Media

My name is Roxanne Mimms and I work for a food service contractor at the National Zoo.  I work full time but make barely minimum wage. I’m here because workers can’t live off what contractors pay us.  I’m here because I don’t want my two children to grow up on public assistance.  I’m here because I have dreams – My American Dream is a good job with fair wages to provide for my children, being able to pay my bills on time and save for the future.

In his column today, Ezra Klein makes a very strange, and untrue, assertion. In talking about campaign finance reform, Klein claims that small donors are as problematic as big money. Klein writes:

On Tuesday, the House Financial Services Committee voted out six bills that would make changes to the Dodd-Frank financial reform law that could have far-reaching consequences. The bank lobbyists deserve a bonus this year.

Critics of the Affordable Care Act have long been calling it a job killer. First, they claimed, companies would cut jobs altogether because of the mandate that all full-time employees must have health coverage.

If Congress doesn't succeeed in gutting SNAP benefits through the Farm Bill, which now proposes sweeping cuts to food stamps, it seems various state legislatures will do whatever they can to get that job done.  A few weeks ago, I wrote about North Carolina's proposed background checks for SNAP applicants.

The entire social and fiscal debate ignores this monster of an issue, but it’s only a matter of time. The kids are moving back home when they graduate and can’t find work. Soon, grandma and grandpa are going to be moving in, too. There’s a reckoning ahead that policymakers and the news media haven’t begun to think clearly about — or focus the public on.

Washington – On Wednesday, May 8 at 9 a.m. EST, low-wage workers from around the country employed in a variety of firms operating under federal contracts, loans, and leases will join Members of Congress, community leaders, and local elected officials to announce the launch of Good Jobs Nation—a new organization of low-wage workers joining together for a living wage and a voice on the job.

Federal taxpayers employ more low-wage workers than Wal-Mart and McDonald’s combined, a new study calculates.

NEW YORK, NY – With much attention on labor strikes spreading across the country to protest low pay and poor working conditions in the retail and fast food industries, national public policy center Demos releases a new report today documenting a surprising part of the economy where low wages are prevalent. Underwriting Bad Jobs: How Our Tax Dollars Are Funding Low-Wage Work and Fueling Inequality reveals th