Pelosi Smells Of Tuna
Pelosi Snared in Wage-Hike Tuna Net
Republicans say there’s something "fishy” about the House Democrats’ minimum wage hike, which exempts employers in American Samoa – site of a StarKist Tuna packing plant – from paying the increase.
What does StarKist have to do with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats? StarKist’s parent company, Del Monte Corp., happens to be headquartered in Pelosi’s San Francisco congressional district.
"I am shocked,” declared Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., who pointed out that Pelosi campaigned on promises of honest government. "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.”
The House on Wednesday voted to gradually raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 by 2009.
The bill includes, for the first time, employers in the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands, but it exempts American Samoa, another Pacific island territory.
More than 5,000 Samoans – nearly 75 percent of the island’s work force – work in two packing plants there, one operated by StarKist Tuna and the other by California-based Chicken of the Sea, according to the Washington Times.
Some GOP House members who voted in favor of the wage hike bill didn’t learn until after the vote that the legislation did not include American Samoa.
"My intention was to raise the minimum wage for everyone,” Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, R-Ill., told the Times. "We shouldn’t permit any special favors or exemptions that are not widely discussed in Congress. This is the problem with rushing legislation through without full debate.”
After the exemption came to light, Pelosi said she had asked the Education and Labor Committee "as we go forward with the legislation to make sure that all of the territories comply with the U.S. law on the minimum wage.”
She also said she has never received any campaign contributions from Del Monte.
In addition to the Del Monte-San Francisco connection, there is a link between the company and another prominent Democrat: Following a 2002 business deal, about 75 percent of Del Monte stock is owned by shareholders of the H.J. Heinz Company – whose heirs include Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Massachusetts Democrat - and failed 2004 presidential candidate - Sen. John Kerry.
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Originally Posted by TheSage
