Raising the minimum wage is one of those politically popular ideas that actually does more harm than good. Still people see the issue in terms of how much employees are paid, and not in terms of how many people can an employer afford to keep. Still, the issue tends to split on party lines with Democrats supporting minimum wage increases and the GOP opposing. Still, I was amused by this story's headline: GOP-Run Senate Kills Minimum Wage Increase.

The Republican-controlled Senate smothered a proposed election-year increase in the minimum wage Wednesday, rejecting Democratic claims that it was past time to boost the $5.15 hourly pay floor that has been in effect for nearly a decade.

The 52-46 vote was eight short of the 60 needed for approval under budget rules and came one day after House Republican leaders made clear they do not intend to allow a vote on the issue, fearing it might pass.

The Senate vote marked the ninth time since 1997 that Democrats there have proposed - and Republicans have blocked - a stand-alone increase in the minimum wage. The debate fell along predictable lines.

Both the headline and the story make a point to note that Republicans essentially defeated the minimum wage increase. It may be true, but this kind of editorializing is not limited to this story. Another story, has the accurate headline Senate Rejects Calls on Iraq Troop Pullout, opens with the following paragraph:

The GOP-controlled Senate gave an election-year endorsement to President Bush's Iraq policy on Thursday, soundly rejecting Democratic demands to withdraw troops from the three-year-old war that has grown increasingly unpopular.

The implications of the opening paragraph make it seem as if the Republican majority was the only force behind the rejection of the pullout. Only several paragraphs down is the vote revealed to be 86-13, reveal the fact that the rejection of the pullout was actually bipartisan.

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