Thirty-two percent of Americans work for less than $15/hr. An additional 35% of hourly workers, 50 Million Americans, make $20 or less.
– Bureau of Labor Statistics
In no state, metropolitan area, or county in the U.S. can a worker earning the federal or the prevailing state or local minimum wage afford a modest two-bedroom rental home at fair market rent by working a standard 40-hour work week.
– National Low Income Housing Coalition
Less than 5% of companies make more than $1 million.
– Small Business Administration
An economy where everyone can succeed…
The American economy has failed to provide acceptable growth and living standards for most households. The obstacles to the “American Dream” have increased for working class and middle class Americans so much we are seeing financial disparity like never before. And attached to disparity; we see despair. Since the 1980s, economic policy has served the wealthiest Americans and those with political power. Recent decisions like Citizen’s United serve only to reenforce that gap, leaving many Americans cutting coupons and necessary RX drugs to survive and unable to pay rent after a 40-hour work week. As the rich get richer, those who serve their interests get elected to office time and time again.
Corporate welfare and tax cuts are consistently on the rise as Federal policy continues to “defund” everyday Americans.
We live in an oligarchy created by this bad economic policy and those in power are using every scare tactic in the book to hold onto this unbalanced power. The majority of subsidies paid for by our tax dollars go to those who are in the upper echelons of business instead of those who need it which goes beyond the obvious benefits and extends to unfair market advantage and monopolization of entire industries under one roof.
We don’t have to become “socialist” to fix it. We need to go back to a tax system similar to what we had before that serves everyday Americans, promotes growth and does not reward unchecked greed and power. We need investment in our people and the systems they rely on, trustbusting monopolies and steadfast consumer protections.
Any minimum wage increase over $15 should be coupled by a FICA honeymoon for small businesses under one million dollars gross on a sliding scale of net payroll. A tax credit for expanding your workforce year over year and increased investment in grants and small business loans directed to sectors that need growth like sustainable manufacturing and farming, new building materials like hemp blocks (My bill, Hemp! Hemp! Hooray! covers this), plastic recycling and re-use (My bill Pass on Plastic covers this), clean energy production and increased energy efficiency.