Sign Petition For Minimum Wage Vote

I've already posted on how Republicans will only raise the minimum wage if there is attached to it clauses that include repealing the $350 billion/year estate tax investment, which affects only .5%-2% of the population. There is now a petition urging Senators to have a straight vote on minimum wage. It literally takes less than half a minute to fill out. The text of the petition reads:

I support a straight up-or-down vote on minimum wage. I urge you to reject the shameful bill being voted on tonight. We need a fair up-or-down vote on the minimum wage, not a deeply irresponsible ploy that will give 7,500 ultra-rich people an average of $1.3 million each, and strip wages from over a million people in seven states. Enough is enough.

Here are more important points to remember:

* Someone working full-time for the $5.15 federal minimum wage makes just $10,700 a year. A single mom with two kids who works full-time for the minimum wage is about $6,000 below the poverty line.

* The federal minimum wage has been stuck at the same rate since 1997. Since then, Republican leaders have raised the salaries of Senators seven times. Salaries of lawmakers have gone up by $35,000 -- almost three times the entire yearly income of someone on minimum wage.

* The real value of the minimum wage is more than $3.00 below what it was a generation ago, and right now has its lowest buying power in over 50 years.

* The minimum wage is the lowest it has been in over 50 years relative to the average wage.

* Raising the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour adds up to more than one year of groceries, over 9 months of rent, a year and a half of heat and electricity, or full tuition for a community college degree.

SIGN THE PETITION NOW