Victor Fazio: “when Franklin D. Roosevelt first proposed a national minimum wage, he described it as a ``fair day's pay for a fair…”

“when Franklin D. Roosevelt first proposed a national minimum wage, he described it as a ``fair day's pay for a fair day's work.'' Now, 50 years later, the minimum wage has plummeted to its lowest value ever and its purchasing power has fallen to a 40-year low. On an annual income of $8,400 a year, paying the bills and keeping food on the table is a daily challenge for minimum wage workers. The 90-cent increase proposed by the President and Democrats in Congress would make the minimum wage a living wage. An extra 90 cents an hour would pay for 7 months of groceries, a year of health care costs, 9 months of utility bills, or 4 months of housing. Contrary to Republican rhetoric, the average minimum wage worker is not a teenager looking for a little extra cash. She is a working mother, often the only wage earner in her family. Let us not load up a minimum wage increase with all sorts of special breaks and goodies that would cause the President to veto the bill. America's working families need an increased working wage, protections for their pensions, an effective education for their children, and affordable health care. Is that too much to ask? Let us start by raising the minimum wage.”