In the last 24 hours, Republicans in Congress have blocked two vital pieces of legislation — attempting to make sure that America’s poor and voiceless citizens stay that way.

Just a week after Congressmen gave themselves a $3,300 a year pay raise — their salaries are pegged to cost-of-living increases — Senate Republicans killed a proposal to raise the mimimum wage, which is not adjusted annually for inflation.

Because the $5.15 an hour rate hasn’t gotten a boost in nearly a decade, the purchasing power of the minimum wage is the lowest it has been in 55 years. Thanks to inflation, mimimum wage workers have, in essence, had their pay slashed by $1.16 an hour since 1998 — or $2,320 a year. In the same period, Congressional pay has soared by $34,000 a year. That’s the annual equivalent of three full-time mimimum wage salaries. This is a national disgrace.

While the Senate waged its war on the poor, members of the GOP controlled House waged a campaign to kill the kill the voting Rights Act. The seminal civil rights legislation — which finally brought democracy to the Deep South — is set to expire this year.

The House appeared ready to bring up its renewal on the floor this week, but a backroom insurgency blocked the vote. These racist Republicans want to strip the act of its requirement that the Justice Department OK changes to voting laws in nine states with a long, dark history of state-sponsored disenfrachisement.

(This is not, as some would claim, ancient history. Just last October a federal court threw out a new Georgia law requiring all voters to obtain a $20 government-issued photo ID as an unconsitutional barrier to the franchise.)

In the current nativist climate, Rep. Steve King of Iowa is also leading a charge to axe the Act’s requirement that bilingual ballots be made available in districts where 5% of the public speaks a language other than English.

Stick it to the poor and keep them from the ballot box. Your GOP at work.