"Closing the Gap: Rep. George Miller on why raising the minimum wage is now practical" PBS Newshour 2/5/2014
Excerpt
JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour): Whether the focus is income inequality or economic mobility, both Democrats and Republicans have turned their attention more and more to the growing divide between the rich and poor in this country.
Tonight, we begin a series of conversations, called Closing the Gap, that will ask leading members of both parties how they propose to tackle the problem.
We kick things off with Democrat George Miller of Northern California, who is retiring from Congress after this year, having served 20 terms in the House of Representatives. He is co-author of a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.
Congressman Miller, welcome to the NewsHour.
And let me just begin by asking, how do you see economic opportunity in the country — in this country today?
REP. GEORGE MILLER, D-Calif.: Well, I think economic opportunity is still available to individuals.
And, certainly, you know, it’s been dampened because of the great recession caused by the financial scandals on Wall Street. But the country is starting to recover, and jobs are starting to be made available. They’re different jobs than maybe before the great recession. But they’re starting to appear.
The question will be whether or not our work force and individuals are in a position to take advantage of those jobs. But there’s also a whole host of jobs that have been available in this country for many, many years, but they don’t pay enough for individuals to support themselves or to support their family. And that’s a real problem in the economy, because they’re a drag on Main Street.
There’s just simply not enough income to families and individuals to make a vibrant economy go even better than it is right now.
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