The Senate voted overwhelmingly yesterday to increase the federal minimum wage for the first time in nearly a decade, but added small-business tax breaks that are unacceptable to House leaders, preventing Democrats from claiming a quick victory on one of their top legislative priorities…. It [the bill] would extend for five years a tax credit for employers who hire welfare recipients and 'high-risk youth' and expand the provision to include disabled military veterans…. House leaders have demanded that the tax measures be stripped from the bill. (Washington Post, Friday)

A perfect compromise: more intervention, more complexity in the tax code, more government power.

FEE Timely Classic
The Minimum Wage's Dirty Little Secret by David N. Laband