Bush Links Minimum Wage to Tax Break -- Associated Press

President Bush endorsed one of the Democrats' top priorities for the new Congress, a $2.10-an-hour minimum wage increase - and on a faster timetable than they have proposed. -- Raising the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over three years is at the top of Democratic leaders' early to-do list for next year. -- Bush said he supports a $2.10 raise for minimum-wage earners, but over a two-year period instead of three, and added that "we should do it in a way that does not punish" small businesses. -- "I support pairing it with targeted tax and regulatory relief, to help these small businesses stay competitive and to help keep our economy growing," he said.