the other side of summer

it sounds like good news - the house recently passed a bill to increase minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25. this would be the first increase in minimum wage since 1997. cost of living has certainly increased in the last ten years, so such a move is long overdue...

however, republicans attached to this bill an inheritance tax cut - which only affects the superrich (the wealthiest 0.5 percent of the nation). sojourners breaks down the stats this way:

• 14.9 million workers earn minimum wage
  
• this would increase their annual wage by $1,200
• the estate tax cuts would benefit 8.200 people
  
• their average benefit would be $1.4 million

i suppose i shouldn't be surprised that such a thing would happen. however, it feels a lot like helping people with one hand while pushing them down with the other.

i hear people say things like, "well, if you were that wealthy, wouldn't you want to pass along that wealth to your kids?" of course i would want to provide for my kids as much as possible - but if had that much money, would my kids really need that extra $1.4 million? would having another yacht make their life that much better? i know, i know - they've just got to have that bugatti...