Federal Contractors Will Now Get a $15 Minimum Wage. When Can Everyone Else?
Joe Biden absolutely made the right decision. But now can we give others a raise, too?
It’s no secret I’ve found the Democrats’ handling of the fight for a $15 minimum wage incredibly disappointing, as have many others. After hiding behind the advisory opinion of an unelected Senate staffer known as the parliamentarian, the party simply shrugged their shoulders and moved on from using budget reconciliation to give America’s lowest income workers a raise they haven’t had since 2009. Evidently though, the Biden administration has decided to make some moves, reporting that the President decided to sign an executive order for a $15 minimum wage for Federal contractors.
On Twitter, the President wrote:
“I believe no one should work full time and still live in poverty. That’s why today, I raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour for people working on federal contracts.”
Excellent, but then what about everyone else?
Setting aside that no one should live in poverty at all, if Biden really believes that no one should still live in poverty while working full time, then what is he going to do about the millions of other workers who this executive order leaves behind?
Madison Cook responded to the tweet, writing:
“I fully support you and this is a step in the right direction, but the minimum wage should be $21 per hour, or workers should be guaranteed at least 40 hour work weeks. As someone who lives in Florida and works at Disney full time at $15 an hour, it’s still not enough.”
Ms. Cook is right.
There is not a single place in the country where a person can get a two bedroom apartment living on the minimum wage. My Grandpa was able to buy a house and support five children and his wife with a two year degree. Shouldn’t we be asking ourselves why that is virtually impossible for the vast majority of Americans now? In the richest nation on earth, shouldn’t we be able to ensure that everyone has the dignity of a wage they can actually live on?
