In this election the issues that are local are also national, and the grassroots and the netroots are inextricably bound together by the desire to preserve our constitution and put America back on course. So this issue like so many others affects not only my district, but Americans all across our great land.
GOP Kills Measure to Raise Minimum Wage
This week I want to talk about the minimum wage. Last year, my opponent, Randy "Rubberstamp" Kuhl, voted with President Bush 85% of the time and with the GOP Leadership 93% of the time. And to prove his devotion to his overlords, just days ago Randy Kuhl rubberstamped the GOP move to kill a Democratic measure that would have raised the minimums wage that the Republican leaders in Congress have blocked for the last nine years. The Democratic bill would have raised the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 in three steps over the next two years. The minimum wage, when adjusted for inflation, is actually at the lowest level in 50 years. The GOP killed the measure and Randy Kuhl agreed that our working people do not need a decent minimum wage.
The Republicans buried this critical aid to our citizens. This is at a time when CNN reports on the pay of top executives that
CEO pay: Sky high gets even higher: [bold added]:
In 2004, the ratio of average CEO pay to the average pay of a ... worker was 431-to-1, up from 301-to-1 in 2003, according to "Executive Excess," an annual report released Tuesday by the liberal research groups United for a Fair Economy and the Institute for Policy Studies...
[This] ranks on the high end historically. In 1990, for instance, CEOs made about 107 times more than the average worker, while in 1982, the average CEO made only 42 times more.
The report also compares the growth in average CEO pay - which was $11.8 million in 2004 - to the growth in the minimum wage. Had the minimum wage risen as fast as CEO compensation since 1990, the researchers calculated, it would now be $23.03 an hour instead of just $5.15. And the average production worker would be making $110,126 a year instead of $27,460.
The trend is clear. The Republicans want more money for their business cronies and less for working families and individuals. Blocking the minimum wage is just another cog in their free-for-all market and burn-down-the-barn trade policies that posit that the private sector can do everything better than the government ever could. What have these policies done for American workers? They have ensured that, while a minimum wage worker has to work a full day for just one tank of gasoline for her car, her CEO can buy a new Lear Jet to shuttle him to St. Tropez.
The Devil is in the Details
Let's consider what will continue to happen if Representative Kuhl returns to Congress this next year based on his voting record in just this one vital instance. Kuhl tagged along with his leadership by voting in favor of killing a Democratic attempt to offer an amendment to increase the minimum wage to the estate tax bill. The amendment would have increased the minimum wage to $7.25 to give a pay raise to nearly 7 million Americans, including approximately 350,000 New Yorkers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Democrats are fighting to gradually increase the minimum wage by $2.10 - from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years. The Republican leadership passed a rule that barred Democrats from offering the amendment. When Democrats protested, Republicans voted to kill the Democratic attempt to bring up the amendment. [See the Leadership Document, "Democrats are Fighting for a New Direction, A Pay Raise for Millions of Americans," 6/22/06; HR 5638, Vote #308, 6/22/2006].
Not that this measure was a modest jump from $5.15 to $7.25, not a jump to the $23.03 workers would get if the minimum wage increased as fast as that of CEOs (see the CNN quote above). It is simply disgraceful that the Republicans in Congress continue to suffocate the working families of this nation with less than the best while top executive salaries make shy-high records for increases. It is worst than disgraceful, it is a damn shame.
On July 6th, Congressman Rahm Emanuel, Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign, stood shoulder to shoulder with me in Rochester, New York and I was pleased to hear him say this about my candidacy:
"Eric Massa was a fighter in the United States Navy and will be a fighter for New Yorkers when he comes to Congress. He has spent his career defending our way of life, including standing up for working families in New York. It's time for new priorities and Eric Massa's independent leadership will stand in stark contrast to the rubber stamp representation of Randy Kuhl."
Eric Massa (left) and Congressman Rahm Emanuel (center) call for immediate minimum wage increase.
Randy "Flip-flop" Kuhl
Just after Randy Kuhl voted to bloc a Democratic measure to increase the minimum wage, and two days after Eric Massa called for immediate increase to the federal minimum wage, Randy claims to support it and to have co-sponsored a bill to raise the federal minimum wage. This is particularly odd since the GOP leadership has vowed to stop a minimum wage increase and has routinely blocked all Democratic attempts to do so. The bill he claims to support has no chance of actually passing unless the Democrats take control of Congress in the fall and Mr. Kuhl know that very well. Mr. Kuhl is not listening to the voters; he's reading the writing on the wall - that he is at risk of being replaced in November. According to a Pew poll, 86% of Americans support a minimum wage increase, yet the Republican leadership has repeatedly blocked votes on the issue. Follow this link for more information.
Massa Backs Federal Minimum Wage Increase, Pledges to Fight for Working Families Before Taking a Congressional Pay Raise
I have fought some tough battles in my life but one I am eager to take on is the fight for a better life for New York's working families. Randy Kuhl walks in lock-step with his Republican leadership but we need an independent voice in Congress, especially on something as important as increasing the minimum wage. Where I live in upstate New York, the ultimate family value is a living wage job. The ultimate family value is the ability to live in peace and know that the Constitution of America stands for all of us and not a select few, and so we will demand -- we will demand -- that we stop this insane assault on our civil liberties starting day one. Back home where I live, they want candidates who will tell you what they're going to do and then go do it.
And this is my pledge: As a member of Congress I will pledge to fight for a raise for working families before I or my colleagues get one. It's time for a change; it's time to put New York families first. New York workers and their families deserve a member of Congress who will fight for them, not someone like Randy Kuhl who simply walks the party line on something as critical as raising the minimum wage.
It is time for our leaders in Washington to serve those hardworking people who vote for them and not those who shovel them bundles of money so that they can make the rich richer. It is time to give the citizens their well-deserved due and to show the money mongers the way out the door. It is time for leaders to stand up for those in need and not to cave into those who prey on greed.
Eric Massa