Hope is in the Minimum Wage

Shamansky for Congress — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 14:48:11 -0700

The fact Congress has not increased the national minimum wage since 1997 is simply inexcusable.

As Ted Strickland said in this great NPR piece this morning, the Minimum wage is a values issue. As Democrats we believe that if you work hard, and play by the rules, you should be able to provide for your family and get ahead. Seeing as a full-time minimum wage earner makes $10,712 a year, which is 35.5 percent below the official 2006 federal poverty level for a family of three, that is hardly the case today.

Rep. Pat Tiberi said that he would be ��hard-pressed to find a central Ohio employer who pays so little.��

That Pat Tiberi truly doesn��t know anyone in Central Ohio who pays the minimum wage is astounding. According to the Economic Policy Institute, there are an estimated 14.9 million American workers, or about 11% of the workforce, who would benefit from a raise in the minimum wage. In Ohio alone, some 700,000 workers would profit if we were to change this state��s minimum wage laws.

Is Pat Tiberi so disconnected from reality that he doesn��t know any of these workers, let alone their employers? Needless to say Tiberi and the rest of the do nothing congress have voted against increasing the minimum wage every time.

Meanwhile, Pat Tiberi and his friends have simultaneously given themselves seven raises over the past nine years.

To quote Plunderbund, "the contrast could not be clearer. Pat is a follower. Bob is a leader."

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Hope is in the Minimum Wage