The chart above shows a national tragedy. Millions of Americans make at or near the minimum wage, and many of them are single parents trying to raise a child on that wage. These are not lazy people. These are full-time workers willing to work hard. But these single parents (mostly women) have been condemned to live in poverty because of employer greed and government's lack of caring.
This is not only tragic, but immoral.
The House of Representatives, controlled by Democrats, is trying to do many good things. But one thing they need to do immediately is pass a bill that significantly raises the minimum wage. I would like to see it raised to $15 an hour, but even a raise to $10 an hour would be a great help to millions of Americans.
The bill might not be able to pass the GOP-controlled Senate, and could be vetoed by Donald Trump -- but that is not a reason to fail to pass the bill in the House. Even if the Senate (or Trump) killed the bill, it would clarify which party was on the side of workers -- and could be a powerful argument for Democrats in 2020.
The Republicans cling to two old arguments against raising the minimum wage. The first is that it would cause many layoffs of workers. That has been shown to be false by many studies. The fact is that businesses will hire (and keep) the number of workers it takes to service their customers. Failure to do so only hurts the business, since their customers will go to a business that can serve their needs.
The second is that businesses can't afford to raise wages. That's also nonsense. The truth is that raising the minimum wage will actually help businesses, because millions of people will have more money to buy their products and services.
It is time for action on raising the minimum wage. Poll after poll has shown a significant majority of Americans believe it should be done. And that action can only be taken by the House of Representatives. Do it - NOW!
