The Republicans in Congress are willing to entertain the possiblility of raising the minimum wage, but only in conjuction with cutting the death tax, and passing some other sundry tax cuts as well.

Republican leaders are willing to allow the first minimum wage increase in a decade but only if it’s coupled with a cut in future inheritance taxes on multimillion-dollar estates, congressional aides said Friday.

A package GOP leaders planned to bring to a vote Friday or Saturday in the House also would renew several popular tax breaks, including a research and development credit for businesses, and deductions for college tuition and state sales taxes, said a spokesman for House Majority Leader John Boehner.

The wage would increase from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour, phased in over the next three years, said Kevin Madden, the aide to Boehner, an Ohio Republican.

The maneuver is aimed at defusing the wage hike as a campaign issue for Democrats while using its popularity to spur enactment of the Republican Party’s long-sought goal of permanently cutting taxes on millionaires’ estates.

This is an excellent strategy as long as the GOP really sticks to their guns. There’s no sense in giving the Democrats in Congress something for nothing, and the death tax is completely wrong, and should be eliminated altogether. Estates have paid taxes already on whatever is in them, and somebody should not be taxed again on the same assets simply because they died.

Another way to look at it is that an increase in the minimum wage is essentially a tax increase on businesses, especially small ones which may not have the financial wherewithal to absorb such a tax.  Cutting estate taxes would be a boon to those small businesses, and a relatively fair trade.  If the Democrats want to be able to show their constituents something of value when midterm elections roll around they should take this deal before it goes away. Otherwise, the GOP will be able to say they tried to make a deal to raise the minimum wage and the Democrats killed it off.

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