the minimum wage hasn't kept pace with inflation, according to three u.s. congressmen. they want to correct the situation by boosting the federal standard to $10 an hour.
representatives john conyers, jr. (d-mich), dennis kucinich (d-ohio), & jesse jackson, jr. (d-ill) announced the introduction of "the catching up to 1968 act of 2012" at a press conference wednesday in washington, dc. the proposed bill would augment the minimum wage up from $7.25 an hour & require an annual increase tied to inflation.
the congressmen said that even at $10 an hour, the minimum wage is below 1968 levels when adjusted for inflation. said conyers, "this legislation is long overdue & sorely needed. more than 30 million americans would see their wages increased, which would provide an immediate boost to the economy." congress hasn't passed legislation raising the minimum wage since 2006, when it put in place a series of increases that ended in 2009.
consumer advocate & former presidential candidate ralph nader helped announce the legislation at the press conference. said nader, "at at time when the issue of income inequality has been elevated in political discourse, it is surprising that a plight of millions of workers throughout this country hasn't been addressed. a single wall street executive's compensation of $15 million would pay the annual wages of over 700 workers working at a minimum wage of $10 an hour."
in a october 2010 poll conducted by the public religion research institute, two-thirds of the american public - including a majority of republicans - supported raising the minimum wage. while running for office, president barack obama promised to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2011. both obama & his 2012 campaign opponent republican mitt romney support the idea of adjusting the minimum wage to keep up with inflation.
i am
- mark j. tuggle
- harlem, usa
- same-gender-loving contemporary descendant of enslaved africans. community activist, feminist, health educator, independent filmmaker, mentor, playwright, poet & spiritual being. featured at, in & on africana.com, afrikan poetry theatre, angel herald, bejata dot com, bet tonight with tavis smiley, blacklight online, black noir, brooklyn moon cafe, gmhc's barbershop, klmo-fm, lgbt community services center, longmoor productions, nuyorican poets cafe, our corner, poz, pulse, rolling out new york, rush arts gallery, saint veronica's church, schomburg center for research in black culture, sexplorations, the citizen, the new york times, the soundz bar, the trenton times, the village voice, upn news, uzuri, venus, vibe, wbai-fm, wnyc-fm & wqht-fm. volunteered with adodi, bailey house, inc., black men's xchange-new york, colorofchange.org, drug policy alliance, east harlem tutorial program, imagenation film & music festival, presente.org, save darfur coalition, the enough project, the osborne association, the sledge group & your black world. worked on films with maurice jamal & heather murphy. writing student of phil bertelsen & ed bullins. mjt975@msn.com.
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