Could you live off $15,000/year?

Below is an email from U.S. Representative Keith Ellison. Rep. Ellison started a petition on the MoveOn website, where anyone can start their own online petition.

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President Obama and Congress: Today's minimum wage can't sustain a family. Create a living wage now. Sign the Petition!

Dear MoveOn member,

Right now, 40% of Americans make less than the minimum wage from 1968. And while working Americans have spent the last 30 years working more and earning less, the wealthiest have watched as their share of the total income pie grew by 275%. 

That's why I'm launching the Raise Up America Campaign, along with other members of Congress and our allies, to spread the call for fair wages and decent working conditions. 

It's time to tell the story of Americans who are working harder and harder for less and less, and to push for policies that put more money into the pockets of working people. It's time to raise pay for American workers. It's the right thing to do, and will create millions of good new jobs.

Stand with me in calling on Congress and President Obama to pass a living wage now.

It is unacceptable that the minimum wage today pays only $15,000 per year. That's $3,000 below the poverty level for a family of three. A living wage would help working families still suffering from the effects of the recession, and would boost the economy by putting money in people's pockets. 

That's why I started a petition to Congress and President Barack Obama, which says:

Raise Up America: It is long past time to create a living wage to bring millions of hardworking Americans into the middle class.

Stand with me by adding your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Keith Ellison, U.S. Representative

This petition was created by Rep. Ellison on MoveOn Petitions Political Action Edition, which is licensed to and paid for by MoveOn.org Political Action. Rep. Ellison didn't pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

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PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to eddie alfaro on July 3, 2013. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.