Dole Faces Intra-GOP Dissension On Minimum Wage

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, April 22) -- Senate Majority Leader and certain Republican presidential nominee Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.) lashed out at members of his own party who bucked him on the minimum wage issue.

"We were somewhat blindsided by a group of House Republicans, which we hope we can prevent in the future," Dole said Sunday during an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation." He said he wished that, "if somebody felt compelled to do something they would at least contact somebody in the party and say we are going to do this."

It looks like back-pedaling time. Dole, who backed previous wage hikes but has been blocking a Senate vote on the issue, now says that an increase in the minimum wage will come only with GOP conditions attached. But after twenty moderate Republicans broke with their party's stand on minimum wage last week, the vote and an increase seem inevitable.

Dole (192K WAV sound) and House Speaker Newt Gingrich, another wage-hike foe, are considering ways to ease their pain by attaching provisions to the minimum wage legislation. Dole mentioned new rules on "flex time," or part-time work and compensatory time off, and both the Kansan and Gingrich talked about a child tax credit attachment and lower "training" wages. They also might try to strengthen prohibitions on unions using dues for political purposes.

I Am In Charge Here Dole's critics are pointing to the minimum wage issue, as well as to the defeat of his amendment to a health care bill on medical savings account, as proof that the GOP candidate does not have complete control of the Republican agenda in Congress.

Dole brushed the criticism aside, saying, "I am the candidate and there will be an agenda and it will be my agenda."

Most Republicans are opposed to raising the minimum wage, which has been set at $4.25 an hour since 1991, stating that an increase would mean a loss of entry-level jobs. Democrats say that in real buying power the minimum wage is the lowest its been in 40 years. They want to raise the minimum wage by 90 cents over the next two years.

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