Congress failed last week to raise the federal minimum wage which has stagnated for nearly a decade. The failure to act means its unlikely American workers will see a minimum wage increase any time soon. In the Senate, two measures to raise the minimum wage were voted down. In the House, an appropriations bill that contains a minimum wage increase is being kept from the floor, and Republicans have simultaneously rebuffed a Democratic effort to link an increase in the minimum wage with a bill that would nearly repeal the estate tax. In the Senate, two amendments to the Defense Appropriations Bill were defeated that would have raised the minimum wage. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) offered an amendment that would have raised the minimum wage from the current $5.15 to $7.25 over two years: it would have gone from $5.15 to $5.85 beginning 60 days after the legislation was enacted; to $6.55 one year later; and to $7.25 a year after that. The amendment, which needed 60 votes for passage, was defeated 52-46 on Jun. 21. The other amendment, offered by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), would have increased the minimum wage to $6.25 over 18 months and was bundled with a number of other provisions affecting the Fair Labor Standards Act. The amendment was defeated 52-46 and again failed to garner the requisite 60 votes. In the House, Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) succeeded in attaching a minimum wage hike to the Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations Bill when his amendment was adopted by the House Appropriations Committee on a 32-27 vote. Because Republican leaders in the House are unsure if they can successfully remove the amendment on the floor, however, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) is blocking the bill from coming to a floor vote. Democrats also attempted various parliamentary tricks to add a minimum wage increase to a bill that "reforms" the estate tax, a tax on super-wealthy estates. In each maneuver, Boehner and the GOP majority thwarted them. In contrast to the GOP leadership, the American public overwhelmingly favors a minimum wage increase. In fact, most Americans would be more likely to vote for a Congressional candidate who favors increasing the minimum wage. It's easy to understand why a majority of Americans would like to see an increase in the minimum wage. According to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis:

• The federal minimum wage has remained at $5.15 for nine years.
• Since its last increase in 1997, the minimum wage has lost 20 percent of its value.
• The minimum wage is at its lowest level in terms of purchasing power in fifty years.
• At 31 percent, the minimum wage is at its lowest as a share of the average American wage since 1947.
• It takes a full day of work for a minimum-wage worker to buy a tank of gas.

Chart courtesy of the Economic Policy Committee