The random political thoughts thread (Part Deux)

[Alex]

I don't find anything objectionable in what Boxer said to Pelosi. I do find slightly more objectionable what you posit being said to Janet Reno, but that is not what was not what Boxer said.

As for the minimum wage thing, America Samoa and the Marshall Islands have always been excempt from the flat standard rate and putting America Samoa into the same classification would be a major change in the way that wages laws are handled there.

America Samoa has minimum wage regulations, just not the same ones as the most of the rest of the country. The Department of Labor has a special board that sets minimum wages within that territory by industry (see the very complex Minimum Wage workplace poster here).

Now, it is certainly open to debate whether America Samoa should get such individual treatment, but simply passing a blanket law that everybody in AS get $7.15 an hour would conflict with several other existing laws pertaining to America Samoa (and keep in mind that the citizens of AS do not have any direct representation in Congress).

So it makes sense to me that AS would be exempted from a blanket bill (as it always has been).