Quick Note: More Communities Raise the Minimum Wage While Congress Balks--Again.

Minnesota, Maryland, Connecticut and now Hawaii.  Our 50th state has passed a bill that will raise their minimum wage to $10.10/hour by 2018.

On Thursday, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray (D) presented a plan to increase his city's minimum wage to $15.00/hour.  His plan boasts broad political support and a coalition of labor and business groups are joining in the push to make sure his plan succeeds. 

And then we have the U.S. Congress, where Senate Republicans blocked the vote on whether to raise the hourly rate for the poorest workers.  Just one Republican stood up to his Party and voted with Democrats on the wage issue:  Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee.  He said that he felt the measure needed some changes; but at least he was willing to do the job he was elected to do by signaling his willingness to talk about it!

A poll conducted by Bloomberg just a few weeks ago, showed that 69% of Americans support raising the minimum wage to $10.10/hour.  Despite obvious public support for the increase, Republicans continue to argue the unproven opinion--one that lacks the support of many economists- that it would hurt businesses and jobs.   

Apparently no one in the Republican Party has bothered to talk to business owners in the Seattle area; but then I sincerely doubt they talk to anyone but themselves and their well-monied handlers.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Tuesday shows that 49% of Americans favor the Democrats' view on the minimum wage issue over that held by the GOP. 

But then, when was the last time the GOP listened to the people they're supposed to represent?  If you're not waving large sums of campaign money in their faces, they seem particularly myopic.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) appears to want to believe that Americans struggling to survive on poverty wages should blame the Democrats.  "(Democrats) seem to think they can coast on talking points and stale ideas--that the American people haven't been paying attention to their recent dismal record at actually helping the people they claim to care about."

Would that "dismal record" include protecting millions of Americans with health insurance?  

History says that Republicans are more apt to vote in mid-term elections than Democrats.  With that knowledge, Republicans are already salivating at the thought of being rewarded for doing nothing for the average citizen by seeing Republican voters return them to the majority in the Senate.

We can't let that happen.  It is time to tell the GOP they can no longer sit in Congress and collect a hefty paycheck while ignoring 99% of the American people.

The minimum wage is only one issue. If we want clean air and water, equal rights for women, equitable voting rights, immigration reform, improved infrastructure, fair taxation and continued health care, we have to tell them, "This is OUR country too."  Spring primaries are happening now.  VOTE!  It's good practice for November.