About That Minimum Wage Hike

I'm not a supporter of the minimum wage hike because it will: 1) affect such a small portion of the American workforce, but disproportionately affect small businesses who make up the bulk of all companies hiring workers and 2) will likely increase unemployment (though a counterargument that the rates are already at or near historical lows and therefore wouldn't adversely affect the overall rate to a great degree), but this move by the House Democrats should raise eyebrows regardless of where you stand on the issue.

Nancy Pelosi got the House to adopt a version of the minimum wage that specifcally excludes the American possession of Samoa from the increases. That means one company that has its headquarters in Pelosi's district will benefit mightily from the exclusion and another major multinational corporation would get a break as well. You might have heard of them: Del Monte and Chicken of the Sea. From the story:

On Wednesday, the House voted to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour.

The bill also extends for the first time the federal minimum wage to the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands. However, it exempts American Samoa, another Pacific island territory that would become the only U.S. territory not subject to federal minimum-wage laws.

One of the biggest opponents of the federal minimum wage in Samoa is StarKist Tuna, which owns one of the two packing plants that together employ more than 5,000 Samoans, or nearly 75 percent of the island's work force. StarKist's parent company, Del Monte Corp., has headquarters in San Francisco, which is represented by Mrs. Pelosi. The other plant belongs to California-based Chicken of the Sea.

Sounds fishy to me. Why the exclusion? Are American Samoans not entitled to the same minimum wage increases that Democrats complain that other low-wage earners in the US proper are entitled to? Why the double standard?

Others commenting: Instapundit, Don Surber.