Quote Originally Posted by Don Corleone

Raising the federal mininum wage won't cost Congress anything directly, but it will slow the economy and reduce revenues available to tax.
It might reduce the total amount employed at the bottom end of the sector... but a lot of those jobs are heading overseas and/or by illegal immigrants who won't be effected by this law. Considering that unemployment rates are below 5%, this probably won't have any effect, as competition will favour employees and push up wages far faster then this effect.

Quote Originally Posted by Don Corleone
Ending exploratory money for oil companies will definitely reduce the money Congress pays out each year, but it's going to raise the price of gas.
Record prices for oil will push exploration along at a high clip. Only time that you need to push exploration is when the current mines/oil fields cost of production is too close to the spot price... that is when they cut exploration staff to the bone... just like when I graduated as a geophysicist many moons ago.