Since it’s an election year, GOP politicians are trying to find a way to blunt the Democratic weapon of the minimum wage. Since the GOP has consistently, for the past nine years, killed repeated attempts by Democrats to get a minimum wage hike passed, it’s pretty clear in the minds of the working class who’s on their side.

The GOP, however, hopes to muddy the waters by introducing a $2.10 (40%) increase to the minimum wage, but only if it is tied to slashing the estate tax, which would represent the Nth tax cut for millionaires and billionaires. Since Democrats have vowed to kill an such estate tax cut, Republicans in Congress know that the minimum wage tax is likely to fail, and so it’s safe for most of them to vote for it (though some vow to vote against it anyway, being diametrically opposed to anything with a minimum wage hike in it).

The estate tax cut proposed would boost the exemption from $2 million to $5 million (from $4 million to $10 million for couples), and would cut the tax rate beyond the exemption to 15% up to $25 million and to 30% beyond that.

Hopefully the Democrats will be able to shoot down the GOP poison pill, and the voters will not be fooled by the inevitable subsequent campaign ads portraying Republicans as the champions of the poor and the Democrats as the villains who shot down their pay raises. Whatever the outcome, it was probably the best political move the Republicans could make–their forte (always better at politics than at serving the people’s actual needs), and they’ll need it since polls are increasingly showing that voters are ready to show the GOP the door this November.

Update: Apparently, Republicans are not being too subtle about all of this being a manipulative political ploy: from the NYT, via TPM:

Representative Zach Wamp, Republican of Tennessee, said Democrats were upset with the legislation because Republicans had found a clever way to link the two. “You have seen us outfox you on this issue tonight,” Mr. Wamp told Democrats in the floor debate.