Raising Minimum Wage Hurts Economy...But Only in Samoa

Remember last week's flap over San Fran Nan's protection of Big Tuna by exempting Samoa from the requirements in the minimum wage bill? They're furiously spinning a response to the questions of impropriety (since the Big Tuna companies are based in San Fran Nan's district), and here's the latest:

Spokesmen for both Pelosi and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the author of the minimum wage bill, said it excluded American Samoa at the request of nonvoting Delegate Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat who represents the Pacific island territories in the House.

Raising the federal minimum wage would devastate the local tuna industry, Faleomavaega said in a statement last week, noting that American Samoa's economy is "more than 80 percent" dependent on two U.S. tuna processors, Chicken of the Sea and StarKist. Faleomavaega said the Labor Department reviews Samoa's minimum wages every two years.

So, if raising the minimum wage would devastate the local economy in Samoa, why is it good for mainland America?