Something fishy

Beltway buzz: Playing favorites and other tricks of the political trade in the 110th’s first 100 hours | Becky Perry

True to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 100-hour promise, the U.S. House passed legislation last week to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour.

The one exception? American Samoa, a Pacific outpost of the American tuna industry and the only U.S. territory currently exempt from the new federal minimum wage.

Non-voting Democrat Eni Faleomavaega, who represents the Pacific island territories, argued that a federal increase could "devastate the local economy," since Starkist and Chicken of the Sea together employ nearly 75 percent of the Samoan work force.

But the exemption kindled accusations of favoritism when Republicans learned that Del Monte Foods Co., owner of Starkist, has corporate headquarters in Pelosi's home district of San Francisco.