"Split appears in GOP as more call for raising federal minimum wage" [View all]

[applegrove]

Split appears in GOP as more call for raising federal minimum wage
By Robert Costa and Karen Tumulty at the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/split-appears-in-gop-as-more-call-for-raising-federal-minimum-wage/2014/05/09/fce84490-d7ab-11e3-aae8-c2d44bd79778_story.html

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Several leading Republicans have called for raising the federal minimum wage and others are speaking more forcefully about the party’s failure to connect with low-income Americans — stances that are causing a growing rift within the party over how best to address the gulf between the rich and poor.

With most tea party leaders in Congress and elsewhere opposed to a wage hike and intensely focused on dismantling President Obama’s health-care law and his second-term agenda, the prospects for raising the minimum wage this year remain slim.

The growing party division, pitting GOP officials fearful of losing the support of workers against staunch conservatives who believe an increase would harm the economy, reflects Republican nervousness about the depth of their support ahead of the midterm elections, even though polls show them poised to retain their House majority and potentially take control of the Senate.

It also comes as Obama and his fellow Democrats are placing a heavy emphasis on income inequality with a number of votes on Capitol Hill and a series of populist speeches by the president — all part of an effort to energize the Democratic base and pressure Republicans to act.


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