C-O-L-A COLA

House Agrees to $3,100 Pay Raise for 2006 bringing their salary to $165,200 per year.

"It's not a pay raise," said House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay, R-Texas. "It's an adjustment so that they're not losing their purchasing power."

I certainly hope Tommy boy will give these numbers a thought for the Congressional Calendar:

4.3 million: Number of Americans who have fallen into poverty since President Bush took office

$5.15: Federal minimum wage

26%: How much the inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage has eroded since 1979

0: Number of times minimum wage has increased since 1997

7: Number of times Congress has increased its own pay since 1997

$0: How much more a year people earning minimum wage earn today compared to 1997

$28,500: How much more a year members of Congress make today compared to 1997

$10,700: Amount a person making minimum wage will earn in a year

$5,000: Amount below the poverty level working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year at minimum wage will leave a family of three

7,300,000: Number of workers who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage

72%: Percentage of adult workers who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage

1,800,000: Number of parents with kids under the age of 18 who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage

11 million: Number of jobs added to the economy in the four years after the last minimum wage hike

$8.70: Amount minimum wage would have to be today to have the same purchasing power it had in 1968

2.5 years: Amount of health care for two children which could be bought by raising the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25

86%: Percentage of Americans who support raising the federal minimum wage

Oh yeah, and while we are at it, Tom Delay should start worrying a bit more about the purchasing power of the folks over in the Marianas Islands. Who happen to be making "Made In The USA" garments, while not making Made In The USA wages. Which if you think about it, really hurts the rest of those folks who are actually making things in the USA! Oh yeah, and its illegal too.