for tips. And these people and their party opposed it. It's awful for someone to sit here and say you can live on $2.13 an hour. That's not enough. We need to help working families. We're in a hard time and people are hurting. We will continue to fight for working families. This bill and this principle of taking care of working people in this state ain't dead."
It was a rare smart moment for the House Democrats this session. They stepped up to make a forceful argument on a clear, meaningful issue and showed what they're all about. So why can't they do this with the governor's bill to close the tax loophole for real-estate tycoons. Many of these rich people, who include a New York strip club king, don't even live in Tennessee. Blame the Democrats' silence on their leader, Gary Odom, who has sold out to the developers.
Asked at the same presser whether he's for closing that loophole, Odom said, "I'm still gathering information." After all, it' s only been a year since Odom helped kill this proposal in the last General Assembly. Why was Odom against it last year? Well, that was because it came up late as part of a Revenue Department "technical correction" bill. That really bothered Odom, of course, because you know how much of a stickler he is for deep and thoughtful study of all ideas before the legislature. Here's his explanation:
"That was a significant change in tax policy in the state, and I believe it deserves to be considered in a piece of legislation before the General Assembly. It can go through the committee process. Committees can have testimony from affected Tennesseans who have that exemption. We can examine the history of how it occurred and go from there. Last year, my concern was process."Update: Republicans favor tax breaks for out-of-state rich people, including titty bar owners.
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Procedural concerns?! Someone ought to examine the body of Odom's statements on this wealthy tax loophole. In Pith on Dec. 12, Odom wasn't whining about procedure. He was blasting Bredesen for supposedly proposing "a new tax on family businesses." Everyone knew then, and definitely knows now, that that's bullshit. Odom has cost the state tens of millions of dollars by holding open this scurrilous loophole. Someone should take it out of his ass.
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