July 21st, 2015
Dear Secretary Clinton:
At the Fight for $15 conference last June, you said that you wanted to be the “champion” of low wage workers, and that you want to fight with low wage workers every day. So why won’t you support a living wage to help them?
As the 2016 election gets underway, is it not important that you take a strong stance on raising the minimum wage? You have not yet proposed a plan that includes raising the minimum wage from the $7.25 federal level to a level that will allow Americans to pay for the necessities of life, except that you don’t support a universal $15 minimum wage.
Today, over half a million people are living below the poverty line in Iowa in New Hampshire. At $7.25 an hour, a single mother with children working a full time job can expect to make approximately $15,000 a year, far less than the $24,000 federal poverty line for a family of four.
For the past several decades, the minimum wage has lost one-third of its purchasing power, and the federal minimum wage hasn’t come close to keeping up with the rate of inflation since 1968. A study by the Economic Policy Institute says that raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour would give thirty-five million Americans a raise.
The Center for American Progress has estimated that just by raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour there would be a 6 percent decrease in the number of individuals on public assistance programs, and would save the country forty billion dollars a year over the next decade.
Raising the minimum wage is a position that has overwhelming support from the public. A recent survey from the National Employment Law Project showed that 75 percent of all Americans support a minimum wage hike to $12.50 an hour and tying it to inflation, including 53% of all Republicans. In Iowa, 65 percent favor raising the wage.
As Lincoln said, “With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. Consequently he who moulds public sentiment, goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions. He makes statutes and decisions possible or impossible to be executed.”
Madam Secretary, two of the Democratic Party presidential candidates, Senator Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, have come out in favor of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Why won’t you join them? If you need more information on the need for raising the minimum wage, please visit http://www.TimeforaRaise.Org
Sincerely,
Ralph Nader
Washington, DC
July 21st, 2015
Dear Senator Webb:
A note on your website says that, “…if you’re spending all your income paying rent and putting food on the table and clothes on the backs of your kids, you’re probably living on the outer edge of the American Dream.” Now it is time for you to help those on the “outer edges.”
As the 2016 election gets underway, is it not important that you take a strong stance on raising the minimum wage? You have not yet proposed a plan that includes raising the minimum wage from the $7.25 federal level to a level that will allow Americans to pay for the necessities of life.
Today, over half a million people are living below the poverty line in Iowa in New Hampshire. At $7.25 an hour, a single mother with children working a full time job can expect to make approximately $15,000 a year, far less than the $24,000 federal poverty line for a family of four.
For the past several decades, the minimum wage has lost one-third of its purchasing power, and the federal minimum wage hasn’t come close to keeping up with the rate of inflation since 1968. A study by the Economic Policy Institute says that raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour would give thirty-five million Americans a raise.
The Center for American Progress has estimated that just by raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour there would be a 6 percent decrease in the number of individuals on public assistance programs, and would save the country forty billion dollars a year over the next decade.
Raising the minimum wage is a position that has overwhelming support from the public. A recent survey from the National Employment Law Project showed that 75 percent of all Americans support a minimum wage hike to $12.50 an hour and tying it to inflation, including 53% of all Republicans. In Iowa, 65 percent favor raising the wage. As Lincoln said,
“With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. Consequently he who moulds public sentiment, goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions. He makes statutes and decisions possible or impossible to be executed.”
Senator, two of the Democratic Party presidential candidates, Senator Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, have come out in favor of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Will you join them in advocating for a $15 dollar an hour federal minimum wage? If you need more information on the need for raising the minimum wage, please visit http://www.TimeforaRaise.Org
Sincerely,
Ralph Nader
Washington, DC
July 21st, 2015
Dear Governor Chafee:
A note on your website says that, “…today’s system is stacked against too many American families. They play by all the rules; they are educated, often at great cost; they work hard all week, and are barely making ends meet. This is not right.” I agree. And something needs to be done about it.
As the 2016 election gets underway, is it not important that you take a strong stance on raising the minimum wage? You have not yet proposed a plan that includes raising the minimum wage from the $7.25 federal level to a level that will allow Americans to pay for the necessities of life.
Today, over half a million people are living below the poverty line in Iowa in New Hampshire. At $7.25 an hour, a single mother with children working a full time job can expect to make approximately $15,000 a year, far less than the $24,000 federal poverty line for a family of four.
For the past several decades, the minimum wage has lost one-third of its purchasing power, and the federal minimum wage hasn’t come close to keeping up with the rate of inflation since 1968. A study by the Economic Policy Institute says that raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour would give thirty-five million Americans a raise.
The Center for American Progress has estimated that just by raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour there would be a 6 percent decrease in the number of individuals on public assistance programs, and would save the country forty billion dollars a year over the next decade.
Raising the minimum wage is a position that has overwhelming support from the public. A recent survey from the National Employment Law Project showed that 75 percent of all Americans support a minimum wage hike to $12.50 an hour and tying it to inflation, including 53% of all Republicans. In Iowa, 65 percent favor raising the wage. As Lincoln said,
“With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. Consequently he who moulds public sentiment, goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions. He makes statutes and decisions possible or impossible to be executed.”
Governor, two of the Democratic Party presidential candidates, Senator Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, have come out in favor of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Will you join them in advocating for a $15 dollar an hour federal minimum wage? If you need more information on the need for raising the minimum wage, please visit http://www.TimeforaRaise.Org
Sincerely,
Ralph Nader
Washington, DC