{"id":493,"date":"2013-06-26T17:47:25","date_gmt":"2013-06-26T21:47:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/?p=493"},"modified":"2013-06-26T17:47:25","modified_gmt":"2013-06-26T21:47:25","slug":"citizens-to-capito-raise-the-minimum-wage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/?p=493","title":{"rendered":"Citizens to Capito: Raise the Minimum Wage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">A group of more than 400 citizens today summoned their Congresswoman, Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), to a public meeting during the August Congressional recess to discuss raising the minimum wage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KZNZ7xxGMGc?feature=player_detailpage\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">More than 400 citizens signed a petition to Capito asking her to sign on to a bill in Congress that would raise the minimum wage from the current $7.25 an hour to $10.50 an hour.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The signatures were collected over the past two weeks in Capito\u2019s Second Congressional District.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The petition was dropped off at Congresswoman Capito\u2019s Martinsburg office this afternoon.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">No one answered the door at Capito\u2019s office, so the petition was dropped in Capito\u2019s mail slot. (see video).<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The petition asks that Capito meet with her constituents in a public meeting during the August 2013 recess to discuss raising the minimum wage to $10.50 an hour.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThirty million hard-pressed American workers are making less per hour today than workers made in 1968 \u2013 45 years ago \u2013 adjusted for inflation,\u201d according to the petition.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Worker productivity has doubled since the 1960s while executive pay of large corporations \u2013 that employ two-thirds of low income workers \u2013 has risen nearly 1,000 percent.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Adjusted for inflation since 1968, the federal minimum wage, now stagnant at $7.25 per hour, would be $10.67 per hour.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Some countries, like Australia, far outpace the United States when it comes to the minimum wage. Australia\u2019s minimum wage is $16 (US).<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The petitioners rejected President Obama\u2019s, Congressman George Miller\u2019s and Senator Tom Harkin\u2019s minimum wage proposals &#8212; which they said don\u2019t come close to catching up with 1968 by 2016.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">They instead endorsed Congressman Alan Grayson\u2019s bill &#8212; H.R. 1346 &#8212; that requires a hike to $10.50 per hour, 60 days after passage.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cA $10.50 per hour minimum wage would be a major, immediate economic stimulus and expand employment,\u201d the petition said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThe moral case for catching up with 1968 is overwhelming and supported by 70 percent of the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The petition calls on Capito to meet with the citizens at a town meeting, during the August recess, \u201cat a convenient, public space to discuss the legislative necessity of a $10.50 federal minimum wage for the working poor of our country who produce, serve and care for us each day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A group of more than 400 citizens today summoned their Congresswoman, Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), to a public meeting during the August Congressional recess to discuss raising the minimum wage. More than 400 citizens signed a petition to Capito &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/?p=493\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}