Received this e-mail yesterday from U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s (D. OH) re-election campaign:
It’s time to raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour.
Our economy has changed a lot over the last several decades, but the amount of money working families have in their pockets has hardly changed at all. The costs of housing, health care, and education have all increased, and workers have achieved productivity gains -- but almost none of those gains have gone to working families.
It’s time to change all of that.
The plan to raise the minimum wage operates on the assumption that when working people have more money, they’re better able to save for the future, own a home, send their kids to college, or maybe even take a vacation every once in a while.
Here in Ohio, we know that we all do better when we all do better. Historically, when the middle class does well, everyone else does well, too. Because when working families have the resources they need to not only make ends meet but also indulge in some of life’s little luxuries -- a night at the movies; buying a new pair of shoes; having some friends over to watch the Buckeyes -- the whole economy prospers.
Raising the minimum wage is one good step on the road to rebuilding the middle class. Working Americans bailed out Wall Street and got our economy back on track. It is long past time for working people and families to share the rewards for their hard work.
Thank you,
Sherrod