Cory Booker: “Thank you very much, Mr. President. If you look at the United States of America today compared to when my dad grew up…”

“Thank you very much, Mr. President. If you look at the United States of America today compared to when my dad grew up, we have seen very disturbing trends in our economy. In fact, right now, we do not have the same economy--the same bargain-- that we had in my parents' generation. Someone who had a minimum wage job back in the fifties or sixties made the equivalent of over $20 an hour today. The bargain in the United States of America was that if you were willing to work hard, willing to sweat, struggle, and sacrifice, you could make ends meet, and you could make it work. What we have seen, disturbingly, over the last few decades is that economy twist and contort. We have seen massive disparities in income come about in our Nation, with the wealthy getting wealthier and wealthier, doing better and better, compounding and doubling down on their privilege, but we have seen the middle class shrinking in the United States of America and the poverty trap, where people are playing by the rules, where people are working hard. They see their wages stagnate while the cost of everything is going up, such as prescription drug costs, the cost of food and child care, the cost of college. The bargain in our country is not working now, and we need to do something to change this.…”