Jay Newton: Minimum wage has lagged behind inflation since 1968, everyone is pushed to the edge

To The Daily Sun,

I am a Democrat and proud of it. Democrats are for the people. I am not a radical, I just want all people to thrive. I do not want our economy ruined, our children indoctrinated or our electoral system subverted. I believe in a reasonable immigration policy — we all came from immigrants, natives, refugees or slaves and we have a great country.

Why would I want to make our country worse? I live here, my kids live here and my grandchildren live here. Ask anyone who says Democrats are ruining the country for some specific examples. They won’t have any, they just want to scare you and get you to distrust or hate me.

When we fight amongst each other, the rich win. They say that raising the minimum wage is bad for business. As a result, the minimum wage has lagged behind inflation since 1968 and everyone has been pushed to the edge. A 2019 study showed that 40% of Americans would struggle to come up with $400 for an unexpected expense.

If the minimum wage had kept pace with productivity it would be $26.00/hour and jobs requiring more skill, education and experience would pay even more. Taxes, inflation (due to a growing economy) and other expenses would not affect us so severely. Instead the minimum wage is only $7.25 and all other wages are based off of that.

Democrats favor raising the minimum wage, starting at $15.00/hour, because it helps us all. When people make more money, they spend more and companies grow as they supply what people can now afford to buy. It is not a radical idea, it worked well from 1938 to 1968 and it will begin to allow all Americans to thrive once again.

This fall, vote for Democrats, for the people.

Jay Newton

Gilford