Friday, September 30, 2016

Last Call For House Of Pain, Con't

And while the focus for many of us has been on Donald Trump's horrible antics, let's keep in mind even if Trump is soundly defeated, Republicans will most likely continue to control the House and will happily pass bills like these

The House voted 246-177 to delay by six months implementation of the Labor Department’s overtime rule. Republicans voted unanimously for the bill, along with five Democrats: Reps. Brad Ashford of Nebraska, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Daniel Lipinski of Illinois, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), who introduced an earlier bill to phase in the overtime threshold gradually over three years, voted against the six-month delay. The rule, set to take effect in December, will double (to $47,476) the salary threshold under which virtually all workers are guaranteed time-and-a-half pay whenever they work more than 40 hours in a given week. The Labor Department estimates the rule will extend overtime coverage to more than 4 million employees and cost businesses about $1.2 billion annually.

Prior to the vote, Rep Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), who introduced the legislation, said the overtime rule “burdens hard-working small business owners” and “jeopardizes vital services for vulnerable Americans.” He warned that “time is running out” and said lawmakers should “provide more time to those struggling to implement this rule before an arbitrary and unrealistic deadline.” But Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) said the rule will create about 100,000 jobs and noted that when the overtime rule was last updated in 2004 under President George W. Bush, “only four months” passed between the final rule’s announcement and its implementation (compared to more than six months for the new rule). Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said the bill “takes money out of middle class Americans right before the holiday season.” He also objected to the bill being brought to the floor as an emergency measure.

And Senate Republicans are planning to go along, but...

Sen. James Lankford (R.-Okl.) introduced a companion bill Wednesday co-sponsored by Senate HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Me.). Neither the House nor the Senate bill will likely go anywhere. The White House said Tuesday that President Barack Obama would veto Walberg’s bill.

So yeah.  Once again, this is why you want a Democrat in the White House.

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