If apathetic, low-info voters need some simple issue to Vote for Dems -- this is it:
"Raising the Minimum Wage"
Everyone works, wants to work, or needs to find better work.
Everyone feels underpaid, is underpaid, or is gasping underwater.
Workers Deserve a Raise -- on that fact, we should all be able to, more or less, agree.
Living On The Line: Stories Of Oregon's Working Poor [with Slideshow]
OPB, opb.org -- Sept. 17, 2014
In Oregon, more than one third of families are working, but not earning enough to make ends meet. In this series, we meet several families who are “working poor” or living below 200 percent of the poverty line. [...]
Thing is, Republicans don't want to
have ANYTHING to do with an Agenda that puts more Americans back to work -- at a decent Wage, let alone a "Living Wage."
In other words, Republicans don't want to have ANYTHING to do with a Workers Agenda -- with a Democratic Agenda; with an average American Agenda.
The Low Bar | Commentary
by Rep. Steve Israel, rollcall.com -- Sept. 17, 2014
[...]
Hardworking middle class families need more than just a government that doesn’t self-destruct. But even as Boehner takes a victory lap for not letting his party shutdown the government, House Republicans have failed on issue after issue:
• They have done nothing to end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.
• They refuse to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, to ensure women receive equal pay for equal work.
[...]
• They have not made needed investments in our crumbling infrastructure — investments that could create jobs across the country.
• They voted against raising the minimum wage to $10.10, which would put more money in the pockets of hardworking families.
• They won’t lift a finger to extend emergency unemployment insurance, the lifeline for millions of Americans, which expired last December.
They refuse to let students refinance their student loans at lower rates.
[...]
"
Raising the Minimum Wage" is the principle the
draws a deep contrast between ...
What it means to Vote for a Republican, and What it means to Vote for a Democrat.
It means a better quality of life for ALL of us. ... Even a low-info Voter can get that.
"Raising the Minimum Wage" SHOULD BE the Wedge Issue of the Day ...
If Dems would only dare to stand on OUR principles.
Minimum wage for some vs. living wage for all
by Matthew Geiger, Communities Digital News -- Sept 5, 2014
[...]
Regrettably, the plight of low-wage earners and underemployed Americans had largely disappeared from the political radar, yet renewed protests may well bring the debate back to life. This is a particularly positive development given that the crucial 2014 mid-term elections are now only two months in the future.
Clearly, the current national economy is not providing even adequately for the needs of the American people, as evidenced by the fact that roughly one in six U.S. citizens rely on food stamps, and one in seven rely on local food banks to keep their cupboards full. Not surprisingly, work force participation at 60 percent is near its historic lows, even as productivity continues to trend up and as corporations reap record profits, with the wealthiest Americans continuing to experience significant income growth.
The rest of the country is experiencing income stagnation. The U.S. economy is not distributing America’s national resources in the most efficient or effective manner. It is for this reason that public policy must recalibrate the workings of our once-effective economic machinery.
[...]
Even that clinical economic argument should make clear:
Republicans stand for distributing America's wealth to the Wealthy.
Democrats want to make sure EVERYONE gets their fair chance at the American "Paycheck" Dream.
-- and all the "Democratic Fairness" that implies.