by Damon Silvers | Jan 27, 2014 | Progressive Vision, State of the Union
On Tuesday night, President Barack Obama is going to give his fifth State of the Union address. The president is likely to call for policies that will help working people, like an increase in the minimum wage and the extension of unemployment benefits to the long-term...
by Digby | Jan 27, 2014 | Economy, Making it in America, Minimum Wage, Progressive Vision, The Jobs Challenge
Responding to the depressing news that the administration has succumbed to elite pressure to "tone down" the rhetoric about wealth inequality, Damon Silvers, special counsel for the AFL-CIO, points out the uncomfortable truth: [T]he president faces a choice of...
by Dave Johnson | Jan 27, 2014 | Minimum Wage
This post originally appeared at AlterNet. If the 1968 federal minimum wage had kept pace with inflation it would be $10.75 today. But it is only $7.25, an amount so low that many full-time workers need such government assistance as food stamps and Medicare just to...
by Robert Borosage | Jan 27, 2014 | Unemployment Benefits
As Congress reconvenes this week, it faces one overriding imperative: Act immediately to renew emergency benefits for the long-term unemployed. Today, you can tell the Senate to make this their first priority. Call one of your senators now using our...
by Jackie Tortora | Jan 24, 2014 | Economy, State of the Union, The Jobs Challenge
President Barack Obama will give his annual State of the Union address to the American people next week. But what is the state of our union? The vast majority of America's working families have experienced a raw deal in recent decades. Wages are falling, the gulf...
by Robert Borosage | Jan 24, 2014 | Economy, Progressive Vision, State of the Union
The White House is signaling that one focus of President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday will be on our extreme and rising levels of income inequality. He'll feature basic pocketbook issues like raising the minimum wage, extending unemployment benefits,...
