minimum wage

‘Rewriting the Rules: An Agenda for Growth and Shared Prosperity,’ and the ‘Progressive Agenda to Combat Income Inequality’

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Earlier today, a panel discussion at a Roosevelt Institute event with economist Joseph Stiglitz, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled the new report by Stiglitz, “Rewriting the Rules: An Agenda for Growth and Shared Prosperity.” Check out RewritetheRules.org to find out more. Download of the Full Report (.pdf).

Rewriting

Bill de Blasio and Elizabeth Warren Talk Income Inequality:

Who said it is about income inequality, Mayor Bill de Blasio or Senator Elizabeth Warren?

“This doesn’t just come from Republicans. A lot of Democrats seem to have floated along with the idea that the economic growth is in direct opposition to strengthening the well-being of America’s families, and that we have to choose economic growth or our families. That claim is flatly wrong.”

The answer is Ms. Warren, the progressive senator from Massachusetts who some are hoping will decide to run for president as an alternative to a Hillary Clinton bid likely to be funded by donors from the banks Ms. Warren often rails against.

But it could just as well been Mr. de Blasio, who spoke just moments after Ms. Warren at the National Press Club this morning during an event called Rewriting the Rules of the American Economy, which carried with it the tagline “An agenda for growth and shared prosperity.” In recent months, as he’s traveled to the Midwest and now Washington in an effort to urge a focus on income inequality in the 2016 presidential race, Mr. de Blasio too has expressed the idea that even some within his party have not given the issue the attention it deserves.

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Congressional Democrats file bill to raise the minimum wage

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Democrats in Congress on Thursday filed a bill to raise the minimum wage to $12 hour by 2020. This does not seem particularly ambitious to me, but of course, Tea-Publicans were apoplectic: “over our dead bodies!” Top Dems line up behind $12 minimum wage :

RaiseTheWageThe Obama administration and congressional Democrats are making a new push to raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020.

Top Democrats are getting behind the Raise the Wage Act introduced Thursday, which they say would increase the federal minimum wage for nearly 38 million workers.

The push goes beyond a previous proposal to lift the wage to $10.10 over three years. That effort, championed by then-Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) in the last Congress, stalled amid fierce opposition from Republicans.

But Democrats say they are resolved to keep pressing for an increase, even now that the GOP controls both chambers of Congress.

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Fast Food Workers in Tucson, Phoenix, & Nationwide to Strike on Sept 4

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minimum wage“All across the country right now there’s a national movement going on made up of fast-food workers organizing to lift wages so they can provide for their families with pride and dignity. There is no denying a simple truth. America deserves a raise. Give America a raise. …You know what, if I were looking for a job that lets me build some security for my family, I’d join a union. If I were busting my butt in the service industry and wanted an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work, I’d join a union…I’d want a union looking out for me.” — President Obama, Sept 1, 2014, Milwaukee, WI

Tomorrow, Thursday, September 4, fast food workers across the nation and right here at home will strike for higher wages and the right to organize.

From Service Employees Interntional Union (SEIU)…

TUCSON FAST-FOOD WORKERS TO STRIKE FOR FIRST TIME AS FIGHT FOR $15 AND UNION RIGHTS SPREADS

Local McDonald’s, Burger King, Jack in the Box Workers Among Those in 150+ Cities Expected To Walk Off Their Jobs

TUCSON – Coming off a convention at which they vowed to do “whatever it takes” to win $15 and the right to form a union, Tucson fast-food workers will walk off their jobs Thursday  for the first time as their movement intensifies and continues to spread.

A day after President Obama highlighted their campaign in a Labor Day speech, workers said they will strike at Tucson’s major fast-food restaurants, including McDonald’s, Burger King, and Jack in the Box. Clergy, elected officials and community supporters, including Representative Raúl Grijalva, will join fast-food workers on the strike lines.

WHO: Workers at Burger King, McDonald’s and Jack in the Box; Representative Raúl Grijalva, Co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus; Rep. Bruce Wheeler; Sen. Olivia Cajero Bedford; Former Sen. Paula Aboud; Pima County Supervisor Richard Elías

WHAT: Fast-Food Worker Strike

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Fruity or Oaky? Rambling Thoughts on White People Problems

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

My coffee table book is too large for my coffee table.

My Internet connection is too slow.

My dishwasher doesn’t really get the dishes clean.

iPads should have a USB connection.

I can’t remember all of my passwords.

Will Wall Street gambling hurt by 401K’s performance?

My car is annoying. The on-board computer tells me when to add air to the tires, when someone’s seatbelt is undone, and when it needs to go to the shop for service.

I hate it when I find a good recipe on the Internet and then can’t find it again.

Cable TV is too expensive for what your get. NetFlix is the way to go– or just plug the laptop into the flat screen TV.

I give my dog a daily dab of Greek yogurt with her dog food because she farts too much.

Self-Actualization, White People Problems, & the War on the Poor

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640px-Maslow's_Hierarchy_of_Needs.svgby Pamela Powers Hannley

As one year comes to a close and another begins, people often look back at events to reflect and perhaps resolve to improve their lives or change their behaviors in the coming year. In 2013, the Do-Nothing-at-All Congress— led by the nose by Teapublicans– continued its war on the poor– fighting for cuts to food stamps and unemployment and fighting for austerity for the 99%, while disingenuously padding the pockets of their corporate benefactors.

As Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs teaches us, people must satisfy their basic needs before they can become fully self-actualized, before they can reach their full potential. To put this simply, if you don't have food, water, and shelter, your time, energy and resources will be spent obtaining those basic needs. Until you have security and the necessities of life, you will not have the luxury to worry about trifles– Christmas gifts, video game releases, wine selections, fancy coffee, designer-label clothes, insignificant social snubs, political differences– in other words, "white people problems".

Since our country is governed by the  Congressional millionaire's club, it's no wonder that they can't relate to the poor (or even the struggling middle class).