Political Quotes

“I ask of the Senator from Ohio if he recalls that it was not that long ago the issues that we are discussing were marginally bipartisan issues. When it came to raising the minimum wage periodically, Senator Ted Kennedy, who used to sit back at that desk, led the effort. It would turn out to be a bipartisan vote to increase the minimum wage. Over the years, that reflected a bipartisan consensus that if one is working for a living in America, they ought to be able to get by or at least have a little bit put away for their future. We are finding more and more that people working for a minimum wage cannot get by. I listened to public radio over the break. There was a lady on there who works in the hospitality industry, I believe, and explained she was on food stamps. She said she had a small family and made $7.25 an hour. With her children she still qualified for SNAP, the food stamp program. I did a quick calculation in my mind--I believe this is correct--and she was making somewhere in the range of $14,000 to $15,000 a year at $7.25 an hour, the minimum wage in many parts of the United States. She still qualified for a helping hand to feed her children. This is not a lazy person. This is a person who gets up and goes to work. My guess is it is not an easy job. She is making $7.25 but still needs a helping hand. I find it interesting that issues that used to be bipartisan to help people such as her, working people, have now become too partisan.…”