It's taking a while for Congress and the President to work out their differences over the war funding bill. This wait isn't harming the troops, but it is costing people money. That's because there's a minimum wage raise attached to the war funding bill. It raises it from $5.15 to $5.85 60 days after enactment, and then to $6.15 a year after enactment, and $7.25 after two years. If the minimum wage bill had been enacted when the House passed it in January, a minimum wage worker who worked 40 hours a week would have made $280 more this year (by my rough calculations). If it had been enacted when the Senate passed it, the same worker would have made $168 more. And if it had been enacted when the House and Senate finally agreed to the same tax package to attach to the minimum wage bill, the worker would have $84 more. All that might not sound like a whole lot of money, but it's the marginal dollar that can make the difference between wonder or whole wheat bread on a sandwich, or between vegetables or no vegtables for dinner, or between drinking soda or orange juice, if you're working minimum wage. My calculations here aren't meant to be exact, but the point is that this debate is costing people serious money that won't be recovered. It'd be nice if somebody figured out a way for that not to happen.