Issue Position: Economics - Making Work Pay

Issue Position

One of the first votes I had the honor of casting in Congress was voting "yes" on a bill that raised the Federal Minimum Wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.50. It's still not enough, but it's a start. It is simply unforgivable that a nation as prosperous as this one went as long as it did without an increase in the Minimum Wage. The price of a gallon of gasoline more than quadrupled in that time, and the ripple effect created by rising fuel prices carries over into every purchase we make.

The goal of Congress, as it relates to jobs, should be to make sure that workers actually receive enough compensation for their hard work that holding a job is in their best interest. Some of my colleagues love to complain about the "welfare Mom"--- But who among them is willing to see that she earns enough at her job to afford childcare and transportation to and from work? Will the people that claim to stand for family values help raise wages so that an American family can get by on a single income?

I don't know that we can ever get that particular genie back into the bottle. After years of nearly unregulated trade and sending our manufacturing and customer service jobs overseas, we very well might be dealing with a new paradigm and forever be unable to return to the days of a single income family.

But we can do our level best to make sure that the employee is compensated fairly in the workplace. And that is precisely what I pledge to do as your Congressman.

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