Standing up for the middle class

The United States now has the greatest inequality of wealth of any developed nation. Almost all productivity gains from computer automation and off-shoring are going to the top one percent, while more and more of the rest of us are being thrust into poverty. Restoring top marginal income tax rates to those of the Eisenhower administration and enforcing tax laws on international corporations will provide the needed revenue.

I know many young people in New Mexico who feel the best days of our country are over. Their chances of having a good life by hard work and saving are out of reach because most jobs available even to college graduates pay below poverty level. Its sad to see their depression and sense of defeat. For that reason, I'm asking you to join me in petitioning our Senator Tom Udall, Congressman Steve Pearce and candidates for Congress this fall to support raising the minimum wage. People who work hard should be rewarded by fair pay and safe working conditions. New Mexico is in the depths of a recession and working people are hurting. Many are working two jobs to make ends meet because a minimum wage job pays below Federal poverty level. No one wants a handout, just a fair shake. No matter what big business and anti-labor groups say, minimum wage increases don't result in lost jobs or cause a recession, just the opposite.

Rep. Dave Reichert and I both live in Auburn, WA. But Rep Reichert ignores the fact that many of our neighbors here in Auburn and across his district are struggling to make ends meet. His vote against raising the minimum wage means too many of his constituents still cannot afford rent, groceries, or health care for themselves and their children. Tell Rep Reichert: Support raising the minimum wage. It's the least he can do.

Adjusted for inflation, the current minimum wage is 30% less than it was in 1968. Yet last year, Representative Heck and his fellow House Republicans voted unanimously against raising the nation’s minimum wage. Increasing the minimum wage would help Nevada's workers pay their bills and feed their families. Rep. Heck should do the right thing and side with working people over big corporations.

Members of my community are working harder and making less!

Because there are too many Americans who look for jobs everyday yet there does not seem to be one on the horizon...With every week that goes by with resumes unanswered or interviews that lead nowhere it is clear that 26 weeks in this economy is not going to enough to bridge that gap between the last job and the next job...Further if our government can bail out corporations and hedge fund managers and be readily available for the call from expensive lobbyists and former members who have become such then they can damn well address the needs of those who are have worked and who want to work but cannot find a job and for whom 8.00 an hour is not a life line but instead a direct line to poverty.

House Democrats need 218 House members to sign their discharge petition to bring "The Fair Minimum Wage Act" [HR1010} to the House floor for a vote by the full House. Because the Democrats by themselves only have 199 House members and no longer control the House they will need 19 Republicans to support their discharge petition to reach the magic number of 218 for a majority of members. The discharge petition is a popular but rarely used tactic to force a House vote when the majority leader doesn't want one. If the Democrats are successful, they expect to win the full House vote which will gradually raise the minimum wage from its current rate of $7.25/hour to $10.10/hour. Raising the minimum wage is extremely important. According to the CBO raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would bring about 900,000 people out of poverty. And it will increase wages for about 16.5 million people. It will also help reduce inequality. And it will reduce the taxpayer burden of subsidizing food stamps, rent subsidies, health insurance subsidies, and other welfare benefits low wage workers often receive because their minimum wage job isn't enough to cover even minimal basic living expenses.

I was really unhappy sitting through the House Finance Committee where three restaurant owners were allowed to make wildly unsubstantiated claims, and were repeatedly brought back to testify. When the chair declined to move the bill, and didn't set a date to bring it back up, I was disappointed and frustrated.

Inspired by the recent Win-Win-Win of the student-driven and community-led minimum wage campaign in San Jose, we students in the East Bay are organizing to do the same here in the East Bay. Only 3 other cities in the entire United States have minimum wages at $10 or more. Let’s add the entire East Bay to that list: Oakland! Berkeley! Alameda! Richmond, Hayward, Union City, Fremont, San Leandro, El Cerrito, Albany, San Pablo, Newark, Piedmont even… It’s time for a living wage, East Bay!

Without the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act borrowers cannot get their loans modified. This will lead to increases in defaults and foreclosures at a time when the housing market is still recovering. Please help our neighbors, friends, and communities by urging your congressional representative to get this law extended!

Please stop the bullying in the workplace. We all need to work together in a healthy and respectable manner. Work should not hurt!!