Pelosi’s minimum wage hypocrisy – and other Dem low points

Caught:

House Republicans yesterday declared “something fishy” about the major tuna company in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco district being exempted from the minimum-wage increase that Democrats approved this week.

“I am shocked,” said Rep. Eric Cantor, Virginia Republican and his party’s chief deputy whip, noting that Mrs. Pelosi campaigned heavily on promises of honest government. “Now we find out that she is exempting hometown companies from minimum wage. This is exactly the hypocrisy and double talk that we have come to expect from the Democrats.”

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.

“There’s something fishy going on here,” said Rep. Patrick T. McHenry, North Carolina Republican.

During the House debate yesterday on stem-cell research, Mr. McHenry raised a parliamentary inquiry as to whether an amendment could be offered that would exempt American Samoa from stem-cell research, “just as it was for the minimum-wage bill.”

A clearly perturbed Rep. Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who was presiding, cut off Mr. McHenry and shouted, “No, it would not be.”

Brian at Iowa Voice points out more Democrat hypocrisy – this time in the Senate – over earmark reform, in a post appropriately titled “Speaking of Double Stanards.”

Did you hear about the low verbal blow Senator Babs Boxer delivered to Condi Rice in a stinging rant against the Iraq war?

And folks, this is only the first week.

Updated: A reader sends me this Wiki link that includes this little tidbit of info on a possible Del Monte investor:

Majority Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi is a primary Del Monte investor, with $17 million in shares.

Eeeeenteresting. I’m skeptical of Wiki, because of how easy it is to edit, so if anyone has any more info on this, it would be much appreciated.

Sunday AM Update: I still haven’t been able to obtain confirmation that Speaker Pelosi’s husband is a Del Monte investor, so I’ll have to label the Wiki accusation as ‘questionable’.

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