Mark Green's shameful estate tax vote

Mark Green voted for the shameful bill that ties an increase in the minimum wage to deep cuts in the inheritance tax. The bill passed the House yesterday, but the procedures used to get it through really hacked off some people and it could well die in the Senate.

The Washington Post reports:

Democrats were incensed that the GOP leadership would couple the minimum wage hike, the first increase since 1997, with an estate tax cut that would reduce federal revenue by $268 billion over the next decade, to the overwhelming benefit of the country's richest families.

"This is beyond cynical. This is disgraceful," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.).

Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) signaled he would try to scuttle the tax bill next week. "Republicans have made perfectly clear who they stand with and who they are willing to fight for: the privileged few," he said.

But Republicans believed they had found a way to snatch the minimum-wage issue away from Democrats, who had been using it as a cudgel, while securing passage of a central plank of their economic program: all but eliminating the estate tax.

"I know why you're mad," said Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.). "You've seen us really outfox you."

The Republicans think increasing the minimum wage is just part of a game, or a piece in a game that is really about moving rich people out from under the tax code. For the million who would benefit from raising the wage from$5.15 to $7.25 over three years, it's a matter of moving up a little bit, though many would remain mired in poverty.

Shame on Mark Green. Shame on the Republicans.